I noticed that on a repeat playthrough. It seems that the walls are there to sort of symbolize one Country and the other. I assume the operators giving the directions to bomb the opponents' buildings (Country) are the Presidents or Dictators of this world. It would make sense, they seem to not really give a damn about the lives lost (even the helicopter in the opening states that everyone dies in the end), rather, they only care about winning and losing (the war). I think this is further backed since if you lose the game, the operator you're playing commits suicide, but only perhaps out of losing and not because of the deaths. This sort of relates to war, most countries Dictator doesn't seem to really care about how many people are killed, on either side, but if they win or lose ultimately. Maybe I'm looking too deep into your game, but it's nice to theorize I suppose. Again, great game!
Yeah part of the helicopter sequence is related to that. But really (and this is getting very semi-philosophical), it sort of tries to dig deep into the relentless effort that goes into starting a war in the first place. All of the apartment buildings are perfectly aligned in the grid, and nobody attempts to stop the game in any manner.
You can imagine the initial construction that took place before the game even started. Mountains of concrete and rebar trucked on to site and constructed into buildings, while nobody stopped to think or even protest to whether or not it is worth it.
This is a very artsy game compared to releases like 'Carbon Steel' or 'Buckshot Roulette' in the sense that the core gameplay is just a means to an end. It's really more of an experience, so I really appreciate your analysis!
Oh yeah that's another great way of looking at it! I'm happy that this game is more artsy I'll be honest, while I have more fun playing Buckshot Roulette (Mike, that game is fan-fucking-tastic, and I'm so happy it is doing so well, honestly one of my favorite games!), this game seems more like art to me then a game. It's just so depressing to play, but it's good that it tries to imply the meaninglessness of war, that these people are just paws on a chessboard. Thank you for reading my analysis by the way! I can't wait to play more of your games! I only played this and Buckshot Roulette so far, but I for sure will play your other games as well! Thank you for creating these amazing games, Mike, and for getting me into Itch Io, so many creative, unique, and amazing games on here.