Even though Sweatshop is no longer featured on the Apple Games Store, I was still able to get access to it. This is because of the interesting review I read about the game and wanted to experience it firsthand. I downloaded the game from another site and began playing it with a clear mind not knowing what to expect. The game is about running a clothing factory, getting orders, getting the designs done and delivering them to move to the next level.
At first, it was all fun getting orders, creating them, taking the orders to the factory and watching the workers work really hard to make sure the order comes out well. From then, delivering the orders to the customers, getting their reviews, making more points, adding new machines to the factory and employing more workers was all fun until things started changing. As I moved higher in ranking with new levels, time became a factor for me. I had to start working against time to deliver on time. But that wasn’t where the issue lied.
Take a visual imagination of a clothing factory; imagine the huge machines and all. Then imagine a bulky order coming in with a workload that is more than the amount of workers in the factory. Will you expose your workers to harm, drain them of their energy and watch their health deteriorate because you want to meet up with the orders?
That was exactly what I faced. It was a difficult decision to make. I could keep the factory floating and add more machines to it, change the designs and keep up with the orders but that would be at the detriment of my workers. It would mean losing my humanity just to make sure I build a fortune. It was sad to say the least. I don’t want to attach the word “depressing” to it but that was exactly how it felt like. I did not know that something virtual, something simulated could have such an effect on me. I had downloaded the game hoping I would prove the reviews wrong but instead it got the better of me.
This brings me to the book, Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal. It is a book that combines reality with the gaming world to show how hours and hours pumped into game playing can be harnessed. It spoke about how games as insignificant as arcade games can go a long way in affecting our psychic as humans and how much of our emotions it can reshape and sharpen.
Sweatshop had that effect on me. It touched that part of me that makes decisions. I did not make decisions because it favoured just me. I had to put the workers in my factory into consideration. These workers may exist only in the virtual world but their wellbeing became a source of concern to me. I did not want to put them in harm’s way because I wanted something big. They came first and because of that, I stopped the game in the 8th level. I knew with the way the difficulty increased with each level, it wouldn’t be long before I start making some irrational decisions. I needed to avoid that at all cost.
This has also helped me in my dealings now in reality. If I want to make a decision now, I consider a lot of things, most of all, how it will affect others aside me.The end
TRAVIL 