Game offers more satire than playtime

“Oil God” is one of those games that you feel slightly uncomfortable when you play it. You don’t know whether the developers wallow in some kind of sadistic pleasure in trivializing world problems or if they’re very brilliant satirists. I go with the latter, but you’ll have to decide for yourself.

You play a god whose main joy in his eternal life is manipulating the oil prices. You have a slew of tools at your uhm, disembodied hand’s fingertips. Wars, natural disasters, and the ability to change the politicial and economical atmosphere of oil-producing (and consuming) countries. You have “God Hand Credits” that you expend when you make any changes in the world. The credits replenish themselves during the game.

Although interesting, the game is short. It counts down by “days” (seconds) how long it takes for you to double the world price of oil. There are simple things you can do to completely obliterate oil fields that will make your game last for little more than a minute. Sometimes less. And even though there are three levels of difficulty, they seem to become easier despite the fact the credits replenish themselves at a slower speed.

All in all, “Oil God” makes more of a statement than present solid gameplay. The game is witty, but it offers little to keep the gamer occupied.

“Oil God” was produced by Persuasive Games and is free to play on the Internet.

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