Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor: Difference between revisions
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== Development and plot == |
== Development and plot == |
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''Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor'' was created in light of the [[Gamergate controversy]], where female video game developer Zoe Quinn was repeatedly harassed for non-conventional projects. Developer |
''Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor'' was created in light of the [[Gamergate controversy]], where female video game developer Zoe Quinn was repeatedly harassed for non-conventional projects. Developer Isobel Shasha said:<blockquote>"Obviously, [harassment] wasn't new. We all knew it was happening. We were feeling pretty disenchanted with certain aspects of the community. I think it's impossible at some level to separate certain cultural things about game spaces from games themselves. We had a lot of conversations about what player expectations are, and how we can either subvert, play with, or outright fuck with their expectations,"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title='Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor' Asks Players to Find the Beauty in Garbage|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jm5gek/diaries-of-a-spaceport-janitor-asks-players-to-find-the-beauty-in-garbage|last=Knoop|first=Joseph|date=2016-09-28|website=Vice|language=en|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref></blockquote>The player's role as a janitor that [[Social mobility|never escapes]] their original routine, the regular [[Police brutality|abuses of power]] by the game's police force, and interactions with other NPCs are all intended as metaphors for capitalism.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diaries of A Spaceport Janitor Makes Cleaning Up Trash Beautiful|url=https://kotaku.com/diaries-of-a-spaceport-janitor-makes-cleaning-up-trash-1786777168|website=Kotaku|language=en-us|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref> |
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In addition to this, the game contains themes of transgender experience and of mental health. The skull that follows the player immediately after finishing the introduction is a metaphor for depression as well as whatever the player's personal experience with mental illness be.<ref name=":0" /> In order to avoid the player's field of view from going hazy, they must regularly purchase "gender" -- a metaphor for dysphoria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Video Games Discovered Their Humanity|url=https://frieze.com/article/how-video-games-discovered-their-humanity|last=Martin|first=Gareth Damian|website=Frieze|language=en|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref> |
In addition to this, the game contains themes of transgender experience and of mental health. The skull that follows the player immediately after finishing the introduction is a metaphor for depression as well as whatever the player's personal experience with mental illness be.<ref name=":0" /> In order to avoid the player's field of view from going hazy, they must regularly purchase "gender" -- a metaphor for dysphoria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Video Games Discovered Their Humanity|url=https://frieze.com/article/how-video-games-discovered-their-humanity|last=Martin|first=Gareth Damian|website=Frieze|language=en|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 21:21, 15 February 2021
| Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sundae Month |
| Publisher(s) | tinyBuild |
| Programmer(s) |
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| Writer(s) |
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| Platform(s) | macOS, Microsoft Windows |
| Release | September 16, 2016 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | |
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor is an anti-adventure video game developed by Sundae Month and published by tinyBuild. The game released on Steam on September 16, 2016.[1]
Gameplay
The player controlled character plays the role of an NPC, acting as a janitor in a sci-fi themed bazaar. The player character must pick up and incinerate trash, the ability to do so is on a cooldown rate per day, while managing hunger and periodically purchasing "gender".
Development and plot
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor was created in light of the Gamergate controversy, where female video game developer Zoe Quinn was repeatedly harassed for non-conventional projects. Developer Isobel Shasha said:
"Obviously, [harassment] wasn't new. We all knew it was happening. We were feeling pretty disenchanted with certain aspects of the community. I think it's impossible at some level to separate certain cultural things about game spaces from games themselves. We had a lot of conversations about what player expectations are, and how we can either subvert, play with, or outright fuck with their expectations,"[2]
The player's role as a janitor that never escapes their original routine, the regular abuses of power by the game's police force, and interactions with other NPCs are all intended as metaphors for capitalism.[3]
In addition to this, the game contains themes of transgender experience and of mental health. The skull that follows the player immediately after finishing the introduction is a metaphor for depression as well as whatever the player's personal experience with mental illness be.[2] In order to avoid the player's field of view from going hazy, they must regularly purchase "gender" -- a metaphor for dysphoria.[4]
Reception
The game's themes and narrative were praised for being "a reverse-power fantasy"; even being compared to Papers, Please and Cart Life, if only "with a happier aesthetic".[5] The game has a Metacritic score of 69.[6] Its "gender" mechanic allowed itself to be placed in the "Queer Games Bundle" on Steam.[7]
References
- ^ Sykes, Tom (2016-09-10). "Burn alien trash in Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor, out next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ a b Knoop, Joseph (2016-09-28). "'Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor' Asks Players to Find the Beauty in Garbage". Vice. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ "Diaries of A Spaceport Janitor Makes Cleaning Up Trash Beautiful". Kotaku. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ Martin, Gareth Damian. "How Video Games Discovered Their Humanity". Frieze. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ Beltran, Blynn. "A frustratingly good poverty simulator of a space janitor". The Skyline View. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ "Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor". Metacritic. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ Heller, Emily (2018-08-09). "Steam's Queer Games Bundle puts LGBT representation front and center". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-06-02.