Editor's note: I do not hate my computer or life enough to try this game. But Lance does (see comments)! -Demian

TIGSource recently published an article about a game called Lose/Lose. The concept is simple, done to death even: You are a space captain facing a seemingly unending horde of alien invaders.

Lose/Lose generates the alien invaders from real files on your computer, and here is where the game gets interesting/scary. From developer Zach Gage:

Lose/Lose is a video game with real life consequences. Each alien in the game is created based on a random file on the player's computer. If the player kills the alien, the file it is based on is deleted. If the player's ship is destroyed, the application itself is deleted.

Although touching aliens will cause the player to lose the game, and killing aliens awards points, the aliens will never actually fire at the player. This calls into question the player's mission, which is never explicitly stated, only hinted at through classic game mechanics. Is the player supposed to be an aggressor? Or merely an observer, traversing through a dangerous land?

Why do we assume that because we are given a weapon and awarded for using it, that doing so is right?

By way of exploring what it means to kill in a video game, Lose/Lose broaches bigger questions. As technology grows, our understanding of it diminishes, yet, at the same time, it becomes increasingly important in our lives. At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions? If we have reached that point already, what real objects do we value less than our data? What implications does trusting something so important to something we understand so poorly have?

Gameplay video here.

What are Bitmob's thoughts on this? I find the concept interesting and a great example of games as art, but unsuspecting players could really damage their systems with the game. And imagine the malicious pranks people could pull on their friends, which begs the question: is Lose/Lose malware?