Game: A Game About Literally Doing Your Taxes
Developer: Not Sailor Studios
Pretty self-explanatory, no? A game about doing your taxes. No one likes doing it, and those that do are lying. Tax day is the most painful day of the year for anyone that receives a paycheck. Handing your money off to the government who uses the money for the budget of multiple programs: military, space exploration, garbage trucks, public transportation, and a myriad of other things I could spend all day listing off. So here comes a game by Not Sailor Studios that looks to turn doing taxes into entertainment, or at least tries to make taxes become entertainment, then again I'm not entirely sure that's the whole point of this whole game.
A Game About Literally Doing Your Taxes is a game about literally doing your taxes. You separate your junk mail from tax, bills, and checks and file your tax returns over the course of 7 days. Okay, so what's so special about it? Well, I don't want to give to much away with this little write-up. What I will say, however, is that this game is like a deconstruction of doing taxes, and repetitive, mundane work. You sort through your mail and throw away the non-necessities of life all for the sake of paying your taxes so you can be a good, upstanding citizen.
There's always the on-going argument whether taxation is theft or not. Or even if taxation is a good thing. This game isn't going to answer these political questions, but it does give some insight into the mundanity that is... well, taxes. There are some darker elements to this game, but I don't want to spoil the surprises this game has to offer.
I'm not going to sit here and act like this game is a "we live in a society" meme but there is some commentary on the state of society, at least here in the United States, about the state of taxes and how overwhelming it can be. If there's anything that can be said, it's that kids should be taught in school how to do their taxes, though that may put accountants out of a job. Taxes are dumb, but this game certainly isn't. Check it out!
