TOver the weekend, I, along with around 70 others, spent more than eight hours in a theater playing a video game focused on donkeys, reincarnation, and organized labor. Political, unpredictable, and brimming with donkey puns, Asses.Masses is a rather basic video game crafted by Canadian artists Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim alongside a small group of collaborators. However, the theater environment, surrounded by fellow players shouting suggestions and opinions, transforms it into a collective performance art piece.
Here’s the setup: a controller rests on a pedestal in front of a massive projected screen. Inside the seats: the audience. Anyone who wishes can stand up and take charge, embodying the crowd. The game kicks off with a series of questions, mainly concerning donkeys, some in various languages. It becomes evident that collaboration is essential for answering the questions accurately. Our group included some Spanish speakers and another who had insight into engineering. I surprisingly knew that female donkeys were referred to as genets.
This aspect makes games a collective endeavor. Typically, just one person holds the controller, but everyone contributes as they guide a team of donkeys on a long, surprising, and increasingly surreal journey to reclaim jobs taken by obsolete farm machinery.
Within the span of 10 chapters (thankfully interspersed with meals and frequent breaks), we controlled a variety of humorously named donkeys, contemplated collective action, industrialization, and labor politics, debated actions and dialogue, and laughed a lot on the cheekier side. Without revealing too much, the show’s content warning gives a good glimpse of what to expect: it includes violence, strong language, simulated sexual situations (both donkey and human), police brutality, and even references to drug use and suicide. I was amused to learn that this Glasgow performance ignited a minor moral uproar from a group named ‘Parents Watch Education’, featuring coverage from the Daily Record under the title ‘Parents slam teen show featuring simulated donkey sex, murder and drugs‘ (The show is recommended for ages 14 and up and notably prioritizes humor over realism.)
Asses.Masses is a thought-provoking game with multiple innovative ways to engage. I must admit it was quite an endurance test. I had to bend down for a bit halfway through to rest. It’s been years since I sat down and played a video game for eight hours straight. Thankfully, I had a more physically fit friend with me who compensated for my breaks by taking over the controller for the final chapter. At one point, feeling overwhelmed by the audience’s varying opinions, I put down the controller, placed my hands on my head, and quietly empathized with all the union and labor organizers who have had to herd and prioritize the voices of their own passionate members.
This game could have utilized the concept of group dynamics more effectively. I suspect very few of our collective decisions truly made sense. In reality, we mostly observed someone else play rather than actively participating, akin to a Twitch live stream. Theater enthusiasts tend to get really excited about incorporating video game elements into performances, leaving me to ponder if they’re less familiar with the mass participation and engagement that video games offer during multiplayer, streaming, or interactive online conversations.
I found myself wanting to invite friends over to use the controller all day, reminiscent of my early 20s. A friend recalled a video game book club he used to host. There, we’d gather as a group of six playing games like “What Happened at the Finch House” (which prompted plenty of laughter). While Asses.Masses is explicitly designed for group engagement, there are numerous other short, thought-provoking games that could also be adapted to this format, possibly evoking interesting reactions from audiences. Given the number of players joining Twitch, I suspect there’s a considerable appetite for such experiences.
As I stumbled out of the theater into the rainy Glasgow night, I felt a real sense of camaraderie with the few audience members I was with. Typically, when I finish a game, I’m alone in my living room in the middle of the night while my family sleeps, without anyone to discuss it with. This time, we debriefed as a collective, reminding ourselves of the necessity of human interaction in creating engaging dynamics in our games.
evaluation.Mass is to Global tour until September 2026
what to play
Here are two spooky (but not overly scary, since I’m a bit of a wuss) selections for Halloween week. First up: The Séance of Blake Manor. This is a folk horror detective game that Keith enjoyed. It features a collection of quirky characters gathering at a Gothic hotel for a séance on All Hallows’ Eve. The second choice is the Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival, an annual, limited-time virtual Halloween celebration initially created as a lockdown alternative to in-person gatherings. You can create your own sheet ghost with a face, carve virtual pumpkins, step into a spooky microworld, and showcase it to other players. There’s plenty to explore from hayrides to spooky cinemas to haunted house escape rooms. It will be available for about a week following Halloween, and you can check it out the next day at itch.io on a pay-what-you-want basis.
Available: computer
Estimated play time: 15-20 hours (Blake Manor seance); 2 hours (Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival)
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what to read
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Last week’s biggest news was that Microsoft is bringing Halo to PlayStation, a notion unimaginable a few years back. Specifically, it’s a remake of the classic (and it’s awesome, don’t challenge me on this) Halo: Combat Evolved, set to release across all platforms next year. Xbox executives argue that console-exclusive games are becoming antiquated, as Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra pointed out: “Please inform that to Nintendo.”
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A report from Business Insider highlights how EA’s leadership has urged employees to utilize in-house AI for “just about everything,” ranging from coding to marketing conversations. Some workers voiced apprehension about essentially being paid to train their future replacements while simultaneously creating more work to rectify the AI’s errors.
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Following collaborations spanning everything from K-Pop Demon Hunter to Daft Punk, the next major Fortnite crossover has been revealed: The Simpsons, featuring the entire Springfield map and character skins. It is set to launch on Saturday.
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question block
This week’s leading question comes from Emily:
“I read your article about the game baby steps and it was very similar to Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. It’s often challenging and requires players to start from scratch, which can be frustrating but also fascinating. What are some games that are purposely difficult yet still enjoyable to play?”
Emily, you’ve made a sharp observation here, as Bennett Foddy is one of the three main developers (and voice actors) of baby steps, extending his philosophy of crafting games that elicit groans of self-pity. (This is an interesting story where he discusses suffering and games.) Foddy’s work serves as a masterclass in this realm, especially since the ’90s, where games have been designed to minimize suffering and streamline experiences for players, removing something crucial that makes them engaging.
I often indulge in games that test my patience, and thanks to Foddy’s influence, I can now comprehend why. The more painful the experience, the greater the satisfaction (and the lesser the boredom – my personal torment). The standout titles include the aforementioned baby steps, Dark Souls/FromSoftware canon (excluding SEKIRO, which genuinely frustrated me), Cuphead, Super Meat Boy, Return, and of course, Hollow Knight: Silk Song, which will definitely be out soon.
If you have any questions for the question block or anything else you’d like to address in the newsletter, feel free to reply or email us at pushbuttons@theguardian.com.
Source: www.theguardian.com
