When I create I often tell a story on several levels. So things often get missed. The most glaring anti-capitalist facet of Dulcet Devilry Records begins before the player begins playing (or even if they never do).

Thus far, no one has stated the obvious - Why would anyone accept that a killer is on staff and allow it to go on? If you truly believed that the new act was untrustworthy you wouldn’t hire or keep them. That is CRAZY.

But that’s where it begins. The prospective player simply agrees with the premise. Just like when a record company cheats their talents we accept that as a part of the industry. We accept it as part of that business. Yes you need harmful data centers to have AI. Yes not paying others a proper wage is unfortunate but it’ll cost too much and you may not get the thing you want. In the game, as in capitalism, you’re presented with a system and you can either fight that system (and there is a route to do so) or give into it wholly and allow it to destroy lives. Sometimes we realize we’re in the system and sometimes we don’t (as most haven’t critiqued it concerning this game).

Horror and mystery is an excellent avenue for exploring these kinds of themes. What is a Scooby-Doo villain’s usual motive? Greed.

What made the owner of the camp in Sleepaway Camp keep it open despite obvious murders that he knew was happening? He didn’t want to lose out on money. Why didn’t Camp Crystal Lake close down after Jason drowned? Because he didn’t matter and making money did. In House on Haunted Hill the future victims are lured there with the promise of money - and couldn’t escape.

In real life, corporations ask us to accept terrible and dangerous situations all the time as normal. Dock and Railway workers are routinely maimed and killed, but we accept it. Not blindly, most don’t realize how common it is because the system actively hides it. In my country, when there’s a major tragedy people ask, “Can we really stop using that place? It will be a major-waste-of-money.”

In this game, you a play record label owner who wants to make it big. So much so that they link themselves to people they don’t even trust and others suffer for it. The game presents horror, as opposed to straight management, to say - can you really let this happen?! Yes - go bankrupt, isn’t that better? Don’t work with the new act, it’s okay! Is your dream of living large and being a big shot more important than the people you see every day? Is profit that important?

You’re stuck in that system before you even know it’s happening. But once you know…what will you do?

Also, there’s an element of indignation here. You notice one mechanic is missing - you NEVER pay your performers. The Stars or the New Act. You make profit. Wouldn’t it make sense to pay them at some point? If I’d added that mechanic people would have accepted that too. I didn’t because the player is playing a person that cheats their employees, spies on them, and has the ability to make or break their entire careers. (Like the Ronettes)

And for all of that? The New Act, in typical horror fashion, functions as a kind of punishment for sin. The player can absolve themselves or not. The new act does represent the Devil arriving but to punish if ways aren’t changed.

And if the devil is there to punish it’s because - the kind of capitalist system the player is in is evil.

That’s why the game is anti-capitalist. It’s constructed to make a moral judgement that leads to salvation or an inferno.