In the past two months, a small indie game made by Chinese people is faintly becoming popular.
The discussion about the game has garnered more than 7,000 likes on Reddit, a well-known overseas forum, and has been promoted to the front page of Reddit, and in Japan, the game media 4Gamer also reported on the game store page the day after it was launched, and attracted the attention of some Japanese streamers.
This game is the Philosophical Terrier Simulator.
At first glance, many people who often surf the Internet will recognize the game's art style: it comes from the well-known "Tram Problem" meme.
The tram problem can be described as "a tram that cannot brake is moving, and if it does not change direction, it will go to a track with 5 people tied to it, and it can also go to a fork in the road, but there is also 1 person tied to the fork in the road." If you could change the direction of the tram, would you let it run to the original tracks, or would it fork in the road?"
This is a very well-known thought experiment. However, on the Internet, which likes to dispel all seriousness with nonsense, it has become a popular object of spoofing. There have been a lot of funny jokes. For example:
Swipe sideways to see the meme
Truth be told, this isn't the first game to be a game about tram puzzles. For example, in Japan, there is the well-known "Tram Problem: Doomsday War", in which the soul question of "which do you choose, curry-flavored poop or poop-flavored curry" is still being brought up today, and in addition, the slightly serious and brain-burning "Tram Problem Company" has also sparked a discussion because of the content of the story.
Domestic anchors play "Tram Problem: Doomsday War"
Tram Problem Company
Since there are so many related games, why does "Philosophical Terrier Simulator" still attract so many people's attention? Last month, Grape Jun contacted the game's producer, Luo Qi, to ask him the ins and outs behind the heated discussion about this game.
01 It's not just a train problem
Luo Qi told me that "Philosophical Terrier Simulator" is not a simple spoof of tram puzzles, but a more complete simulator that contains more thought experiments.
According to the description on the Steam store page, the game will include several well-known thought experiments such as Tram Puzzle, Theseus' Ship, Sisyphus, Brain in a Vat, Infinite Monkey, Schrödinger's Cat, and many more. The game will eventually contain 15 thought experiments, which will be designed as their own levels, according to Rogui. The game is still in the works, so we won't be able to actually try out the content. However, Falling Seven told me about some of the gameplay of the game.
For example, the tram problem just mentioned. In the game, players face an approaching tram and will actually have that chance to twist the lever and see the consequences of their choice.
Another example is the ship of Theseus. This thought experiment is about "a ship that is damaged while sailing, and some of the components need to be replaced. So if a ship has suffered so many damages that all the components have been replaced, can we still treat this ship as if it were the same ship before?"
In the game, there will also be such a ship, which will encounter various accidents while driving, and the player needs to replace the parts for it in time, and feel and think about this problem in the process.
And Infinite Monkeys. It says, "If you let a bunch of monkeys keep typing on the typewriter, even if the monkeys don't know anything about words, if there are enough monkeys, they have a chance to type out a Shakespeare." 」
In this case, the game is not so frantic as to ask the player to knock out a Shakespeare. However, the player still needs to keep the monkey typing until the word "monkey" is typed.
At present, he has completed 10 of the 15 thought experiments that Luo Qi plans to make. But after that, in addition to the levels, he also needs to make music and sound effects, etc., and for now, the game will be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
The game sounds easy to make, but there are quite a few challenges to overcome when it comes to design. Luo Qi said that there are actually many well-known thought experiments in history, but not all of them can be made into the game, and choosing the right thought experiment and thinking about the way to present it is the main difficulty in his work. For example, the "grandfather paradox". The question is, "If a person travels through time to assassinate his own grandfather, will he still exist? If he doesn't exist, then how can this assassination exist?"
Ever since the production of "Philosophical Terrier Simulator" was posted on the Internet, some people wanted him to make this thought experiment. However, there is no answer to this kind of question at this stage, and the game cannot present the results of the player's choice, so this thought experiment can only be regrettably lost.
02 Moderate "Terrier Imp"
"I think I'm just a terrier. Luo Qi said jokingly.
Since graduating from New York University with a degree in games, Falling Seven has been working as a technical planner at an independent game studio in California. In college, he made a Metroidvania-like game as his graduation project and wanted to make it his full-time job.
However, the workload of the game is getting bigger and bigger, and he can't control it, so he can only pause and start accumulating experience, while working in the game studio, while making some small personal works.
A Castlevania game made by Falling Seven Project
As a person who is keen on Internet surfing, Luo Qi knows it very well regardless of the popular Internet memes at home and abroad. In September last year, he saw a popular tram puzzle meme on the Internet, and he decided to make a "Philosophical Meme Simulator" and sent an email to the author of the tram puzzle meme, hoping to use this image in the game. Unexpectedly, the other party also responded quickly and expressed his willingness to authorize. So, under the artistic tone of this meme, he and a college classmate from Singapore started making a game.
Compared with other popular memes, philosophical memes have a special feature, which is their own thought-provoking foundation. No matter what kind of magic changes netizens made during the second creation, they will retain their original thinking.
Swipe up and down to see
"But that's limited to philosophical memes that focus more on thought experiments. Some philosophical stalks are too relevant to the professional content to be understood. 」
Some philosophical memes have a threshold of understanding
In the process of production, Luo Qi often posts his design ideas on the Internet. A lot of people will come up with a lot of interesting ideas and provide him with a lot of help.
For example, the Tram puzzle originally only allowed the player to choose between two tracks, but someone on the forum suggested that when the player hovers over the person on each track, they can pop up personal information such as the background, occupation, and other information of each of them. "It makes the player think a little bit more about the decision-making process, otherwise it's just a matter of numbers, and it's not that interesting. 」
For example, "Infinite Monkey", even if the game has simplified the matter of knocking out a Shakespearean book to knocking out "monkey", the combination of 6 random letters is still a huge number, and the probability of players wanting to clear the level is still very low. Therefore, Luo Qi also listened to the thoughts of netizens, as long as the monkey knocks on a letter, keep a letter, and in this way further increase the probability of players clearing the level. There are also attentive players who reminded him to remember to set up blocking words in this level, "In English, there are still a lot of dirty words with 6 letters. 」
But even though the game is concise and straightforward, I'm still a little concerned that the game might be a little less interesting. But Luo Qi said that the current overall direction is his choice after consideration.
"One of the things we learned in a university class is that all games are simulations, but not all simulations are games. I'm not sure if Philosopher's Simulator is a game, but I'll do my best to get the simulation part right. 」
However, he also believes that the thought experiments selected so far are attractive enough in themselves. Especially for players who have less exposure to relevant knowledge, each proposition can make people feel fresh enough.
On the other hand, in Luo Qi's view, in the face of philosophy, morality and other issues, there are many games that will give players a dilemma on the surface, but in fact, no matter how the player chooses, the game will deliberately emphasize the regretful part, thus questioning the player. He doesn't think it's a very generous approach. Many philosophical propositions are famous because there is no fixed answer. The outcome of any question is only for the player to feel and judge, which is a good way to deal with these propositions. If you add too much self-interest, it will violate the original purpose of these thought experiments.
"It's okay to play with memes, but in moderation. I don't think I can teach anyone else anything on top of these philosophical propositions. If you are faced with a dilemma and have made a choice that you can accept, and I will continue to be angry with you, then the meaning of these propositions will be lost. 」
At the moment, Falling Seven is also considering adding some interesting content to make the game have a surprising sense of humor like a meme in addition to a pure simulator. Given that there are already streamers paying attention to his game, he may design the game to be more "show-like" in the future.
For example, in Schrödinger's Cat level, he intends to combine the content with the well-known "woman shouting cat" meme;
And in the Ship of Theseus level, he is also considering whether the object that hits the ship can be designed to be more surprising, such as Mickey Mouse.
In communication with some players, Falling Seven was also inspired to incorporate a gameplay mode similar to "Made in Valio" into the game. This gameplay mode allows the game to progress through the levels more consistently without disrupting its gameplay and depth, and it also makes for a more exciting experience due to the speed at which the levels are switched quickly.
Judging by the results so far, the attention this game has received has satisfied Falling Seven. Now his goal is to have at least 7,000 people wishlist before the game goes public, so that he can get recommendations from Steam.
Luo Qi said that promoting games is not his strong point, but he believes that it is the most necessary thing at this stage. He uses a thought experiment as an analogy: If a tree falls in the middle of a forest, but no one is present, does it ever make a sound?
"Physically, it must have made a sound, but if it wasn't heard, we couldn't really tell how the sound existed. It's the same with game marketing, even if you make a good game, it's pointless if no one sees it. ”