Negotiation in a world like the one in Griftlands amounts to combat by another name: swindle or be swindled. Combat is of course a zero-sum game by its very nature, in that there necessarily has to be a winner and a loser. This consists of a deck-building mechanic which breaks down into combat and negotiation, fitting right into the overall theme of exploitation.
Griftland’s in-depth structure and progression system reward multiple runs. It’s a game that would benefit from a little bit more context. Even though the trio has similar plot arcs, the writing is wonderful on the whole, yet I couldn’t help wanting to know more about the world and how it works. There’s thievery and corruption There’s tithes and taxes. This takes place at multiple levels: while you’ve got the questionable actions of Sal, Rook and Smith on the one hand, you’ve got the various predations of church and state on the other. Exploit or be exploitedĮxploitation is in everything in Griftlands. You can shape the story through some of your decisions, but the overall theme is the same no matter which path you choose to take. Then there’s Smith, a black sheep who gets cut out of their inheritance by their siblings after the death of their wealthy parents. Sal is a bounty hunter trying to get revenge on the person who sold them into indentured servitude as a child, while Rook is a war veteran hired to prevent workers from rising up in revolution against a robber baron. There are three playable characters: Sal, Rook and Smith. Everybody is either swindling or being swindled–sometimes both at the same time. The concept of alienated labor is, in many ways, the key to understanding the story in Griftlands. In short, you have to get them before they get you. The developer behind Griftlands, Klei Entertainment, takes capitalism to its logical conclusion by imagining a world in which no alternative to exploitation exists. As such I’m alienated from my labour, and you get a pile of unearned income. The result is that I get ripped off and you get substantially more. Yet I worked on these for 200 hours, while you only spent 20 hours. You pay me $2,000 and pocket the remaining $8,000, since you purchased the materials needed for the boots. We make 100 boots a month, which nets us $10,000 at $100 each. You’re taking what belonged to someone else, who contributed more to the very process of production.īear with me for a bit, but let’s say you’re a small business owner who spends an hour daily on the shop floor apart from weekends, while I work 50 hours a week making boots. The idea is this: you can get more money from the sale of a commodity than you actually deserve, in terms of your contribution to its production, by claiming it as your personal property.
These take several different forms, but alienated labour is, by far, the most important part of this process. Capitalism is based on systems of exploitation.
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