Meritocracy (Ronynn)
This was a deeply sincere game that felt, hmm, sort of like a Mary Sue story written by a high school sophomore who had just discovered philosophy? I’m struggling a bit here writing this because it’s so sincere, and so much of the author themselves is dripping off of each sentence that any criticism of the game feels like a direct criticism of the author as a person. So I suppose I shall simply say that I greatly admire the author for putting themselves out there like this, and for caring so deeply about the subject matter. I feel this will serve them well as they continue to develop over time.
That said, the game was hard for me to read, because every philosophical idea put forth here is presented in very very black and white terms, and both sides of every argument seemed hollow to me. An argument was either an ad hominem attack, or it was completely justified. Living in the Meritocracy of the title is either a utopia or a hellscape. While I felt like nuance was attempted, I also felt like it almost never actually materialized. (To be fair, I also feel this is true about the vast majority of social media arguments, so the author is at least not alone in this.)
The setting is also, unfortunately, completely ludicrous. The ‘Mary Sue’ aspect of the writing comes out here in full force: the PC is the only person who actually attends a professor’s lecture, because they’re the only one who cares enough! They even have to coax the professor to share philosophy with them, overcoming their old and jaded nature! And yet, somehow, these philosophy-adverse fellow students arrange spontaneous debates with each other in the courtyard, skipping classes where they would have debated ad hominem arguments in favor of debating the nature of a Meritocracy in the quad.
It was a little hard to get through. Happily, though, people grow up, and with time and experience, I’m sure the same will be true here.
Did the author have something to say? Yes! I didn’t quite enjoy it, per se, but the earnestness of the whole game did win me over, at least to some extent.
Did I have something to do? Nope! Even beyond the literal fact that most text blocks are followed by single ‘click to continue’ links, the choices I did get were never compelling. And interestingly but frustratingly, I also felt that they didn’t fairly represent the actual philosophical issue at the heart of what was, ostensibly, the subject of the choice.