Author Archives: Florencia Espel

This War of Mine: a serious game about collateral damages

We are really used to war games in which we are soldiers killing other soldiers (it doesn’t matter which side we pick or why), but This War of Mine is a serious game to step into a civilian’s shoes: we will have to survive in a city under siege and live with the decissions we will make to help our people survive. ... Read More »

AdVenture Capitalist: the Irony of the Economy

AdVenture Capitalist is a game full of humor about how senseless is the economic system that rules the world. It’s an unpretentious serious game about the irony of the daily capitalist fight: get everything you can and after that get even more of it. You start by doing some clicks to squeeze lemons and some hours later, you will be running an oil ... Read More »

Why you MUST play “The Stanley Parable”

The Stanley Parable is one of the most innovative games of the last years. It challenges your mind, contradicting everything you have previously known or heard about video games, making you play with the rules, and not by them. Do you have the opportunity of making real choices at games or at life? Never mind. To play or not to ... Read More »

Bioshock: alusiones al consumismo y la psicología (II)

El argumento de este juego es una crítica a las teorías filosóficas objetivistas de Ayn Rand. Una ciudad submarina regida por el capitalismo laissez-faire que acaba yéndose al garete por la ausencia total de moral. Ésa es la historia principal, pero Bioshock es un juego plagado de simbolismos. Cualquier sistema capitalista tiene un componente imprescindible, un motor sin el cual ... Read More »

Bioshock: las claves de un argumento absorbente (I)

Los videojuegos siempre han tenido una historia detrás. Excepto Tetris, Columns y alguno más, todos se basaron en un argumento que, más que engancharnos, nos servía de contexto que justificara el desarrollo del juego para no caer en el absurdo de acumular puntos sin ton ni son. Incluso los pinballs, primos mecánicos de los videojuegos, basaban su funcionamiento en alguna ... Read More »