The Game: The Game by Angela Washko

Angela Washko’s The Game: The Game is a feminist computational video game that explores the politics and tactics of the pick-up “artist” through the form of a dating simulator. As the player, you encounter several major “seduction coaches” who attempt to woo you through an array of techniques and practices taken from their instructional material – which range from cheesy and uncomfortable to out-right violent. In creating The Game: The Game, Washko essentially allows the player to understand and, in turn, expose and defuse the manipulative and disturbing practices of these pick-up artists. That’s also what I admire most about it; on the surface, it’s a strange, funny, and disorienting game; dig a little deeper, however, you’ll have a nuanced view of the social implications and power dynamics in the world of contemporary sex.

An associate professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, Angela Washko is a politically-active media artist working in a variety of mediums – namely, film, virtual environments, and interactive video games – with the aim of conveying unconventional stories from unusual perspectives in media. I’ve personally attended one of Washko’s lectures and, needless to say, I’m elated to have the opportunity to write about them.

https://angelawashko.com/section/437138-The%20Game%3a%20The%20Game.html