I guess I don't know enough philosophy to understand some of the jokes.
Anthropomorphism: the apple moves like the snake, man was made to the image of god and so on.
Apocalypticism: the game just ends after a few moves without notice.
Asceticism: the game ends if you eat the apple, you are supposed to be like a faquir.
Capitalism: you start the game with 50, spend 10 each apple you eat - when you are broke you can't afford the apple.
Casualism: I had to Google this one, the screen just flashes
with random squares.
Conservatism: just the plain old snakes game.
Determinism: the snake just moves by itself and you are unable to control the game - your destiny was set in stone the moment you were born.
Dualism: you can control the snake body with the regular controls, and you can move the snake mind with your mind. My mind is too weak so I was unable to move the snake mind.
Existentialism: you move the snake in a dark screen - after reading the wikipedia I guess the joke has to do with freedom in a meaningless world.
Holism: the whole screen moves with the snake (makes it very hard to get the apples in the corners)
Idealism: imagine you are playing a game of snakes
Monism: your play is not restrained by the walls - after reading it I guess the joke is about you being made of the same substance of god or something like that
Narcissism: when you finish the game it sends an email to the creator about how much you love his work.
Nihilism: just a black screen, no snake, no apples - nothing in the world really exists.
Optimism: you see apples everywhere but looks like they are not nourishing because the snake doesn't grow.
Pessimism: the play field is smaller and the apples appear outside of the walls where you are unable to reach.
Positivism: you see only a narrow part of the play field, I guess the joke is that you are unable to know the universe because our senses are limited.
Post-apocalypticism: no apples, you just move through a scrambled play field.
Romanticism: every time you eat an apple you see a cheeky statement like "food tastes like ashes when I'm not sharing it with you".
Stoicism: like a plain old snake game but you don't die when you hit the walls or yourself - after reading the wikipedia article I guess the joke is that virtue is sufficient for happiness, so the sage is immune to misfortune.
Utilitarianism: you have only two very narrow paths, one with 5 apples and other with one apple. If you take the one with more apples you win, otherwise you loose.
Just few comments based on my interpretations (not necessary more correct):
Anthropomorphism: as apple moves, you attribute intentions and feelings to it - now it flees, now it gave up and so on.
Determinism: you start out as usual trying to control the snake, but very quickly realize everything is predetermined and your sense of control is illusion.
Monoism: we are all part of oneness, you are devouring yourself.
Nihilism: I especially liked that you cannot go back to menu, you have to refresh the page. It's kind of a dead end in terms of meta-game (game of games).
Optimism: The reason you are not growing is that would make the game more difficult. You stay forever a child.
Positivism's actually quite interesting from a game design point of view --- because you can only see in front of you, you can't tell where your snake is or how big it is; so you're playing blindly, waiting for that moment when you get long enough that you start glimpsing parts of your own tail coming out of the darkness... it genuinely adds new interest to a really tired old game.
(Although, UI-wise, I'd like the play area to distinguish between spaces which you can see but don't contain anything and spaces which you can't see.)
Romanticism: don't forget the mood-setting music in the background.
Stoicism: you can however lock yourself up, ending with no valid direction for next move. However, the game doesn't end, so you have to restart. There's probably a philosophical implication here, though I can't think of one.
Yeah, I noticed that as well. I interpreted it that stoicism forces a certain way of thinking that can lead to very bad outcomes with certain way out. Effectively a one-way path with no exits and no way to reverse course.
Reminded me of the trolley problem too, but the fact that the game says "You win" when you take the path with 5 "apples" confused me. Seems like much less of a dilemma than the trolley problem.
It's a mirror of the trolley problem, because your goal is to maximize points driven over instead of to minimize them (because you're a snake eating apples). But it shares the basic structure (you can do nothing and get the more wrong solution, or make an active choice and get the less wrong solution). Also, the game field is structured to make it immediately visible it's a reference to the trolley problem.
> Seems like much less of a dilemma than the trolley problem.
From utilitarian point of view, it's exactly the same dilemma.
The game is a great opportunity to scan through the definition of each of the scientific terms and get an understanding. And your list is a perfect motivation to compare my comprehension with your summary of each game variant. Thanks.
I take issue with their representation of determinism: since chains of cause and effect are what connects your actions to your will, it should in fact be the only version of the game where the player gets to control the snake :)
In conservatism: The snake doesn't grow immediately when eating the apple, it freezes for a frame and then increases in size, showing the reluctance to change.
Anthropomorphism: the apple moves like the snake, man was made to the image of god and so on.
Apocalypticism: the game just ends after a few moves without notice.
Asceticism: the game ends if you eat the apple, you are supposed to be like a faquir.
Capitalism: you start the game with 50, spend 10 each apple you eat - when you are broke you can't afford the apple.
Casualism: I had to Google this one, the screen just flashes with random squares.
Conservatism: just the plain old snakes game.
Determinism: the snake just moves by itself and you are unable to control the game - your destiny was set in stone the moment you were born.
Dualism: you can control the snake body with the regular controls, and you can move the snake mind with your mind. My mind is too weak so I was unable to move the snake mind.
Existentialism: you move the snake in a dark screen - after reading the wikipedia I guess the joke has to do with freedom in a meaningless world.
Holism: the whole screen moves with the snake (makes it very hard to get the apples in the corners)
Idealism: imagine you are playing a game of snakes
Monism: your play is not restrained by the walls - after reading it I guess the joke is about you being made of the same substance of god or something like that
Narcissism: when you finish the game it sends an email to the creator about how much you love his work.
Nihilism: just a black screen, no snake, no apples - nothing in the world really exists.
Optimism: you see apples everywhere but looks like they are not nourishing because the snake doesn't grow.
Pessimism: the play field is smaller and the apples appear outside of the walls where you are unable to reach.
Positivism: you see only a narrow part of the play field, I guess the joke is that you are unable to know the universe because our senses are limited.
Post-apocalypticism: no apples, you just move through a scrambled play field.
Romanticism: every time you eat an apple you see a cheeky statement like "food tastes like ashes when I'm not sharing it with you".
Stoicism: like a plain old snake game but you don't die when you hit the walls or yourself - after reading the wikipedia article I guess the joke is that virtue is sufficient for happiness, so the sage is immune to misfortune.
Utilitarianism: you have only two very narrow paths, one with 5 apples and other with one apple. If you take the one with more apples you win, otherwise you loose.