the castle doctrine

Jason Rohrer isn't like other game designers. He isn't really like them at all. From his early days eschewing videogame norms to make a game about the inevitably of death and loss in Passage to cooperative storytelling intrigue-o-tron Sleep Is Death to wild (and controversial) Minecraft "religious" experiment Chain World, Rohrer's games aren't escapism. They often make people uncomfortable. They often make him uncomfortable. The…

OK, first things first: Castle Doctrine, Passage, and Sleep is Death creator Jason Rohrer is a giant. I am automatically more inclined to believe anything very tall people say. They've seen so much more than the rest of us from their monolithic neck perches, their giraffe-like forms stretching up into stratospheres I've only dared imagine. Also, it's instinct: big person beat me up, ergo ideologically…

Right then. Now I've had a little catharsis by revealing how home invasion-themed MMO The Castle Doctrine made me feel, I want to talk a little more about its mechanics.

The Castle Doctrine, the upcoming game from Passage and Sleep Is Death creator Jason Rohrer, is an indie MMO about criminals invading your home, and you invading their homes. A combination of base-building and puzzle-solving, it's also an examination of how it feels to be both victim and villain. I've spent some time with an early version of the game.I killed a woman for the…

In the first part of an extensive, illuminating and arguably controversial interview with Passage, Sleep is Death and Chain World creator Jason Rohrer, we discussed his new game, the fascinating but sinister home defence MMO The Castle Doctrine, making virtual possessions and people matter and why he chose to include only male protagonists. In this second and final part, we pick up mid-chat about issues…

Indie dev Jason Rohrer, creator of Passage, Sleep Is Death, Inside A Star-Filled Sky, The Diamond Trust of London and the near-mythical Chain World is a divisive game designer, because reasons. I personally reckon his stuff is reliably fascinating, bold and often important (including on those occasions that I've rather bounced off it), so I've been very keen to find out more about his upcoming…