Not all science fiction ages well. George Orwell’s 1984 is one that does.
His book about Winston Smith’s life in totalitarian Oceania forever at war with Eurasia — or Eastasia — has had a profound impact on the world since its publication in 1948. Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime. We now have a shared vocabulary for how a totalitarian regimes work. Winston is cured from his insane idea that two plus two always equals four and learns to love Big Brother. Telescreens in every room. Forever wars to distract the masses.
Those who control the present control the past. Those who control the past control the future.
Orwell’s book is not about gadgets but about ideas. While Winston receives his work orders on paper in a tube system, completes his tasks using a speakwrite, and sends all traces of unwanted facts to the incinerators, we can easily imagine how these devices look in our life today. Information isn’t stored on paper and digital traces of every revision that ever existed are stored forever. However, if we only care about the latest headline of the day and only learns about the past by querying ChatGPT, we are not far from a world where those who control the data centres, algorithms and software, control the present. Those who control the present control the past. Those who control the past control the future.
Interview with game designer Johan Eriksson
Last year at Slay Beyond Slay, I met Swedish game designer Johan Eriksson and his game Oceania 2084, a game inspired by Orwell’s book. Johan released a pay-what-you-want edition last year and currently runs a kickstarter game for a surplus edition of Oceania 2084. While I haven’t yet had a chance to play the game, I have read it and am curious about how it works, what it does, and why it exists. I decided to ask Johan about the game and the development process — of which he agreed — and to share the conversation here on Thoughtful Dane.
Johan Eriksson, what is two plus two?
Hi! Well. I know that the right answer is five. But. I cannot abide by this nonsense! I will not budge. It is four.
Are you sure? Nothing I say or do can change that? By the way, thanks for joining me for a chat about your game Oceania 2084.
Ha ha, yeah, I’m sure. Thank you for the opportunity!
Why does Oceania 2084 exist?
Ok, great question. I found a Reddit thread saying that Orwell's 1984 could not be made into a roleplaying game, so I guess I accepted the challenge. That is one answer to the question. Another answer is that I wanted to make a game that expressed something real. Something I believe in. A political game.
Cool with the challenge. I believe all games should be created out of passion. The game exists now and you even managed to have someone on the internet claim that it isn’t a role playing game. That’s a great achievement!
Haha, yeah it was a pleasure having my game rejected by someone I do not agree with.
An anti-authoritarian game
So Oceania 2084 isn’t for everyone. Who is this game for?
It is for anyone likes gaming in the same way as reading a thoughtful or thought-provoking book. Anyone who cares about the world in a deep way and who sees that we are heading towards a plethora of dystopias, if not already in one. It is a game that takes the medium of games seriously. Not as in so serious so it’s not enjoyable but serious as in games mean and say things. They are cultural artefacts as any other creation.
It is not for people who think that might is right. It is an anti-authoritarian game and it seeps through in all of the design decisions.
Just as the novel 1984 is serious. How many times have you read the book?
I read the book for the first time when I was around 14. It changed how I understood the world at the time. I re-read it when I was around 25. It felt stale. I had changed. I read Orwell’s other books instead, like Homage to Catalonia. Then I re-read 1984 when I decided to write the game.
I reread it recently before doing this interview. I read it differently now than when I read it first time 30 years ago. Not all science fiction holds up but 1984 surely does. There is a lot in there I can relate to today both in the world and in my personal life.
Acts of defiance
How is the experience you get from playing Oceania 2084 different from re-reading 1984? In what way is the game different from the book?
The experience of playing the game is tense. It is the antithesis of power fantasy, but it is still ultimately a hopeful game. The game has two experiences baked into it, one is if you are playing as a resistance character (modelled after the narrative arc of Winston from the book) and a completely different experience if you play as Big Brother. The experience of playing as Big Brother is one of strategy, resource management, and trying to outsmart the other players.
The game is a re-take of Orwell's dystopia. I use symbols from his book such as The Party, Big Brother, and thoughtcrime and I reimagine them in a way that allows each gaming group to decide what their Big Brother is, how their thoughtcrimes work, and what The Party stands for in their game. What is defined in the rules is how these symbols enact power over the resistance players.
So Big Brother is playing to win over the resistance players?
Yes. His goal is to eradicate dissent. To kill off all resistance characters. If he succeeds the game is over.
In 1984, the character Winston Smith doesn’t die but learns to love Big Brother. Total submission, total loss of agency, total loss of identity. A fate worse than death. Is this the fate that awaits the player characters in Oceania 2084? Can the resistance players win?
There is no end state of the game other than ultimate defeat. If the players end the game before Big Brother achieves this, Big Brother still wins. It means that the characters gave up on their ideals. Victory for the resistance characters is instead found in their resistance. Their small wins, the successful acts of not falling in line.
We act against oppression because it is the right thing to do.
There is a philosophical reason for this. We as humans in the real world can never win against oppressive forces permanently. The resistance to oppression is not something we will ever be done with. We act against oppression because it is the right thing to do, because it is needed, and in order to live better lives. We keep on fighting even when no winning is in sight.
So winning for the resistance players is to live another day in defiance of powers that be? Postponing submission another day? Abuse of power triggers an act of defiance?
In the game it is the reverse. The resistance players have the initiative. An action by the resistance characters may trigger a reaction from Big Brother. He is a reactionary force. Always responding and always defending status quo.
A narrative tug-of-war
What play experience does Oceania 2084 deliver at the table? How does it play? Can you give an example of how the game helps deliver the intended experience?
For the resistance players (and to some degree the Big Brother player) it is a collaborative storytelling game with rules-regulated narrative control. The central conflict is about who gets to describe what parts of the world and when. If no resistance character has narrative control in a scene it falls by default to Big Brother. Resistance players always try to win narrative control and Big Brother always try to regain control. It becomes a tug-of-war between the two.
Resistance characters die when they are caught. The player whose character died picks another character to play. They can pick any character that their martyred character had as a family member or as a friend. Players are dealing with the legacy left behind by their dead characters in a very tangible way.
There is a legacy aspect in the game. One mechanic is called Notes. This is a player-driven pay forward rule where what one character does at one point in time later grants another character a resistance bonus. Also, the resistance players control friends and relatives. Other resistance players play relatives and friends whenever a scene includes them.
This reminds me of how we played Call of Cthulhu back in my youth. Always invent stories of your own to avoid furthering the plot of the keeper that eventually lead to a violent death or crippling insanity.
Definitely! Oceania 2084 has drawn a lot of inspiration from several horror games. Call of Cthulhu is one of them.
Gets you thinking
What are feedback you have received from players after playing the game?
Players were pleasantly surprised that the game ran so smoothly and that it created profound and strong stories. They get deeply invested in the lives of the characters that they co-create and it feels poignant when a character goes through interrogation or disappears in the night. Another response is that playing the game gets one thinking about our real-world situation. In a good way.
Great feedback. I remember what attracted me to your table at Slay Beyond Slay was the tense engagement of the players in creating their resistance cell and little act of defiance.
One other thing. For people who are very used to roleplaying games, common feedback is that they got "aha" moments during play about the way the system works. I guess I have used tropes of TTRPGs in ways that are unexpected.
The kickstarter campaign
The game already exists. You can download Oceania 2084 right now from your page on itch. What is then the goal of the kickstarter campaign? What will happen if/when the project funds on May 10th?
Yes! Oceania 2084 is published under a Creative Commons Share Alike license. I have the privilege of not relying on the income of my games and always publish my games for free.
The kickstarter funds the printing of 500 copies of a limited-edition book. I wanted the game to survive the downfall of internet (I am joking but also serious). Digital artefacts are very convenient, but they do not stand the test of time. I wanted this game to exist in the real world.
Printed books have been around for 500 years, disks for less than 100. It is scary how easy it will be to constantly recreate the past as in 1984 with every fact only captured on disk and consumed through chat bots.
Yes, absolutely.
Great answers, cool game. Thanks for doing this. Best of luck with the kickstarter.
Thank you for initiating this! It was a blast. Good questions!
Learn to love Big Brother
Check out Oceania 2084 on Itch and on kickstarter. Or go to your local library and find a print copy of 1984, switch off all your devices, and follow Winston Smith as he learns to love Big Brother.