Everyone has their own interpretation of what dystopia is. For some, it’s an oppressive, fascist government. For others, it’s living under the scrutiny of constant police surveillance. Perhaps for many it’s a hypercapitalist society in which every facet of life is controlled by megacorporations. But in Cheese Runner, a game from developer Kai Hutchence and publisher Massive Corporation Game Studios, it is a world in which cheese has been banned by the government.
Cheese Runner is an ASCII Text-styled management/strategy game delightfully reminiscent of old DOS text adventure games from the early 80’s. It was just released on Steam for a measly $2.99. In the game you play as a smuggler of illegal cheese. You buy and sell cheese in order to meet the secret needs of cheese lovers and manage your cheese supply, all while avoiding capture by “killbots” and “sniffcopters” hellbent on disrupting your smuggling business.
Play as a Cheese Runner, an underground trader of illicit cheese. Try to survive the gritty dystopia of a world gone mad. After a mysterious virus eliminates most of the livestock on earth, humanity is crushed under the boot of corporate control. Providing synthetic foods corporations now control the very ability to live for most of humanity. Against this oppressive corporate control and violent police state a small segment of the population fight back. With the food labs unable to synthesize casein a core component of milk critical to cheese making, the much loved food has become banned under the guise of public safety. The brave ranchers of Underground raise cowntraband to produce this precious substance, but its up to Cheese Runners to distribute it.
-Cheese Runner Steam Page
Do you identify with the banning of cheese being the perfect recipe for a true dystopia? You may want to give Cheese Runner a shot. It’s available now for Windows via Steam. And $2.99 is such a small price to defy an oppressive government regime and get your fellow cheese lovers what they so desire. Illegal cheese.
