SwineAttack 1.1 for iPhone & iPad: Can swords and bacon teach society a lesson?
May 4, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke
iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners know that there is no shortage of games in the Apple iTunes Store. With thousands upon thousands of offerings, there is something to suit the tastes of every user. Gaming apps invariably include various levels of difficulty, a clear goal, and, in some cases, the ability to connect with others. Sometimes, though, they might actually provide a lesson from which mankind can learn. Swine Attack Version 1.1 for iPhone and iPad is one of them.
In December 2009, developer Brent Lyon released Version 1.0 of SwineAttack for iPhone, via the Apple iTunes Store. The premise behind this game is a simple one. Pigs around the world have staged an uprising. Escaping their previous servitude, they now roam freely with one mission…to leave behind a path of destruction, as they attempt to take over the world. Your mission is to thwart their nefarious efforts and restore order to the world. So, what social value does the game offer? Let’s take a look and see.
SwineAttack for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
How is the game played?
Through increasingly difficult levels of play, pigs invade the screen. The goal is to prevent their spread, by throwing swords at the evil swine. What happens when they’re hit? They are instantly transformed into bacon and pork chops. In addition to the regular game play mode, there is also a Survival Mode, in which one has to stop as many pigs as possible before reaching the maximum number of escaping pigs is surpassed. Increasing the score is dependent upon how close the pigs are when defeated during offensive maneuvers (tapping left/right side, swiping left/right/downward), how well you deploy defenses (tapping the middle of the screen), and how adept one is at ricocheting swords off of pigs to destroy others. That’s it. No special training or degree from a higher educational institution is required.
Is the game potentially offensive?
Luckily, Lyon took into consideration the fact that not everyone eats pork or, for that matter, any meat at all. For this segment of the gaming population, he included a “Vegetarian Mode”, wherein users can configure the pigs to be turned into vegetables, when hit by a sword. This slight change will obviously not satisfy PETA members, since the pigs are still destroyed. Then again, there’s no way to make everyone happy, so one should just give Lyon kudos for trying. It is important to point out that the game is rated as “9+” by the iTunes Store, based on the inclusion of “frequent/intense cartoon or fantasy violence”. It’s not likely that this game would lead an 8-year old to contemplate real-life animal torture, but one can never tell these days.
Vegetarian Game Play Mode
What can society learn from SwineAttack?
It isn’t known if Lyon developed SwineAttack, with the intention of providing anything other than a bit of mindless amusement. In this respect, he succeeded. For people who love games, swords, and bacon, it is the perfect combination of elements for a game. Looking at it from a broader perspective, though, there exists the potential to actually learn something from bringing the pigs back under control.
Could it be that the pigs and their actions are a form of symbolism? Is mankind really represented by the pigs? Is nature now responding to mankind’s arrogance by throwing swords, in the form of earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural disasters? Alternatively, one could argue that the pigs may represent the animal kingdom’s potential capacity to revolt en masse against mankind’s continued encroachment into their natural habitats. Perhaps then, mankind is once again reminded that there are consequences for what we consider to be the natural course of human advancement.
Whether either of these possibilities was Lyon’s intention when creating the game is really unimportant. Hopefully, those who read this quasi-review/analysis will play the game with a different perspective and do their part to make the world a better place. If that happens, then it can be said that the bigger, more important game of life is one step closer to being won.
For $0.99 in the App Store, though, the potential Return on Investment (ROI) for mankind could be considered to be truly limitless. So, if you haven’t yet bought an iPhone, iPad (WiFi or 3G), or iPod Touch, consider doing so. After all, you won’t just be helping Apple’s stock (AAPL) increase in value. You might also help save the world…or at least turn a lot of pigs into bacon.
More Information:
Download SwineAttack Version 1.1 in the Apple iTunes Store
I’ve played the game. I had no idea that I was helping to save the world. I figured Lyon was just trying to drive down the price of bacon so he could afford to eat more. See how little I know about the inner workings of his mind.