ZAD - Tower Defense
My entry for the Fxck Capitalism jam this year is about the ZAD, the Zone to Defend in France and the movement against the building of a new airport.
As farmers refused to leave their land to be destroyed for the construction of the airport activists were invited to squat, occupy and defend the land. Twice they faced violent evictions where many of their homes were leveled to the ground, but they persisted on the ZAD for almost a decade and in 2018 the plans for the airport were finally cancelled. The ZAD continues to be a place for celebrating and practicing life outside of state and capitalism, living collectively and closer to nature.
The game presents one of the eviction processes as a tower defense. I was a bit short on time, but hopefully it works. I've got lots of ideas for continued development which I will write about in the dev log. Tell me what you think!
Art & game design by me, Kristofer "Kritzlof" Vaske
Music composed by Chika Obiora at Echo and Awe Sound
References & further reading:
We are nature defending itself by Isabelle Fremeaux and Jay Jordan
https://zadforever.blog/ - This is a long and detailed post about the 2018 evictions
Playlist of a few documentaries/Videos on youtube
DISCLAIMER
I have not personally been at the ZAD nor have I been part of their struggle. As I've learnt about it during the last year I've found it an incredibly inspiring story about resistance in the time of climate crisis and I want to spread it further. I hope that this game in no way makes light of, misrepresents or is seen as insensitive to the inhabitants of the ZAD and their struggle.
If you are or have been part of the movement at the ZAD I would especially appreciate your feedback!
Development log
- Further development - a diversity of tactics2 days ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I love a good Tower Defense game and I'm VERY picky because, visually, a lot of them are uninspiring and don't allow you to fully dive into the world being presented. Not this one. Simple - but I really got it. And the progression is really well done, I can see the game design flourishes here. Worth a play!
That's very nice of you! And I'm happy you think the balance and progression worked. I realized half way how difficult it is to balance a game like this, and I don't feel like I really had enough playtesting to be sure. Also, as I write in the devlog, I feel like the number of units is still a bit on the low side to give strategic depth.
Thanks again! <3
Loved the game! It reminded me of your entry from last year, I don't know why xD Do you know if the towers in the game are representative of methods people use on the ZAD? Regardless, the sprites are gorgeous ^^
Oh, that's cool that you remember my other game! Well there's been a lot of excavators in my games in the last year, haha.
Yes, they are! As I mention in the devlog, the diversity of tactics is one of the signatures of the ZAD, they used all manners of methods to try to stop or slow down the evictions. The throwing of mud is described well and I have sources on rocks and slingshots too. It's very interesting and there's definitely much more to pull from as well.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
I love it when games teach me about reality :) awesome job
Thank you <3