In this very special final episode of the first season of Leveller, we look back on our year and discuss which games we think deserve some extra attention in our Alternative Political Game Awards. Join us to hear which game got us most thinking about the threat posed to nature by big corporations, which made us think about engagement, our overall best game of the year, and many many more.

Game List

Adam:

Stray

Alan Wake 2

Valorant

Fortnite

Content Warning

Chained Together

Another Crab's Treasure

Baldur's Gate 3

Crusader King's 3

Divinity Original Sin 2

Black Myth Wukong

Callisto Protocol

Citizen Sleeper

Cult of the Lamb

Elden Ring

Sims 4

Stardew Valley

Dead Rising Remaster

Deus Ex Mankind Divided

Dredge

Left 4 Dead 2

Moonring

Firewatch

Gris

Ghostrunner 2

Hades 2

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Papers, Please

Thirsty Suitors

Chants of Sennaar

Still Wakes the Deep

Venba

Inscryption

Kentucky Route Zero

Papa's Quiz

Mario Kart

Alba

Snipperclips

Layers of Fear

Final Fantasy XVI

Silent Hill 2

Thank Goodness You're Here

Rainbow Six Siege

Helldivers 2

Balatro

Emma:

World of Goo

Papers Please

Inside 

Gunpoint

Error 143

A Date with Death

Hades 2

PalWorld

Huniepop

Boyfriend Dungeon

El Paso Elsewhere

Dave the Diver

Moonring

Control

Farcry 5

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Lethal Company

Stardew valley

Sims

Mario Kart

Mario Party

Snipperclips

Alba

Kentucky Route Zero

Cult of the Lamb

Papa's Quiz

Tears of the Kingdom

Dead Cells

Valorant

The Finals

2XKO

Inscryption

Thank Goodness You're Here

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Why do the Tories choose bad leaders? Why are they so divided? And what role does ideology play? 

In this episode, we are joined by Oliver Booth, fellow PGR at the University of Leeds and researcher of the Conservative Party and British Politics. We talk to Oli about Crusader Kings 3 (vaguely) to discuss the path to power, party instability, factionalism, and much more!

Works mentioned: 

Booth, O. (2024). The Downfall of Boris Johnson: Analysing Patterns of Opinion among Conservative Parliamentarians in the Confidence Motion and Mass Resignations. Representation. 

Booth et al. (2023). Selecting Sunak: Conservative MPs’ Nomination Preferences in the (Second) British Conservative Party Leadership Election. Parliamentary Affairs. Volume 77, Issue 3, July 2024, pp.450–469.

Heppell, T. & Booth, O. (2023) The Conservative Party Leadership Election of 2016. In Roe-Crines, A. S. & Jeffery, D. (eds.) Statecraft: The Policies and Politics of Prime Minister Theresa May. (pp. 13-32). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Find Oli here:

• https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/pgr/1380/oliver-booth 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-booth-a48440188/?originalSubdomain=uk 

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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In this episode, we discuss Ustwo’s 2020  Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, a heartwarming exploration game in which you play a young girl who documents wildlife and strives to save the local nature reserve from being replaced by a luxury hotel while visiting her grandparents. Join us as we explore what Alba has to say about the trade-offs between economic growth and environmentalism, the power of community action, and the role of young people in changing the world. 

Works mentioned:

• Figueres, C. and Rivett-Carna, T. 2020. The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 
• Leston-Bandeira, C., 2019. Parliamentary petitions and public engagement: an empirical analysis of the role of e-petitions. Policy & Politics, 47(3), pp.415-436. 
• Raworth, K. 2017. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think like a 21st-Century Economist. London: Random House Business Books. See also: https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics#what-is-the-doughnut 
• https://www.museumfortheunitednations.com/ 

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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What role does social media play in our lives? Is there life after data? And what does the future look like in a world where privacy is a luxury? 

In this episode, we welcome Paul Geyer, PGR at the University of Leeds, political theorist and five-a-side football star. We talk to Paul about Watchdogs 2 to discuss what happens to social media after data, neofeudalism and the challenges of privacy.

Works mentioned:

• Arditi, D., 2023. Digital feudalism: Creators, credit, consumption, and capitalism. Emerald Publishing Limited: Bingley  
• Soares, Ian Varela, Masaru Yarime, and Magdalena Klemun. "Balancing the trade-off between data center development and its environmental impacts: A comparative analysis of Data Center Policymaking in Singapore, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, USA, and the UK." Environmental Science & Policy 157 (2024): 103769.  
• Srnicek, N., 2017. Platform capitalism. Polity Press: Cambridge. 
• Unterberger, K. and Fuchs, C., 2021. The public service media and public service internet manifesto (p. 135). University of Westminster Press. 
• Varoufakis, Y. 2023. Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. Random House: London.  
• Zuboff, S., 2019, January. Surveillance capitalism and the challenge of collective action. In New labor forum (Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 10-29). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Find Paul here:

• https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/pgr/1383/paul-geyer
• Geyer, P. 2024. An Uncritiqued Frontier of Social Media: The Social Media Subscription Model. In tripleC: Communication, capitalism & critique (Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.44-58).

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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In this podcast episode, we delve into "Papers, Please," the 2013 simulation game which immerses players in the role of an immigration officer in the fictional country of Arstotzka. Through its gameplay mechanics and narrative, we examine the moral dilemmas faced by bureaucrats tasked with enforcing strict border control policies. Join us as we explore whether bureaucratic systems can uphold moral values amidst the complexities of governance and individual decision-making.

Works mentioned:

• Cabellos, B., Pozo, J.I., Marín-Rubio, K. and Sánchez, D.L., 2022. Do pro-social video games promote moral activity?: an analysis of user reviews of Papers, Please. Education and Information Technologies, 27(8), pp.11411-11442. 
• Kelly, M., 2018. The game of politics: Examining the role of work, play, and subjectivity formation in papers, please. Games and Culture, 13(5), pp.459-478.  
• Morrissette, J., 2017. Glory to Arstotzka: Morality, rationality, and the iron cage of bureaucracy in Papers, Please. Game Studies, 17(1). 
• Yee, N., 2006. The labor of fun: How video games blur the boundaries of work and play. Games and culture, 1(1), pp.68-71. 

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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What is legitimate violence for women? How does emotion guide gendered violence? And who gets to tell women's stories?

In this episode, we welcome our friend and scholar Emily Gee, PGR at the University of Leeds. She uses The Last of Us Part II to explore her powerful research on peacekeeper sexual violence, touching on themes of agency, conflict and insecurity.

Works mentioned:

• Beyond Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Thinking about Women's Violence in Global Politics - Caron E. Gentry, Laura Sjoberg (2015)
• Just add women and stir? - Sahana Dharmapuri (2011)
• The Continuum of Sexual Violence; in Women, Violence and Social Control - Liz Kelly (1987)
• On Intersectionality - Kimberly Crenshaw (2017)
• UN Resolution 1325

Find Emily here:

• https://twitter.com/EmilyRGee 
• https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/pgr/2187/emily-gee 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-gee-1b72b0172/ 

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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What does Stardew Valley have to say about corporations? How does it encourage us to think about and interact with the environment? And is community romanticised in Stardew Valley?

In this episode, we discuss Eric Barone's 'cosy game' Stardew Valley, a farming simulator which grapples with how to live well in a difficult world. Join us as we explore these themes and ask ourselves how well Stardew Valley functions as a critique of capitalism.

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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What role does employment play in rebuilding after conflict? Can you do peace without justice? And what gets in the way of reintegration ?

In this episode, we welcome our friend and colleague Ged Hiscoke, PGR at the University of Leeds. He explores Deus Ex: Mankind Divided through the lens of his fascinating research on the role of employment in preventing conflict.

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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What role does resentment play in shaping our political choices? Why might the left behind be nostalgic, even for a past that never existed? And why might someone turn to sacrificing the young to a demonic Black Goat in order to save a dying town?

Join us as we discuss Night in the Woods in an attempt to try to answer these questions and more!

Write to us! - [email protected]

Avatars by MostlyPixels / Lunaii @ https://www.avatarsinpixels.com/

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