“We have nothing to lose but our leashes and the whole world to gain.”

May 8, 2020 10:54 AM

Tired of seeing socialist messages in games compromised by both-sideism and wanting to make an unapologeticially left wing game, the developer collective Pixel Pushers Union 512 have created Tonight We Riot (available on Steam and the Switch), a side-scrolling beat um up where the player controls a proletariat mob bent on tearing down the old order, focusing not on the actions of one character, but having the player needing to control a group movement to succeed.

Tonight We Riot Devs Wanted To Make An 'Unapologetically Leftist' Game, Kotaku:

Since you only control one character at a time in Tonight We Riot, using your comrades strategically is always more effective than charging in like Rambo. Every weapon you utilize is amplified by your fellow protesters, turning one thrown brick into a barrage of building materials. The game puts an impetus on solidarity by grading you on the number of protesters who survived to the end of the level. Meeting certain criteria will unlock better weapons and gear, like wrenches and body armor. You’re never rewarded for killing cops or destroying expensive automobiles. There’s even a Steam achievement for going the pacifist route, but it’s hard to keep protesters alive that way.

Tonight We Riot certainly won’t be winning over the “Blue Lives Matter” crowd, but Pixel Pushers Union 512 was careful to keep from going too far with their message of revolution. While leftists might not have an issue with the depiction of a Molotov cocktail crashing through the windshield of a cop car, the average person won’t always have a positive perspective on that kind of direct action. As the opening cinematic explains, the workers of Tonight We Riot are taking to the streets because they’ve been given no other option. Passive demonstrations have been savaged by police brutality. Democracy has been replaced by plutocracy. Human rights are non-existent. Peaceful revolution is impossible, thus making violent revolution inevitable.

posted by NoxAeternum (16 comments total)

I am completely unsurprised by this. The devide in the United States between people who are making it and people who are not, is so wide, it is only a matter of time before we see wide spread rioting and revolution attempts IRL. The wealthy should see this as their wake up call, and start funding the hell out of organizations that advance the public good. I suggest starting off by giving Planned Parenthood all of its money back.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 11:15 AM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Fox News is going to have a week-long 24-hour nonstop field day if they hear about this.
posted by Scattercat at 11:19 AM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Fox News is going to

make up whatever lie suits them, so we might as well have some fun and do whatever the fuck we like.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:29 AM on May 8, 2020 [42 favorites]

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posted by lalochezia at 11:34 AM on May 8, 2020 [6 favorites]

Anyone know if the Mac version talks to controllers properly? I've been burnt too many times on this to just drop $15 without knowing. Wish there was a PS4 version, I have neither a Windows machine or a Switch.
posted by egypturnash at 1:08 PM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Bikes Not Giant Robots!

...


...


...

OK, Bikes And Giant Robots!


Also bread, also roses.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:13 PM on May 8, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Core Features list on the About Page is pretty great:

• Couch co-op
• 20 unlockable weapons, gear, and perks
• A dog
• Whimsy
• Kaiju
• A wood chipper
• Endless Mode
• Horror Synth
• The unique catharsis that comes from throat-punching a billionaire ghoul who would rather watch the world and everyone on it burn than lose a tax break

posted by zamboni at 2:40 PM on May 8, 2020 [2 favorites]

I really would have appreciated a trigger warning for police violence on that trailer.
posted by bile and syntax at 2:55 PM on May 8, 2020 [2 favorites]

If Nintendo let this through, they've changed a lot since they made LucasArts bowdlerise Maniac Mansion to within an inch of its life.
posted by acb at 3:32 PM on May 8, 2020

CLICK HERE

buy class consciousness expansion pack for low cost of $1.99


Perhaps they could have purchasable avatars of famous revolutionaries, just so that every so often, Lenin's on sale again.
posted by acb at 3:52 PM on May 8, 2020 [8 favorites]

It's hard to tell from the video but the description of the mob mechanics kind of reminds me of Stubbs the Zombie.
posted by star gentle uterus at 5:31 PM on May 8, 2020

If Nintendo let this through, they've changed a lot since they made LucasArts bowdlerise Maniac Mansion to within an inch of its life.

Well, there's been a long, slow loosening of content standards on their platform as Nintendo has gradually managed to maintain relationships with third-party developers. On the N64, Nintendo published Conker's Bad Fur Day, which had that British lad mag humour that would have alarmed moral guardians had anyone given a single shit about a late-era N64 game, but Edmund McMillen couldn't get The Binding of Isaac published on the Wii U a decade later, as the framing story is about an abusive religious mother.

Nintendo have, at this point, accepted that they're not going to get any criticism directed at them for games released on their platform.
posted by Merus at 7:30 PM on May 8, 2020

I really would have appreciated a trigger warning for police violence on that trailer.

From the FPP: Tonight We Riot, a side-scrolling beat um up , proletariat mob, Every weapon you utilize, thrown brick, barrage of building materials, weapons and gear, wrenches and body armor, You’re never rewarded for killing cops or destroying expensive automobiles, Molotov cocktail crashing through the windshield of a cop car, Tonight We Riot, police brutality, Peaceful revolution is impossible, thus making violent revolution inevitable.

posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:10 PM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm puzzled that only Steam was mentioned in the FPP when the game is also available in itch.io and GOG.
posted by ElKevbo at 2:05 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

ActingTheGoat, do you think the objection was because of violence towards the police? And are you arguing that a person experiencing distress is wrong? (Since that’s what requesting a trigger warning is, rather than an expression of disagreement.)
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:43 AM on May 9, 2020

I see the words "police brutality" in the quote.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 8:53 AM on May 9, 2020