The Westport Independent
By Coffee Stain Studios AB
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Description
A game about Censorship, Corruption and Newspapers
The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator taking place in a post-war country, governed by the recently elected Loyalist Party. As the editor of one of the last independent newspapers in the country, your job is to remove and edit the content of your paper, affecting the people’s opinion of both the rebels and the Loyalist government. With an increase of rebel activity and an ever watching government breathing down your neck, whose truth will you print?
Features
- Change the content and meaning of your articles by censoring them to your liking. While you can’t lie, you don’t have to tell the whole truth either.
- Employees with fleshed out character, who will not only react to your actions, but also discuss them with other colleagues.
- Receive letters and messages from public figures, rebel leaders, employees and other characters affected by your actions.
- Adaptive stories where your actions affect the opinions of the people, which affects what happens in the city, which in turn affects the stories you receive.
Awards and recognition
- Biggest surprise at The MIX GDC 2015, IGN
- Part of "Three Cool Surprises From PAX 2015", from Kotaku
- Part of "The Very Best Indie Games of GDC 2015", from Gameinformer
- The Best of GDC 2015, 148 apps
Customer Reviews
Good Game, But Very Short
Let me get this out of the way: this game is phenomenal. It has a great art style, and great music. But it has a few flaws. First, it doesn't really feel like the choices you make impact the story. I played through this twice, and I got the same ending both times, which leads me to believe that the choices you make in this game don't matter. Second, it's an interactive story, not a game. This "game" tells the story of the rise of the Loyalist Party, and has little to do with the newspapers. You choose what to leave in and what to take out, but the story moves on in the same direction, unless you screw things up along the way. Thirdly, this game is too short. I played this twice, and got about an hour playing time out of it in total. That is a little short for a $5 game. Maybe they will add more stuff, to make this game with buying. I know it is developed by very few people, and that has limits, but a couple more things would have been nice. An endless mode, a longer story, just so it feels like I didn't waste $5 on a short game.
My advice: wait until this game has a few more features, or is possibly a little cheaper, then experience it for yourselves.
As a former journalist, I really wanted to like this game
Unfortunately, it's just not that good. It crashes repeatedly, and more importantly, there doesn't seem to be any real objective. Put aside for a moment that it trivializes the concept of censorship by too often presenting you with binary choices with headlines and edits that unabashedly forward one faction's ideology. The biggest problem from the standpoint of fun is that there is no objective. The ending changes based on your choices, but your options are either anarchy, authoritarianism or the status quo. There is no winning, and there is no incentive to pursue a good newspaper product. I thought the idea was to subvert government censorship while subtlety influencing public opinion against the government by exposing its lies and hypocrisy. Nope. The rebels are just as bad, and there is no scenario in which you "win." Very disappointing, not to mention overpriced for the amount of gameplay, as you can finish in under an hour, easily.
Great Game and a Great Theme Song
I love this game. I think it is well thought out and well executed. I personally find no similarity between this and Papers Please, other than they are both thought provoking. I love the theme song and I beg of you to put it on iTunes. I would buy it right away!
Although it is a very fun game, I find myself tapping the icon multiple times to try to get in. Also, it sometimes crashes, forcing me to restart the week.
Also, please do not extend the game, I am very Rebellious, and I would not survive for more than twelve weeks.
I would also like some more articles, so each slot and week has more of a diversity.
Anyway, this game is one of my favorites and I NEED the theme song on iTunes!
- $4.99
- Category: Games
- Released: Jan 20, 2016
- Version: 1.0
- Size: 71.3 MB
- Language: English
- Seller: Coffee Stain Studios AB
- © 2016 Coffee Stain Studios
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.