This game is by Mike Klubnika (creator of Control Room Alpha, Infineural, Carbon Steel, etc). He's great at building these dark dystopian worlds. I've included a playlist of his games at the end of the video. A note about the ending (Spoiler below): I've included the "loser" and "winner" endings for posterity but they are (deliberately) the same. I'd say this is a comment on the pointlessness of war and the fact that there are no real winners in war.
One does need to consider the fact that there are game masters and game runners in this scenario that exist above the game and facilitate it, which I think somewhat challenges the war interpretation. Considering how dense, concrete apartment blocks where people are fed tiny morsels of slop, have no agency or information, and are apathetically monitored by cold-blooded killers using elaborate military equipment, it seems much more likely to mainly be a commentary on how the poor are treated as a resource to be abused and ultimately discarded. Under this interpretation, the game is run by the rich (the voice on the phone) and carried out on various levels by the middle class (the heli-cops, the players), using the poor as the game pieces. Wouldn't you agree this is a more likely interpretation, though it certainly does not preclude the involvement of war as a theme?
Hi! Yeah, that's a great theory and could totally work! Thanks for your comment. I personally still lean towards the "there are no winners in war" theory due to the endings deliberately being exactly the same if you win or lose. Plus the whole thing feels a little bit military to me - the military chopper, the phone calls from a superior officer, the Soviet era buildings, buildings getting blown up and the fact you're playing Battleships. But it's just my opinion and could be totally wrong. Either (or both) could be correct! :)
@@MopedOfJustice that's an interesting thought. But no one said it can't be both. After all many countries run their armies on what's basically the low class of their society
@@AlphaBetaGamer My humble theory is that if a war has happened, then it is necessary to fight to the end, no matter what happens later, duty is higher than personal ambitions. We're all going to die, and most likely sooner than we hope, the question is-who are you going to die by. At the end, the player pulls the trigger himself, but dies victorious.
I really like the way that it starts you off as one of the poor slobs trapped in one of these apartment blocks. Also, that phone call bit. Imagine giving personally information over the phone and 10 seconds later your house blows up.
It is how it happens IRL. Cellphone data collected and analyzed in real time, a simple triangulation of too many cellphones in one place turns this place into a target for a missile strike.
This is absolutely chilling with its presentation. The cut from the prisoner to the overwatch chopper, the debrief of the "rules of the game", and the false phone call. The fact that the "occupants" can only wait in fear for their inevitable demise as everything crumbles around them. And with no real "winner" as both sides commit suicide. An excellent analogy, but also a really interesting world setting. Also the use of TTS coupled with the oppressive music is amazing.
If you listen carefully, you can hear a distant gunshot at the end when you go to retrieve your own revolver. There is absolutely no difference in outcome for either party.
I really like this sort of horror. It's so bleak and hopeless, even for the players supposedly in control. Not even the military guys are in charge. It doesn't matter what the lore is. Nobody wins, everyone is vulnerable, and there is little chance for survival.
10/10 In every way. This is such a great way of showing the horrors of war, but through the eyes of someone not on the battlefield. As opposed to a soldier that is actually present.
nowadays there's so much tech in war that there aren't as many people present at the battlefields, and when that field happens to be a city with civilians, well, you get concrete tremor
Love the creator's takes on work horror- from how see his take is either horror of pointlesness and horror of lack of information. In their games you play as someone who does a work they don't understand, in situation that seems to be going on for ages and by now noone even remembers the point. I can also see the quite Soviet era influences, not in just the dystopia, but mostly the ammount of near pointless work that seem to be done just to hide the inadequacy of the system around it. I hope people approach it with more broader view than just "Soviet times bad" as a metaphor can be applied ot more than one country
It seems very Kafkaesque, but in a more disturbing way than Kafka (I believe) every went. Kafka focused more on the absurdity of life and how nothing makes sense. This guy seems to focus more on the fact that a lot of what we do doesn't make sense and in many ways is horrifying in the ways we just go along with it.
as some other have pointed, the AI is completely scripted: it gets 5 hits every turn, except on the second turn where it misses all shots, allowing the phone call to happen. The one balancing factor is most of the grid being already filled in for the player.
I love how the line “they’re going to die anyway” doesn’t reveal its true many till the very end of the game, this dude is probably the most underrated game dev ever
I gotta say, these horror games like this one have a good plot intro to when someone starts a rebellion against the evil masterminds behind these acts, because someone they cared about died within those buildings while standing outside.
Not that it's BAD but I mean after everyone hopped on the "Liminal" train, I can see people being like "my game won't be popular unless it's in a concrete building"
@@happymartin6778 it might. Itll be worth it imo. All those trash backrooms games led the way for "the complex: found footage" which nailed the original feel of the concept perfectly. The trend will die when the apex of the idea is released. Strap in for the ride.
This is... quite the game of battleship, if anyone happens to remember board games from ages past. Also, that ending is cold. Nobody wins, except the head honchos who run this twisted game.
My brother kept cheating in games to win when we were kids, so imagine how sour he was when we played battleships and he found out I made all my battleships bent like Tetris blocks...
How many of us are here because the voices remind you of Faith??
2 года назад+2
Do the game's author have any relationship with Airdorf? A question to pose on his twitter might clear this out, but i want to say, you can have fun with SAM, Software Automatic Mouth, or rather be a Text-to-speech transmit program.
Absolutely loved this game. My only complaint is that the enemy ai is too hard scripted to always have 5 hits except for every turn except the 2nd where it gets 5 misses, like maybe have random hits or misses for the 1st one or two turns, complete miss for the next turn and then 5 hits for every turn as a way of suggesting that the enemy is getting hyperfocised on the game due to now being desperate and in rage over you not sparing his resident's lives despite you hearing their cries for help
I guess they didnt go for randomness ebcause then there would be a chance for more "all miss" from the AI, which should give a second or more phone calls that werent made by the devs. Even still, allow the AI to have 1 auto hit per turn and leave the other shots to chance, that would already solve the problem
ABG: I always found it a little hit or miss. Actual monster: YOU THOUGHT, N- Dog: scared crapless. Guess really no one messes around with the actual monster.
I hate the map of this game. Which is good, i think that is what they were going for. Convoluted and difficult to follow if you're not dedicating all your attention to it
Great idea and atmosphrere, but not so much value and substance. If it was a full-fledged battleship battle, it would-ve been great. But AI is cheating and his building is basicaly yours, just turn ur map 90 degrees. I dunno why there is no randomisation of this, chance that the enemy will get 5 misses again? It's not that hard to code 2-3 more calls and repeat them randomly. Also there's no explanation of what the hell is going on or why. Even small hints or starting/ending sequence like mike did in "Carbon Steel" For me - Great idea, good atmosphere and awful realisation.
What’s… what’s the point? I do not understand? Is that the feature? Why can’t I just run away with the gun? Why I can’t shot the phone? What if I do not pick it up? What if I obliterate myself prior to the game ending? Who’s in charge of this? Why are there people in buildings? Where are we heading? Are these things restored after each battle? What!? Why?! Where!? Is this again one of those many many “emo-grimadark” universes where everyone and everything is sad just because? And also there are winners in war want you that or no.
It's battleship. The buildings in front of you aren't the ones you're trying to destroy. You can't see your opponent's buildings. Goal is to guess and determine by where the "hits" are how their buildings are set up. As for the reason? Probably somebody's fucked-up way of executing Death Row prisoners.
How do you know they're in the room with you? They've probably got snipers or soldiers of some kind trained in on the station so that they can't do that. Also, what if they weren't forced into it? What if they wanted to do this?
@@Hellscrap3r Still not really seeing a reason for you to shoot yourself. Or bother taking part in the game. Since everyone would die anyway. Why would someone want to do this if they have to commit suicide afterwards?
@@Hellscrap3r I could absolutely see this game as a promise of salvation for the players if they cooperate, only to taunt them with the gun. They would know that it's the easy way out. If they resist? Well... I'm sure they would wish they'd used the gun.
This game is by Mike Klubnika (creator of Control Room Alpha, Infineural, Carbon Steel, etc). He's great at building these dark dystopian worlds. I've included a playlist of his games at the end of the video.
A note about the ending (Spoiler below):
I've included the "loser" and "winner" endings for posterity but they are (deliberately) the same. I'd say this is a comment on the pointlessness of war and the fact that there are no real winners in war.
One does need to consider the fact that there are game masters and game runners in this scenario that exist above the game and facilitate it, which I think somewhat challenges the war interpretation.
Considering how dense, concrete apartment blocks where people are fed tiny morsels of slop, have no agency or information, and are apathetically monitored by cold-blooded killers using elaborate military equipment, it seems much more likely to mainly be a commentary on how the poor are treated as a resource to be abused and ultimately discarded.
Under this interpretation, the game is run by the rich (the voice on the phone) and carried out on various levels by the middle class (the heli-cops, the players), using the poor as the game pieces.
Wouldn't you agree this is a more likely interpretation, though it certainly does not preclude the involvement of war as a theme?
Hi! Yeah, that's a great theory and could totally work! Thanks for your comment.
I personally still lean towards the "there are no winners in war" theory due to the endings deliberately being exactly the same if you win or lose. Plus the whole thing feels a little bit military to me - the military chopper, the phone calls from a superior officer, the Soviet era buildings, buildings getting blown up and the fact you're playing Battleships.
But it's just my opinion and could be totally wrong. Either (or both) could be correct! :)
@@MopedOfJustice that's an interesting thought. But no one said it can't be both. After all many countries run their armies on what's basically the low class of their society
@@CptnMango9108 That's true! I tried to mention that at the end of my comment, but it turns out it wasn't emphatic enough to come across properly.
@@AlphaBetaGamer My humble theory is that if a war has happened, then it is necessary to fight to the end, no matter what happens later, duty is higher than personal ambitions. We're all going to die, and most likely sooner than we hope, the question is-who are you going to die by. At the end, the player pulls the trigger himself, but dies victorious.
I really like the way that it starts you off as one of the poor slobs trapped in one of these apartment blocks. Also, that phone call bit. Imagine giving personally information over the phone and 10 seconds later your house blows up.
Yeah, I agree. It's those little touches that make it so much more personal and so much more disturbing!
It is how it happens IRL. Cellphone data collected and analyzed in real time, a simple triangulation of too many cellphones in one place turns this place into a target for a missile strike.
When the helicopter flew over they mentioned your character being one of "two players". You might have been playing as the poor guy the whole game.
ask a Palestinian
@@iwantnodexactly how a platoon of ukrainians got vaporized at the start of the war - from one careless soldier with an active cell phone
This is absolutely chilling with its presentation.
The cut from the prisoner to the overwatch chopper, the debrief of the "rules of the game", and the false phone call.
The fact that the "occupants" can only wait in fear for their inevitable demise as everything crumbles around them.
And with no real "winner" as both sides commit suicide.
An excellent analogy, but also a really interesting world setting.
Also the use of TTS coupled with the oppressive music is amazing.
Yeah
Nah
The winner is the one who calls you from the chopper
If you listen carefully, you can hear a distant gunshot at the end when you go to retrieve your own revolver. There is absolutely no difference in outcome for either party.
Oh god. That phone call to the person inside the building was chilling.
I really like this sort of horror. It's so bleak and hopeless, even for the players supposedly in control. Not even the military guys are in charge. It doesn't matter what the lore is. Nobody wins, everyone is vulnerable, and there is little chance for survival.
Glad to see the voice actors from Faith found some more work. I was starting to worry about them.
"You are tEaRinG me apart, LiSAaaaaa...!"
sufeerrrrr
Gary loves us
M O R T I S
I HAVE THE BODY OF A PIG
10/10 In every way. This is such a great way of showing the horrors of war, but through the eyes of someone not on the battlefield. As opposed to a soldier that is actually present.
nowadays there's so much tech in war that there aren't as many people present at the battlefields, and when that field happens to be a city with civilians, well, you get concrete tremor
The mood and the tone of the game is done so well
What happens if you lose on purpose and don't blow up anything? You can bet on the same spot 5 times unless the game prevents you from that.
Then you'll just commit suicide
It's still the same. There must be no Witnesses.
The game is still scripted to always have 5 hits for every turn except for the 2nd where it's a complete miss
Megastructures + Bleak Horror + Dystopia = My Jam
Blackcurrant + blueberry + caramelised pear = my jam
you should try babdi
I half expected the winner’s remaining buildings to detonate
The style seems like those analog horrors, very creepy
Really looks like
Love these short games that showcase a single idea, love that more channels dedicated to them are popping up
Love the creator's takes on work horror- from how see his take is either horror of pointlesness and horror of lack of information.
In their games you play as someone who does a work they don't understand, in situation that seems to be going on for ages and by now noone even remembers the point.
I can also see the quite Soviet era influences, not in just the dystopia, but mostly the ammount of near pointless work that seem to be done just to hide the inadequacy of the system around it.
I hope people approach it with more broader view than just "Soviet times bad" as a metaphor can be applied ot more than one country
It seems very Kafkaesque, but in a more disturbing way than Kafka (I believe) every went. Kafka focused more on the absurdity of life and how nothing makes sense. This guy seems to focus more on the fact that a lot of what we do doesn't make sense and in many ways is horrifying in the ways we just go along with it.
I like it how regardless of the result of the game, the outcome for the player is the same.
Gotta love those faith voice actors. They make me wanna *M O R T I S*
It is recorded with SAM, Software Automatic Mouth, or rather be a Text-to-speech transmit program
"I'm terribly sorry, there has been a mix up. You are not supposed to be here, you will be evacuated.
Ｉ ｊｕｓｔ ｎｅｅｄ ｔｏ ｋｎｏｗ ｗｈｉｃｈ ｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ ｙｏｕ＇ｒｅ ｉｎ．"
That first game gives me the vibe that the AI can just choose to win. Last three turns, didn't miss a single shot. lol
as some other have pointed, the AI is completely scripted: it gets 5 hits every turn, except on the second turn where it misses all shots, allowing the phone call to happen. The one balancing factor is most of the grid being already filled in for the player.
MORTIS
Makes you wonder what happens if you can get one where you miss every single time?
love the use of sam software automatic mouth. this game gets a 10/10 from me.
Brilliant concept
My god, that environment! Absolutely chilling. Reminds me of the weird nightmares I sometimes have.
Greetings Professor ABG.
A strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
I must be the grand prize winner cuz I never play these games abg does xd
I love how the line “they’re going to die anyway” doesn’t reveal its true many till the very end of the game, this dude is probably the most underrated game dev ever
It’s so bleak and hopeless…the droning ambiance, the atmosphere, the lack of true control by the end…is this what a true dystopia feels like?
Now that's a TRUE hororr
I am simple man. I see cute dog at beginning of video I click like.
I gotta say, these horror games like this one have a good plot intro to when someone starts a rebellion against the evil masterminds behind these acts, because someone they cared about died within those buildings while standing outside.
After hearing these TTS voices in Faith, all I can think of are John, Gary, and maybe Father Garcia.
Damn, that's dark.
Aww, I love the little K9 cube! 😍
Holy crap V1 is the voice actor of this game
Very creative game and setting, I throughly enjoyed it.
P.S. your puns were of the highest quality.
I hope with this and Babbd there isn't going to be a trend of games that are like "OH MY GOD, COMMIEBLOCKS?! I'M GOING INSANE!"
Not that it's BAD but I mean after everyone hopped on the "Liminal" train, I can see people being like "my game won't be popular unless it's in a concrete building"
@@happymartin6778 it might. Itll be worth it imo. All those trash backrooms games led the way for "the complex: found footage" which nailed the original feel of the concept perfectly. The trend will die when the apex of the idea is released. Strap in for the ride.
This is... quite the game of battleship, if anyone happens to remember board games from ages past.
Also, that ending is cold. Nobody wins, except the head honchos who run this twisted game.
What a game ! Definitely going to play.
My brother kept cheating in games to win when we were kids, so imagine how sour he was when we played battleships and he found out I made all my battleships bent like Tetris blocks...
The voice they used in this reminds me of faith
Alright, we need a multiplayer for this...
Great outro!
The voice dub reminded me of many video of SCP 001 - When days break....
It's kinda nice that he now has a CBDog, thiught he ending to this one is super dark. If you win you die, if you lose you die.
Leveling apartment buildings and entire neighborhoods in an open-air prison? Hmmmmmm🤔
I love your Doctor Who reference!
6:12 one tiny harmless spider was found chilling in one of the building's corners
The occupational safety and health administration:
Great, who sunk my battleship?
Imagine if winners went to heaven and losers went to hell, or both go to hell. Either ending is fine.
10:08 Mortis!
i love the aesthetic
How many of us are here because the voices remind you of Faith??
Do the game's author have any relationship with Airdorf?
A question to pose on his twitter might clear this out, but i want to say, you can have fun with SAM, Software Automatic Mouth, or rather be a Text-to-speech transmit program.
GOD!! That was terrifying. Thanks for the great vid 😊
0:23 could use some blood
Mortis voice 😆👍
Absolutely loved this game. My only complaint is that the enemy ai is too hard scripted to always have 5 hits except for every turn except the 2nd where it gets 5 misses, like maybe have random hits or misses for the 1st one or two turns, complete miss for the next turn and then 5 hits for every turn as a way of suggesting that the enemy is getting hyperfocised on the game due to now being desperate and in rage over you not sparing his resident's lives despite you hearing their cries for help
I guess they didnt go for randomness ebcause then there would be a chance for more "all miss" from the AI, which should give a second or more phone calls that werent made by the devs. Even still, allow the AI to have 1 auto hit per turn and leave the other shots to chance, that would already solve the problem
“Not sparing his residents lives” buddy both sides lose regardless
@@MumboJumboZXC we humans don't exactly just give up even if we know we're losing
That would directly go against the themes of the game. Neither player could care less about the lives they are playing with.
i like your intros
hmm cool
Happy New Years Everyone! 🎉
And that’s why I don’t give out my address on the phone. 😂
This game was way better than Cruelty Squad.
you sunk my battleship
Beautiful game
HAPPY NEW YEAR.........i guess im late :(
Thanks! Happy New Year to you too! :)
@@AlphaBetaGamer :"D thanks
DONT BE AFRAID JOHN, MORTIS!!!!!!!
ABG: I always found it a little hit or miss.
Actual monster: YOU THOUGHT, N-
Dog: scared crapless.
Guess really no one messes around with the actual monster.
V1 ULTRAKILL?!?!
where i can get his games?
are they in steam?
Yo Microsoft SAM?
Specifically the one used in Faith too.
O, Megakhrushevka
Is this game made by the same dude who made buckshot roulette?
yes
Diabolical 😢
Is the were the opponent hits scripted?
I hate the map of this game.
Which is good, i think that is what they were going for. Convoluted and difficult to follow if you're not dedicating all your attention to it
Based game
What in the Squid games.
Soviet Union Updated Edition
I always would have preferred if this game didn't basically have cheating AI
V1? Is that you?
I’m lost. How do you win?
@@UncommonDabfish That's a crazy answer. What I really meant to ask was how do you play.
The only winning move is not to play.
@@CATASTEROID934 sometimes you have no choice in war.
@@UncommonDabfish I truly appreciate your time 🙏🏼 thank you and Happy New Year.
Great idea and atmosphrere, but not so much value and substance.
If it was a full-fledged battleship battle, it would-ve been great. But AI is cheating and his building is basicaly yours, just turn ur map 90 degrees. I dunno why there is no randomisation of this, chance that the enemy will get 5 misses again? It's not that hard to code 2-3 more calls and repeat them randomly.
Also there's no explanation of what the hell is going on or why. Even small hints or starting/ending sequence like mike did in "Carbon Steel"
For me - Great idea, good atmosphere and awful realisation.
isn’t this battleship?
Putins favourite game
Underrated comment 🤣🤣🤣
real... it's a game about war...
the real nightmare is that OSHA still exists
What’s… what’s the point? I do not understand? Is that the feature? Why can’t I just run away with the gun? Why I can’t shot the phone? What if I do not pick it up? What if I obliterate myself prior to the game ending? Who’s in charge of this? Why are there people in buildings? Where are we heading? Are these things restored after each battle? What!? Why?! Where!? Is this again one of those many many “emo-grimadark” universes where everyone and everything is sad just because? And also there are winners in war want you that or no.
Idk man it’s meant to be cool and it is
I dont understand this game
But he is só bealtiful
@@srpattolo4604 turns war into a game
It's battleship. The buildings in front of you aren't the ones you're trying to destroy. You can't see your opponent's buildings.
Goal is to guess and determine by where the "hits" are how their buildings are set up. As for the reason? Probably somebody's fucked-up way of executing Death Row prisoners.
"Twisted Battleships" lmaooo as if Battleships don't have fathers and sons dying in them too.
He means battleship the boardgame. This is a twisted version of thst boardgame
@@chandlerdoeswhatifs9399 And I mean that Battleships was already twisted. Dude. Is there something you're not getting?
@@yueshijoorya601 War crimes are worse than actual war
@@DeoMachina Okay, sure buddy. Sure 🤣
@@yueshijoorya601 This is fairly uncontraversial, targeting civilians is almost completely accepted as being worse than targeting soldiers
Corona 2025
I love your videos, but the intro is a bit obnoxious for me with the TTS whispering
I feel like Mike's games deliver a fantastic atmosphere, but they lack substance, and have low replay value.
What I don't get is why you'd bother playing.
You have a gun.
Use it to shoot someone who forced you into the situation.
How do you know they're in the room with you? They've probably got snipers or soldiers of some kind trained in on the station so that they can't do that.
Also, what if they weren't forced into it? What if they wanted to do this?
@@Hellscrap3r Still not really seeing a reason for you to shoot yourself.
Or bother taking part in the game. Since everyone would die anyway.
Why would someone want to do this if they have to commit suicide afterwards?
@@Hellscrap3r I could absolutely see this game as a promise of salvation for the players if they cooperate, only to taunt them with the gun. They would know that it's the easy way out. If they resist? Well... I'm sure they would wish they'd used the gun.
So its literally battleship but... stupid?