Synopsis
A Sim running on a treadmill to their demise, compelled to repeat the action over and over, without any meaningful goal or higher purpose, is a poignant metaphor for life in the 21st century.
Ya gotta wob‘ere! Ya gotta wob’ere! (Don’t give up! Keep trying!) (2019) by Adonis Archontides is the third installment of a trilogy developed with/in The Sims 4 between 2018 and 2020, alongside Za woka genava (I think you are hot) (2019) and Sulsul! Plerg Majah Bliff? (Hello! Can I do something else please?) (2018). In all of these works, Archontides crafts challenging scenarios for Non-Player Characters (NPCs), exploring the challenges of our increasingly digital existence. Echoing Angela Washko’s seminal Free Will Mode, this work prompts reflection on control and chaos, agency and surveillance. […] What is indisputable is that this repetitive cycle interrogates the concept of autonomy within digital spaces.
