The Westport Independent 9+
Pontus Lunden
Designed for iPad
-
- Free
Screenshots
Description
A game about Censorship, Corruption and Newspapers
The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator taking place in a post-war country, governed by the recently elected Loyalist Party. As the editor of one of the last independent newspapers in the country, your job is to remove and edit the content of your paper, affecting the people’s opinion of both the rebels and the Loyalist government. With an increase of rebel activity and an ever watching government breathing down your neck, whose truth will you print?
Features
- Change the content and meaning of your articles by censoring them to your liking. While you can’t lie, you don’t have to tell the whole truth either.
- Employees with fleshed out character, who will not only react to your actions, but also discuss them with other colleagues.
- Receive letters and messages from public figures, rebel leaders, employees and other characters affected by your actions.
- Adaptive stories where your actions affect the opinions of the people, which affects what happens in the city, which in turn affects the stories you receive.
Awards and recognition
- Biggest surprise at The MIX GDC 2015, IGN
- Part of "Three Cool Surprises From PAX 2015", from Kotaku
- Part of "The Very Best Indie Games of GDC 2015", from Gameinformer
- The Best of GDC 2015, 148 apps
What’s New
Version 1.0
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
Ratings and Reviews
Editors’ Choice
Thought-provoking to the end, The Westport Independent explores the power of the press by putting you in charge of a fictional newspaper. Amid a tense political climate, a propaganda-pushing government wants you to censor articles as they hit your desk—changing headlines and removing incriminating details. After deciding how to handle each story, you assign it to a transcriber, determine the marketing budget and what makes the front page and then observe the impact of your choices. Before long, you’re weighing your moral duty to report the truth with how it’ll affect sales, employee happiness, even potential lawsuits. We found the whole process absolutely riveting.
Great game but too short
From the minute you start playing, the game grabs your interest. It raises moral questions and gives players a glimpse into censorship - anything that invites thinking is always a great thing. BUT it is way too short, especially for the price - as it is, I would NOT RECOMMEND people buy this game AT THIS PRICE. It also crashes at the conclusion of the game. Meanwhile, GO FRANK!
Good!... But not for the price
'The Westport Independent is a great game, had a lot of fun playing... But with the price tag of $8 I wouldn't recommend it. The game has an interesting plot, a post-war news agency surrounded by corruption. Choosing a side, loyalists or rebels. It's super interesting but they didn't flesh it out as I would like. Choices you make can change the well-being of your staff and society. One problem with this though. I didn't find my self immersed or connect with any of the characters. I edit a massive story supporting the rebels then in the next week, I would start licking the loyalists boot again to make them not suspicious of what I'm writing. The game was surprisingly short. '12 weeks' estimate 5-15 mins per week. The ending is weak, just the summary of the 4 major districts and how they were influenced. The end scene is nothing more than a type writer typing words of the aftermath after the 12 weeks. This game has a lot of potential. I would recommend picking it up at $3-4 AUS
App Privacy
The developer, Pontus Lunden, has not provided details about its privacy practices and handling of data to Apple.
No Details Provided
The developer will be required to provide privacy details when they submit their next app update.
Information
- Seller
- Pontus Lunden
- Size
- 71.6 MB
- Category
- Games
- Compatibility
-
- iPhone
- Requires iOS 6.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 6.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 6.0 or later.
- Mac
- Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
-
English
- Age Rating
- 9+ Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
- Copyright
- © 2016 Double Zero One Zero
- Price
- Free
Supports
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Game Center
Challenge friends and check leaderboards and achievements.