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Nice work! I like the stealth gameplay, the sense of rebellion and resistance to the oppressing forces!

To be honest I'm a little unsure about the theme. I love the writing in your design document about "silent rebellion and hope" and to break rules as a form of necessary resistance against the forces destroying or future and planet, however I don't think picking up trash entirely captures that idea. The problem is that our whole society is built on capitalism and consumerism which necessarily creates endless waste, and picking up trash is not outlawed and does not in any way threaten the system.

Waste management is of course important, these are things that we need to sort out, but if that is the call to action I think it would be more interesting to focus on the societal or systematic aspects mentioned a few times in your design document. Why are companies allowed to pollute our word like this? Why have our governments not done their job and made sure we have working systems for waste collection and recycling?

Maybe you can adjust the framing slightly to an action a little more relatable to rebellion in the real world? You could be sneaking into industrial areas and exposing their pollution to the world in order to take legal action or build a movement against them?

Sorry if I'm being difficult. I just  really like the theme of rebellion, activism and resistance, I think that's vital if we are to have a future, but at the moment I have difficulty relating  the actions in the game to the action that needs to be taken in the real world.

Thank you so much for your feedback. And Kritzlof, you're not at all being difficult. You're being careful, constructively criticising, and motivating us. 

I agree with you on the front that corporations and governments should be responsible, and they should be responsible for the waste management structures. But littering is also a big problem. And a behavior one. Take a look at this article we published: Why do people litter? Can’t they just use the bin?

It explains why people litter and what the motivations behind it are. I understand that it's not real in the sense of why pollutinas outlawed cleaning/ correct waste disposal. Read the article here to understand it a bit more: Gamified Waste Bin: A New Perspective on Littering.

We promoted correct waste disposal with that game. Waste disposal is much necessary to build a campaign around and build a story around to stop littering. There's so many games or waste sorting but there's not game teaching waste disposal. And we plan on adding a backstory of why pollutinas outlawed cleaning which would make more sense to you because, that will reflect the corruption and dictatorial presence in our world. And also we're going to add gameplay to showcase the damage from factories as well. But, bottom line, this twist of outlawing cleaning/disposing waste is a digestible reason to not make the game too difficult to digest. It's a hook and starting point. And it's a twist to focus on waste disposal and waste management in a different story driven light. Because if we directly try to replicate what's happening instead of a bizarre twist it becomes too complex for a player to understand the game and be invested. It needs to be simple and unique.

We're still fleshing out everything and polishing everything to showcase the effects of plastic pollution. I hope this makes sense. Thank you so much.

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Ok. I understand were you're coming from and I'm not saying littering is not a problem, it might just be a difference in personal perspective and what framing of issues resonates more with me. You definitely seem like you know what you're talking about and I shouldn't complain that you're not making exactly the type of game that I'm most  interested in.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing your finished game!

The name "Dirtborn" is great by the way, haha!