Griefing, a term applying to any bad faith behaviour in an online game, whether it s ruining things for your group or harassing other players, has reared its ugly head since early MMOs like Ultima Online. The behaviour existed even further back in MUDs, text-based multi-user dungeons, before the term griefing had been coined. Yet, going by the popularity of Untitled Goose Game, there s clearly a perverse pleasure in bringing chaos upon a community.
Which brings me to Wattam, a game of action, exploration and puzzles, and like Untitled Goose Game, it’s an offline game that could be viewed as a microcosm of online spaces. Think of each of Wattam’s sandbox islands as a server and the hundred-odd objects around the world as its users. While the core of Wattam is about building connections with each other, it s also about explosions and poops, sometimes at the same time.