This game was one of the last things I coded by hand, in the before times. I established the game and graphics engine and got it about 70% of the way there the old-fashioned way. Eventually I recruited Claude to help me finish the job.
It's a small browser game about being trapped in debt slavery at a Pakistani brick kiln—a hopeless situation. You and your family work endlessly to pay off a debt that you will never overcome.
You shovel mud, mold bricks, bake them and load them onto a truck. Each brick earns a little money towards what you owe. Your wife and son join you, but so do the bills. Lodging, fuel and other charges keep adding to the debt. There is no win state. Getting better at making bricks doesn't fix the arrangement.
It's built with JavaScript, Canvas and Konva. The story events and dialogue live in data files and are triggered by progress through the game. The little sound effects are synthesized in the browser.
The game ends with some background on debt bondage and links to learn more. You can play it in a desktop or mobile browser.
