A big thank you to everyone who played, rated and reviewed Flygskam Simulator.
2019 has been an extremely challenging year in my personal life. As the year drew on, entering IFComp couldn’t have been further from my mind. Then, in a moment of curiosity, knowing I’d missed the deadline to enter, I looked at the comp website to see what was happening. That’s when I noticed the deadline had been extended by a week. I smashed that ‘register’ button, even though I had no idea what I was going to submit.
The climate crisis has loomed large on my radar during the last year, so it felt like a fitting topic to tackle somehow. I like to make my games slightly political, so that I can put any low ratings or harsh reviews down to people who just disagree with my viewpoint. It’s completely self-delusional, but it keeps me writing!
My entry for last year was deemed too clumsy with its politics by some, so I wanted to use a lighter touch this time. I probably kept it too light, but I did see plenty of reviewers mentioning how they had to look up the term Flygskam. That was my real goal with the game. If just one person who played my game or read a review of it decided to take a deeper look at their own travel habits, that would be a huge win.
It was also my first time experimenting with a lot of randomness in a game. A risky approach, knowing that some players would likely make it to Hamburg on their first playthrough and not feel the need to play again. But I wanted to stay true to my subject matter. In my experience of long-distance bus travel, random drama is a constant risk. Most of the random events in Flygskam are based on things I have experienced in real life over the years, although, luckily, I haven’t lost my passport yet!
I know Flygskam was a lighter experience than many players were looking for, but there were plenty of other games in the comp offering wonderful, deep experiences. My game was part of the rich IFComp tapestry (woven with green thread, of course). I’m just extremely proud of myself for creating something for the competition considering everything else that’s been going on in my life, and I loved being part of the IFComp community again.
You can catch me in this year’s Ectocomp if you feel like playing a game from me that has a little more depth to it!