We Become What We Behold
New
- Genre Puzzle games
- Players 1
- Session 6 min
- Price Free
- Updated
The title screen is honest about what follows. Next to a red Play button it promises a playing time of five minutes and warns that the program contains snobbery, rudeness and mass murder, viewer discretion advised. Then a black card quotes the line the game is named after, followed by the thought that we shape our tools and then our tools shape us.
What you get is a grey sketchbook field full of small round and square people wandering about, and a television on a pole standing in the middle of them. Your cursor is a camera viewfinder. Move it over anyone and the frame zooms in with a caption bar; click and the photo is broadcast on the TV for the whole crowd to see, with a cheeky hashtag headline. Photograph empty grass and the TV says wowwee, it's nothing. Photograph an ordinary passer-by and it reports just a normal peep. Catch the one character wearing a hat and the headline shouts OOH NICE HAT, and the crowd starts to care.
The game is a small machine about attention. Calm pictures barely register, so you start hunting for what people will react to: a couple with hearts above their heads, a square who is visibly furious, the first sign of friction between circles and squares. Each broadcast changes the crowd a little, and the crowd's new behaviour gives you the next picture. There is no score and no way to lose; the only choice is what you point the camera at, and the story escalates from there toward the violence the warning mentions.
It was made in 2016 by Nicky Case, who released it into the public domain. Plan on one sitting of about five minutes, ideally with sound on.
| Mouse / Finger | Move the camera viewfinder over the crowd |
|---|---|
| Click / Tap | Take a photo and broadcast it on the TV |
How to play We Become What We Behold
- Press Play on the title screen and let the opening quote run.
- Move the viewfinder around the field and notice which people stand out from the crowd.
- Click to photograph something and read the headline that appears on the TV.
- Watch how the crowd reacts to what was broadcast, then look for the next reaction worth capturing.
- Keep going until the story reaches its ending, which takes around five minutes.
Tips
- Photos of ordinary people and empty grass do nothing, so look for anyone who looks different.
- If the story stalls, scan the edges of the field for an argument or a new detail on someone's head.
- Play it once without a guide; the escalation lands harder when you discover it yourself.
Questions about We Become What We Behold
How long does it take?
The title screen says five minutes, and a single playthrough is about that.
Is it suitable for children?
It warns about rudeness and mass murder on its own title screen, and the ending depicts crowd violence in simple black-and-white drawings, so it is aimed at teens and adults.
Can I lose?
No, there is no score or failure state; you only choose what to photograph.
Who made it?
Nicky Case made it in 2016 and placed it in the public domain.
Does it work on a phone?
It only needs pointing and clicking, so a tap works as a click; the wide 16:9 view is easier to read in landscape.
Do I need to install anything?
No, it runs in the browser.
