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Cautionary Tales Flash Games

Lose/Lose: The Video Game That Deletes Files Off Your Computer

Developed by Zach Gage, Lose/Lose is a game about choice and consequence. Have a look at it below.

Unlike any of the games you may have played before, where you are far removed from the result of your actions, Lose/Lose has very real consequences. In what looks like a classic top-down shoot-em-up, you control a space ship flying toward alien enemies. They aren’t your standard, over-the-counter enemies – these aliens are, in fact, based on random files on your computer. Kill an alien, and the file it is linked to gets deleted. Sounds dangerous doesn’t it? I think that was the intention.

By way of exploring what it means to kill in a video-game, Lose/Lose broaches bigger questions. As technology grows, our understanding of it diminishes, yet, at the same time, it becomes increasingly important in our lives. At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions? If we have reached that point already, what real objects do we value less than our data? What implications does trusting something so important to something we understand so poorly have?

You can download Lose/Lose from Gage’s online portfolio (it’s 5.8 MB and seems to be only for the Mac). Let us know if you were brave enough to play it, or if you tried it on someone else’s computer. In case I didn’t mention it, play this game at your own risk.

[via Geekologie]