026.Benjamingetsupinthemorning.Hegoestothetoilet.Heleavestheseatup.Hesho
wersandfixesbreakfast.Hereadsthepaper.Hefindsajob-asaTestSubject-startin
gtomorrow.It'snotmuch,buttimesarehard.Hereadsabook,andthenanother.Hefixe
slunch,naps,readsagain.Hegoestobed.Hegetsup.Toilet,shower,breakfastagain
.Hedoesnotmakehisbed.Hegoestowork.Hecomeshome,preparesanothermeal.Hetalk
stohisroommateBertabit.Hannahdropsby.Heflirtswithhersome.Hegoestobed,get
sup,doesthewholethingalloveragain.027.Daysgoby.Notmuchchanges.Hiscooking
improves.Hemakesnewfriends-Ted,Gersholm,Asja.Theydropbysometimes;sometim
eshevisits.Thereisthenewfurniture.Thatmakeshimabithappier,butnotmuch.Heg
etsapromotiontoLabAssistant.It'sthenightshift,butthepayisbetter.Thenhema
kesFieldResearcherandisbackworkingregularhours.AfterawhilehebecomesaScho
lar.Heissocreative,butithelpstohavefriendsifyouwanttogetahead.Heaspirest
obeingaTheorist.Thepayisbetter.Andthehours.HedreamsofyachtsandbigscreenT
Vs.BenjaminisaSim,acharacterinagamecalledTheSims.Onecouldbeforgivenforim
aginingthiswassomebody'slife.028.InTheSims,youcreatecharacterslikeBenjam
in,buildandfurnishhomesforthem,findthemjobsandfriends.Allinaworldwithout
asky.PerhapsagamelikeTheSimscouldbeaparodyofeverydaylifein'consumersocie
ty'.Benjaminandhisfriendsdreamofthings.Thingsmakethemhappy.Theyfindanice
sofasomuchmorerelaxingthanacheapone.Asthegame'sdesignerWillWrightsays:"I
fyousitthereandbuildabigmansionthat'sallfullofstuff,withoutcheating,your
ealizethatalltheseobjectsendupsuckingupallyourtime,whenalltheseobjectsha
dbeenpromisingtosaveyoutime.ÉAndit'sactuallykindofaparodyofconsumerism,i
nwhichatsomepointyourstufftakesoveryourlife."Othersdisagree.GamescholarG
onzaloFrasca:"Certainly,thegamemaybemakingfunofsuburbanAmericans,butsinc
eitrewardstheplayereverytimeshebuysnewstuff,Idonotthinkthiscouldbeconsid
eredparody."InTheSims,characterscanhavelotsofdifferentjobs,butasFredricJ
amesonsays:"parodyfindsitselfwithoutavocation"029.PerhapsagamelikeTheSim
scouldbeanallegoryforeverydaylifeingamespace.Intheallegoricalmode,saysWa
lterBenjamin:"Anyperson,anyobject,anyrelationshipcanmeanabsolutelyanythi
ngelse.Withthispossibilityadestructivebutjustverdictcanbepassedontheprof
aneworld:itischaracterizedasaworldinwhichthedetailisofnogreatimportance.
"ForBenjamin,thefragmentingofthemodernworldbytechnique,theprofusionofcom
moditiesthatwellupintheabsenceofacoherentwhole,findsitsexpressioninalleg
ory,whichfragmentsthingsstillfurther,shatteringtheillusionofbourgeoisord
er,revealingthemeansbywhichitismade."Whatresiststhemendacioustransfigura
tionofthecommodityworldisitsdistortionintoallegory."Andyetthispossibilit
ytooseemsexhausted.ThefragmentingofthefragmentedseemsroutinetoaSim.Nooth
erworldseemspossible.030.PerhapsagamelikeTheSimsisnotjustanallegorybutal
soan'allegorithm.'Tobeagamerisaslightlydifferentpersonatobeingareaderora
viewer.LevManovich:"Astheplayerproceedsthroughthegame,shegraduallydiscov
erstherulesthatoperateintheuniverseconstructedbythisgame."AlexGalloway:"
Toplaythegamemeanstoplaythecodeofthegame.Towinmeanstoknowthesystem.Andth
ustointerpretagamemeanstointerpretitsalgorithm(todiscoveritsparallelalle
gorithm)."Whatisdistinctiveaboutgamesisthattheyproduceforthegameranintui
tiverelationtothealgorithm.Theintuitiveexperienceandtheorganizingalgorit
hmtogetherareanallegorithmforafuturethatingamespaceisforeverpromisedbutn
evercomestopass.Theallegorithmbywhichthegamerrelatestothealgorithmproduc
esaquiteparticularallegorybywhichgamerandalgorithmtogetherrelatetogamesp
ace.Inagameanycharacter,anyobject,anyrelationshipcanbegivenavalue,andtha
tvaluecanbediscovered.Withthispossibilityachallengingbutfairverdictcanbe
passedontheprofaneworld:itischaracterizedasaworldinwhichanyvalueisarbitr
ary,yetitsvalueanditsrelationtoothervaluescanbediscoveredthroughtrialand
error.031.Analgorithm-forcurrentpurposes-isafinitesetofinstructionsforac
complishingsometask,whichtransformsaninitialstartingconditionintoarecogn
izableendcondition.GregCostikyan:"Algorithmicgamesareonesinwhichunderlyi
ngcalculationsorrulesdeterminethegame'sresponsetotheplayer'sinput."There
cipesthatBenjaminandotherSimslearnfromthecookbooksontheirbookshelvesarea
lgorithms.Benjamin'scareerasaTheoristisalsoanalgorithm.Thereisastartcond
ition:hemusthave8friends,4charismapoints,a7increativity,andsoon.Ithasend
conditions,too.With10friends,5charismapointsand10forcreativity,theTheori
stcareercanend,andanotherbegin.Thegamerselectsonesequenceafteranother,an
dgraduallylearnswhattheydo-that'salgorithm.Thegamerdiscoversarelationshi
pbetweenappearancesandalgorithminthegamewhichisadoubleoftherelationbetwe
enappearancesandaputativealgorithmingamespace-that'sallegorithm.(SeeFig.
2)Butthereisalwaysagapbetweentheintuitivelyknowablealgorithmofthegameand
thepassing,uneven,unfairsemblanceofanalgorithmintheeverydaylifeofgamespa
ce-thisistheformthatallegorynowtakes.032.Theimagesandstoriesthatpopulate
gamesaremostlycribbedfromsomeothermedia,fromnovels,filmsortelevision.Gam
esmostlyjustrecycle,or'remediate',bitsofrepresentationfromothermedia.Bol
ter&Grusin:"remediationisadefiningcharacteristicofthenewdigitalmedia."An
dhencenotspecifictogames.Fromthepointofviewofrepresentation,thegameisalw
aysinadequatetoeverydaylife.ASiminTheSimsisasimpleanimatedcharacter,with
fewfacialfeaturesorexpressions.InTheSims2theyseemalittlemorelifelike,but
theimprovementoftherepresentationinsomeparticularwaysonlyraisesthestanda
rdsbywhichitappearstofallshortinothers.Fromthepointofviewofallegorithm,i
tallseemsmoretheotherwayaround.Everydaylifeingamespaceseemsanimperfectve
rsionofthegame.Thegamespaceofeverydaylifemaybemorecomplexandvariegated,b
utitseemsmuchlessconsistent,coherentandfair.Perhapsthiswasalwaystheatopi
anpromiseofthedigital-arealofabsolute,impersonalequityandequanimity.Theg
ameopensacriticalgapbetweenwhatgamespacepromisesandwhatitdelivers.Whatis
trueisnotreal;whatisrealisnottrue.Thisiswhatthedoublemovementofallegorit
hmandallegoryhavetoreport.Thegameistrueinthatitsalgorithmisconsistent,bu
tthisveryconsistencynegatesaworldthatisnot.033.ImaginethatBenjamin,ourch
aracterinTheSims,makesittothepenultimatelevelandbecomesaTheorist.Perhaps
thenyoubuyhimacomputerbecauseheseemsboredwithreading.Whatwouldhedowithit
?PlayTheSims,ofcourse.BeingaTheorist,perhapshestartstothinkaboutit.Perha
pshejotssomethinglikethisinhisnotebook:"Thegamerwhoselistlessgazefallson
thecontrollerinhishandisreadyfortheallegorithm.Boredomisthebasisoftheall
egorithmicinsightintotheworld.Boredomlayswastetotheappealofthegameasgame
,andcallsattentiontotheambiguousrelationofgametogamespace.Allegorithmicp
erceptionisn-dimensional,itintuitsbehindappearancesinteractionsofmanyvar
iables.Theallegorithmicmodeofapprehensionisalwaysbuiltonanevaluativerela
tiontotheworldofappearances.Moreandmorerelentlessly,theeverydaylifeofgam
ersiscomingtoweartheexpressionofgamespace.Atthesametime,gamespaceseeksto
disguisetheungamelikecharacterofthings.Whatheightensthemendacioustransfo
rmationofgamespaceisitsappearanceinanundistortedforminthegame.Still,game
spacewantstolookitselfintheface.Itcelebratesitsincarnationinthegamer."03
4.Inthegamer,Benjaminmightsay,isrebornthesortofidlerthatSocratespickedou
tfromtheAthenianmarketplacetobehisinterlocutor."Only,thereisnolongeraSoc
rates,sothereisnoonetoaddresstheidler.Andtheslavelaborthatguaranteedhimh