Game Preps Players for a Censored, Orwellian Future by Having You Guess Blacked Out Words

If some words in a letter were blacked out  ____  you be  ____ to understand what the  ____ meant? (That's "would," "able" and "sentence")

That's the point of a new app, and while it's billed as a game, it holds a deeper message.

Blackbar, which launched last week by developers Neven Mrgan and James Moore, is described as "a sci-fi story of a dystopian future told through the medium of word puzzles."

The blacked out words in the game become increasingly more difficult to figure out as it goes on. (Image: Blackbar)

The point of the game available for iOS devices is to guess the appropriate word that fits into a sentence where it was blacked out.

"Censorship is frustrating, but the human spirit can beat that frustration by turning it into a game," the Blackbar app description states.

App Advice has more about the intriguing game:

The first level begins with only one unknown word. Words are censored because all letters go through the Department of Communication before being received. The only hints provided as to what these words could be are previous letters, or background knowledge. This may come from common every day phrases, or other sources. I obviously don’t want to give away any answers.

Other than this, there isn’t much else to the game. The concept may seem boring, but I can assure you that the story picks up quickly. Through each letter, you’ll find more information about the characters, as well as the Orwellian society they live in. You can flip back to view previous letters, but some of the words you uncovered can become redacted, meaning you’ll have to remember what they were.

Some have pointed out that although the app is entertaining, it carries a deeper political message about censorship. (Image: Blackbar)

The app has been rated more than 100 times on the Apple store with an overwhelmingly positive response. Here are a few comments about it:

• You ____ regret it. -- enemyanemone
• A political statement—a super fun one. I _______ love this _______ game. -- Loren Brichter
• Well-written and entertaining, with just a touch of a deeper message to hit a few concepts home. Just plain awesome. -- JayIsGames

TheBlaze reached out the creators for more background on their app. We'll update this post if we hear back.

The app costs $2.99 for those who want to test their censorship-beating skills.

--

[related]