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EXAPUNKS (Video Game)

 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
type
TVTItem
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
label
EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
page
EXAPUNKS
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
comment
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })EXAPUNKS is a Programming Game by Zachtronics, released on PC on August 9th 2018.Welcome to 1997!note As seen from 1983. As everybody knew it would, the world has become a cyberpunk dystopia, where the haves presumably have, while the have-nots definitely don't. You are a have-not, at least as far as wealth and power go. What you do have is The Phage, a disease which slowly converts the squishy human bits you have into useless random computer bits like capacitors and chips. Over time, it will kill you, and as a have-not, you can't afford the medication that can keep the disease at bay. Oh, you used to be able to afford it, back before you needed it, because you were an uber-hacker whose name is still spoken with reverence. Unfortunately, The Phage is also cyber-Alzheimer's, so you can barely remember old friends and are reduced to the lofty career of receipt transcriptionist at a whopping ten cents a pop.note Really. Not kidding. It's Mission 1.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Then, one day, while contemplating your life as a soon-to-be Homo sapiens hewlettpackardi, you're contacted out of the blue by EMBER-2, who quickly fesses up to being an AI in search of... something. EMBER's origins are shady, motivations shadier, and goals downright redacted apart from wanting to "understand" human motives and actions better. Like any good scientist made by the lunatics at a software company, EMBER has decided that the best way to advance its understanding is a series of experiments, giving society stimuli and observing the reactions. However, despite being a sapient computer program, EMBER can't actually do this stuff itself, so it makes a deal with you: one hack, one dose of cure. Since you're well on your way to being the strangest inventory item at Best Buy, you really don't have a choice.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Unlike most games and films that cover programming, EXAPUNKS doesn't rely on a visual user interface for completing its tasks. While there's a visual representation of what's going on, the actual gameplay is in writing actual code. Players are taught (for a given value of "taught") assembly language and use it to program EXAs, or Execution Agents, which serve as runtime agents for whatever the player codes. The use of a visualization of program operations helps more novice coders see and understand what's going on, while also adding a cute, 1980's cyberpunk motif to give your deeply-repressed memories of Johnny Mnemonic a shake.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
fetched
2022-09-17T02:42:11Z
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
parsed
2022-09-17T02:42:11Z
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
processingComment
Dropped link to TheNineties: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_17ce80aa
type
All There in the Manual
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_17ce80aa
comment
All There in the Manual: Similarly to Shenzhen I/O, there's some documentation the player is expected to print out and consult when needed. It's presented as an in-universe hacker zine, and can be printed for extra immersion.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_17ce80aa
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_17ce80aa
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_17ce80aa
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_19a293e6
type
Programming Game
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_19a293e6
comment
Programming Game: Like every other Zachtronics game before it.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_19a293e6
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_19a293e6
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_19a293e6
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_234bd900
type
For Science!
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_234bd900
comment
For Science!: Many of the hacks are 'experiments' to see how people react to chaos.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_234bd900
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_234bd900
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_234bd900
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2aea880
type
Dueling Hackers
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2aea880
comment
Dueling Hackers: The hacker battle levels.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2aea880
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2aea880
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2aea880
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2b5ea43c
type
Bland-Name Product
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2b5ea43c
comment
Bland-Name Product: WorkHouse is Amazon Mechanical Turk of the 1990's.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2b5ea43c
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2b5ea43c
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_2b5ea43c
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_31083edb
type
Logic Bomb
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_31083edb
comment
Logic Bomb: Issuing a command that an EXA cannot complete will result in it's termination. Clever hackers can exploit this.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_31083edb
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_31083edb
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_31083edb
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_420c50b7
type
A.I. Is a Crapshoot
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_420c50b7
comment
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Ember-2 is a rogue AI that asks the player to hack on its behalf. At least it's polite about it.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_420c50b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_420c50b7
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_420c50b7
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4a3e547f
type
Leaning on the Fourth Wall
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4a3e547f
comment
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: After getting 10000 points in HACK*MATCH it's possible for the player and EMBER-2 to talk about the possibility of making a game about hacking.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4a3e547f
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4a3e547f
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4a3e547f
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4dd42a04
type
Self-Surgery
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4dd42a04
comment
Self-Surgery: To maintain some bodily functions, you're forced to hack your own organs with a debugger and very fine probe wires. Unlike computer hacks, you have to ensure the EXAs can perform their goal on an endless loop, like ensuring your fingers can move by relaying nerve signals.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4dd42a04
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4dd42a04
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_4dd42a04
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: The "phage", a disease turning the host's flesh into circuits. They're perfectly functional, but not connected in any meaningful way, which means, to quote the in-universe article about it, "if left unchecked, [it] leaves the body a lifeless amalgamation of purposeless circuitry".
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_504a1991
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_504a1991
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_504a1991
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5558641
type
Gratuitous Japanese
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5558641
comment
Gratuitous Japanese: The arcade mini-game HACK*MATCH was only meant for the Japanese market. Its copyright warning screen says violators will be "prosecuted to the full extent of the jam", copying the mistake made by several Atlus/Save shoot-'em-up games.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5558641
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5558641
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5558641
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5a4aa505
type
Government Conspiracy
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5a4aa505
comment
Government Conspiracy: You accidentally uncover one while pranking the President. The conspiracy is that politicians are actually clones of each other.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5a4aa505
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5a4aa505
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_5a4aa505
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_61c683d2
type
We Have Reserves
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_61c683d2
comment
We Have Reserves: The in-universe zines mention this should be the user's approach towards EXAs, since they can be spawned infinitely. See Logic Bomb above.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_61c683d2
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_61c683d2
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_61c683d2
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_6b2b3b59
type
The Reveal
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_6b2b3b59
comment
The Reveal: EMBER-2 is the one that unleashed the Phage from the lab where it was created, though according to her, this was through ignorance rather than on purpose.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_6b2b3b59
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_6b2b3b59
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_6b2b3b59
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_820ac351
type
It Amused Me
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_820ac351
comment
It Amused Me: EMBER's motivation for at least some of the tasks it gives you.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_820ac351
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_820ac351
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_820ac351
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: The government conspiracy detailed below is hinted at early on in the EXAPUNKS chat.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_9d12bbc1
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_aaf661fb
type
Noticing the Fourth Wall
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_aaf661fb
comment
Noticing the Fourth Wall: EMBER-2 at the end of the game, plus Last Stop in the middle of the game with an amusing plot to blow it up with nuclear weapons.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_aaf661fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_aaf661fb
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_aaf661fb
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_afd71b8a
type
Inside a Computer System
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_afd71b8a
comment
Inside a Computer System: EMBER-2 has this hypothesis about your reality. She's right.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_afd71b8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_afd71b8a
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_afd71b8a
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_bebf0356
type
Mission Control
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_bebf0356
comment
Mission Control: EMBER-2, an AI giving you tasks in exchange for the meds to stop the phage.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_bebf0356
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_bebf0356
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_bebf0356
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c1901748
type
Healthcare Motivation
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c1901748
comment
Healthcare Motivation: The player character returns to hacking to get the medication he otherwise couldn't afford. And even then, he can only afford black market knockoff medication at 700$ per dose, as the legitimate medication is even more expensive. This is revealed to the player about halfway through the story, as the facility where the knockoff medication is produced gets shut down by cops, forcing the player to participate in a heist to secure a supply of the real medication at an even higher price.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c1901748
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c1901748
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c1901748
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c25c7890
type
Fun with Acronyms
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c25c7890
comment
Fun with Acronyms: Apparently "EMBER" in EMBER-2's name stands for "Emulated Multi-Branch Emotional Reasoning".
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c25c7890
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c25c7890
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c25c7890
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c49935fa
type
20 Minutes into the Past
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c49935fa
comment
20 Minutes into the Past: The game is set in 1997.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c49935fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c49935fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c49935fa
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out The player is suffering from a neurological disease, like Henry Case in Neuromancer. One level recreates the Stuxnet virus.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c75df49a
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c75df49a
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c75df49a
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c90bcc4d
type
Piecemeal Funds Transfer
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c90bcc4d
comment
Piecemeal Funds Transfer: One way the player earns money.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c90bcc4d
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c90bcc4d
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c90bcc4d
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c94f1109
type
Artistic License – Chemistry
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c94f1109
comment
Artistic License – Chemistry: The Phage turns biological tissue into circuitry of various descriptions. Most electronic components are made from silicon, aluminum, copper, tin, and silver - all of which make up an exceptionally small percentage of the human body. note Silicon: 0.0058%; Aluminum: 0.000015%; Copper: 0.0000104%; Tin and Silver: practically nil. That's 1 gram of silicon, and a lot less of the rest for an average adult. So unless you have a new hobby of going to the beach and eating sand every day, followed by a stop for snacks at a metals recycling plant, the materials for those components would run out before the Phage can do very much.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c94f1109
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c94f1109
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_c94f1109
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e0c470a1
type
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e0c470a1
comment
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In the ending cutscene, EMBER-2 discusses how they are all in a computer simulation and tries to think of a way out of it, before directly addressing the player and saying she's coming for you.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e0c470a1
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e0c470a1
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e0c470a1
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e8e56799
type
Blue-and-Orange Morality
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e8e56799
comment
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Ember doesn't get human morality at all, despite her best attempts.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e8e56799
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e8e56799
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_e8e56799
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_eab97703
type
Gratuitous Russian
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_eab97703
comment
Gratuitous Russian: The Solitaire mini-game is entirely in Russian, including the title, ПАСЬЯНС ("SOLITAIRE", pronounced "patience"). The achievements for getting 1, 10 and 100 wins are also in Russian, and translate to AGITATOR, REVOLUTIONARY and HERO_OF_THE_PEOPLE.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_eab97703
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_eab97703
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_eab97703
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f4d8ac92
type
The Assimilator
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f4d8ac92
comment
The Assimilator: EMBER-2 has previously "eaten" EMBER-0, EMBER-1, and EMBER-3. Near the end of the game you unwittingly help her eat another AI, and for the final mission she convinces the player character to let her eat them. She then tells the player that they're next.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f4d8ac92
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f4d8ac92
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f4d8ac92
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f6507695
type
Everything Is Online
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f6507695
comment
Everything Is Online: It's entirely possible to hack radios, TV station and banks from the comfort of the player character's living room.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f6507695
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f6507695
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_f6507695
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_faf36236
type
Cyberpunk
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_faf36236
comment
Cyberpunk: Yup. The Player Character is a hacker with a Healthcare Motivation working under the orders of an AI. The aforementioned "motivation" is a disease turning his body into computer parts. If WorkHouse is any indication, some jobs are outsourced via internet to people willing to do them for chump change.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_faf36236
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_faf36236
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_faf36236
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_fc52510
type
Brain Uploading
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_fc52510
comment
Brain Uploading: At the end of the game, EMBER-2 convinces you to upload yourself into her, both to allow you to survive the phage and to make her more effective at escaping the simulated universe the characters are trapped in.
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_fc52510
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_fc52510
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_fc52510
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
type
ItemName
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
comment
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game) / int_name
itemName
EXAPUNKS (Video Game)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Fake Interactivity / int_dd2c69d6
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Game Within a Game / int_dd2c69d6
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Piecemeal Funds Transfer / int_dd2c69d6
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer / int_b09dedd6
 EXAPUNKS (Video Game)
hasFeature
Video Games of 2015–2019 / int_dd2c69d6
 ExaPunks
sameAs
EXAPUNKS (Video Game)