What You Learn Playing the OCD Computer Game
Follow nonsensical decisions or get deactivated, little droid.
Sick of spending your free hours without capricious dictators and threats of termination? We’ve got a game for you.
Operations Calibration Droid is a free download, but if you feel it’s worth it you can name your own price. And that’s the last choice you’ll make. The game is ultimately not about winning; it’s about doing exactly what you’re told.
“The Central Computer issues commands, and the Operations Calibration Droid carries them out,” the game explains. “That’s just the way things work around here. The instructions don’t always make sense, but the little robot does what it’s told, for fear of being deactivated!”
The 8-bit player is old school, with gameplay relying on arrows and the spacebar and an infectious, urgent soundtrack. The directives can get a little weird (like being tasked to pet six chickens and no more), but the masochism seems essentially good natured. The central idea here is to not have opinions — to engage in tasks rather than creative thinking.
If that sounds awful, well, you won’t enjoy the game. But it ultimately is a bit of a relief, a meditative online alternative to chopping wood.
