Future Game — Freed.
Tags: gamedev, programming, computerscience
Published: 2020-12-25 21:57:36



### Game Summary

Freed embarks the human desire to grow powerful and stimulates the growth of an empire. Everyone in this game starts at $1000 and individuals must invest, purchase, and make decisions that will lead to the creation of the greatest empire. > Empire:** **a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority

In Freed, this definition translates into the amount of revenue you make and the number of crucial assets you own. You must accomplish this goal within your lifespan which is confidential, thus time is precious. Upon completing the game, you will receive the true meaning behind Freed and you may have come in to build your empire, but you will leave never wanting to play again.

### Live Screen

The game is structured as if you are monitoring a world with things that you own. You will see your assets displayed on the live screen, as well as people entering or interacting with your locations. You cannot contact anyone on the live screen, however, you may maneuver your assets.

![https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*y3WdclN8uKZjzOEqwGnRTA.png](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*y3WdclN8uKZjzOEqwGnRTA.png)

*game visualization, made on Canva*

### Assets

Each player starts with two available slots to hold their assets. These assets may be buildings, locations, family members, etc. As one may grow in wealth, the capacity of assets that can be owned at once will expand. When there is a conflict of needs, you may sell one of the assets in an occupied slot and buy a new one.

### Buying/Selling

- **Buying**: visit the shop and you will see what is available for purchase. If you have sufficient funds and space, your purchase will appear in one of your available slots
- **Selling**: To sell assets, visit the auction house and you will be granted more space to attain new assets while also receiving the resale price.

### The Shop

When purchasing buildings and locations, there will be a purchasing price, resale value, and your **return value** per visitor. On your live screen, you will have a view of your assets inside a simulated world — your empire. For each person who interacts with your assets, you will receive the indicated return value

Aside from buildings and locations, you may think it’s wise to invest in **family members, friends, or pets.** These investments count as an asset and naturally, it takes up an available slot. It’s not guaranteed that these investments result in high returns, they may even be considered an expense. Despite so, if it’s a chance you would like to take, do as you wish.

### How do I Initially Make Money?

Making money is simple. To make money with what you have, no occupations or stocks are available. Once the player enters the game, you will only be able to do one of three things:

1. **Buy a lemonade stand:** bring in revenue a dollar at a time and have a legendary story. Lemonade stands can be upgraded.
2. **Sell all your clothes:** receive an instant reward of $100, just enough to buy your own hut!
3. **Buy a vending machine:** You never know how much you may receive

## Meaning Behind The Game *SPOILERS*

### |The Inevitable Death|

1. Death scenario A: **GREED** > “You’ve won! You’ve built up all your wealth and you have nothing left but death. The goal was to build the greatest empire . . . but at what cost?”
2. Death Scenario B: **FREED** > “Unfortunately you were unable to build the greatest empire, however, don’t be upset! Sometimes life isn’t about building the greatest empire, but the greatest, most fulfilling life. “

### Endings Explained

**A:** Here in Freed, you are tasked to build the greatest empire, and to do so, investing in anything other than buildings and locations are not ideal. This game likes to put into perspective how an individual who’s only goal is to reign with supreme authority perceives the world. Because of this, the title you receive once you lose is no longer freed, but **greed.** You kept everything to yourself and the money you made would re-enter the continuous loop of investment and spending. Some may say that money *is* freedom, yet this is not true when **money is the one thing that controls you** — how you think, the way you live, what you desire, etc. This path reveals the individual transition from having the freedom to do as they wish to the epitome of greed. > greed: an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

**B:** Losing the game is actually an indication of winning. When we can view family, friends, or pets as more than mere assets and investments, it’s easy to have them take up a slot. Although this is not ideal in the game, once you die and lose, you are finally free of having to view everything as a cycle of investing and spending. You have successfully seen the benefits of the unknown, the things that do not have a guaranteed return value. I congratulate you if you manage to get this result!

**C:** If you lost the game without investing in anything other than buildings and locations, I would recommend refining your skills. This game is not meant to be challenging more than it is meaningful.

## Inspiration

I’m not sure. Sometimes ideas just come in and out, however, this was the first game idea I had that was a quick, somewhat well-thought-out game that had some meaning behind it. Although the origin of the idea is undefined, I’m sure that ideas can form because of the awesome computer science community I am part of.

![https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*9FzgdbmRgivDAgDB7EpQDA.png](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*9FzgdbmRgivDAgDB7EpQDA.png)

*This is us enjoying a holiday game night and secret Santa. haha.*

### That’s a Wrap

Just a stinky disclaimer, I have yet to complete my first course in my game dev stream and so any feedback would be great. More ideas are to come so keep posted!

Find me on:

Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-yung/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-yung/)

GitHub: [https://github.com/veronicaYung](https://github.com/veronicaYung)