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Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#71

Post by alisonatwork »

StockHuman wrote: post #56

"Diary of a spaceport janitor" may not be a poverty sim, and looks from the color choices alone far from one, but it does capture a certain mood; a common feeling produced by the 'poverty wage in a bustling hub of wealth' life. Being a game, it's also an interesting take on exploring NPCs as a subject in games in a rather humanizing way, rarely do games treat them as having interior lives at all, or why far-out space…

This is the game I would suggest too. In my opinion it absolutely is a poverty sim. You work hard every day, but due to basic needs plus unforeseen events you end up never earning enough money to escape. The path that is suggested to you as the only means of lifting your curse requires doing a significant amount of extra work on top of your existing work, in a system that feels byzantine and actively hostile to your success. I really hated playing the game, and quit after a few hours of getting nowhere, but I suspect that was exactly the point.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#72

Post by PeterisP »

INTPenis wrote: post #69

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Sims. Starting a regular game without any cheats sure felt like being poor to me. Browsing through the catalogue of stuff for your house and all you can afford is the most basic version. I'm sure this can be improved upon with mods. Afaik they already have apartments.

Ah, I recall doing that in a very old version of the sims, by having someone destroy all their money and live on an empty lot without a house. Placing some items was pretty much required (IIRC a cable spool that counted as a table or a chair because some animations/actions were impossible if there were absolutely no surfaces to place stuff or sit down in the lot) but you could do a lot with the (free!) newspaper and with various things accessible in town to clean yourself, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#73

Post by mLuby »

INTPenis wrote: post #69

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Sims. Starting a regular game without any cheats sure felt like being poor to me. Browsing through the catalogue of stuff for your house and all you can afford is the most basic version. I'm sure this can be improved upon with mods. Afaik they already have apartments.

Generational wealth transfer and government subsidies are the only way out. At least that's what "The Sims 1 §0 starving artist challenge" shows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A9HvZ4vz74 (10min)

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#74

Post by jl6 »

I think if you succeeded in making a game that successfully simulated the experience of poverty, it would be extremely unfun to play.

There is a popular misconception that poverty amounts to having your bank balance reset to zero. “Damn, guess I’ll have to earn it all back”. But what you can’t reset or simulate is the human capital embodied within you that got you to this point. Your lifetime of education, your experience of problem solving, your strong network of contacts, your history of good decision-making. You also can’t ignore the physical comfort that you, the player, would be in as you play the game. With all of that, you very likely could just earn it all back.

That’s not what poverty is about.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#75

Post by Alekhine »

kurofune wrote: post #31

Pathologic 2.

I second this. Most stressful experience I've had playing a video game. You will most likely find yourself shanking some random person in the middle of the night for food, despite negative consequences. The game makes you desperate, very fast.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#77

Post by crispyambulance »

> Would it be possible to make a game that is both entertaining and educational about the real challenges these people face, at the same time?

Sure, just play Monopoly with a handicap against people who are really good at it and who collude against you. Not many folks would find that fun though!

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#78

Post by neilv »

IIUC, for better realism, you can't stop playing, you can't get new games, games you had before disappear, things outside the desperation game disappear, every week causes lasting damage to your console/PC health, government help with its Kafkaesque procedures stresses and humiliates you, neighborhood thugs randomly break down your door and use a hammer to hit your hands gripping the controller, but you still can't stop playing, because your only character is permadeath.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any good poverty simulator games?

#79

Post by BigBubbleButt »

jl6 wrote: post #74

I think if you succeeded in making a game that successfully simulated the experience of poverty, it would be extremely unfun to play. There is a popular misconception that poverty amounts to having your bank balance reset to zero. “Damn, guess I’ll have to earn it all back”. But what you can’t reset or simulate is the human capital embodied within you that got you to this point. Your lifetime of education, your exper…

> I think if you succeeded in making a game that successfully simulated the experience of poverty, it would be extremely unfun to play.

I don't think you're someone that plays many videogame simulations, as the whole point is making something fun that's inherently boring in real life. There are so many popular simulators for famously mind-numbing jobs: farming, janitorial services (and further niches within this including powerwashing), driving for hours on an empty desert road (both as a trucker or as someone that's just bored), and more.

Here's a great game that simulates trying to survive in an imaginary Soviet country. You pretty much always die, are coerced to murder people as part of your job, and usually watch as your family starves or freezes to death despite your best efforts to keep them alive. And you know what? I honestly think it's one of the best videogames ever made.

https://papersplea.se/

If the goal is to actually present the experience of poverty, then yeah it would be unfun to play by design. I wouldn't want that job in Arstotzka either, even if the game is fun to play. I'd also never want to be a truck driver, but I love the idea of doing it in a videogame.

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