Forest Ambassador Game

Game Title: Terra Tam: World Warrior

Designer: Leon Arnott

Goal of the Game: To win against alien warriors to save humanity from devourment.

Game Mechanics: You control Terra Tam, although you are only able to move her back and forth and the rest of the “action” happens regardless of player involvement.

Controls: Arrow keys allow you to move your character back and forth across the playing field.

Themes of the Game: Fighting for survival, futility of combat (the end text says that humans are annihilated during their first space battle), breaking stereotypical expectations (nude woman defeats giant alien warriors)

Is it a Cyborg Game? Terra Tam: World Warrior can definitely be seen as a cyborg game. It breaks out of expected tropes by letting the player control a seemingly defenseless woman in the fight against giant aliens. Although the game is reminiscent of combat arcade games such as Street Fighter, the player is not able to “fight”, but can only move the character from side to side. Despite this, the player’s character wins against every alien warrior, completely breaking expectations. The fact that the game allows the player no real involvement in their character’s victories might be considered blasphemous, taking a standard premise for a game and turning it on its head. Even at the end, the game presents itself as ironic, saying that humanity what annihilated in its first battle in the new galactic army. While both the ending and lack of player-involved combat might frustrate many gamers, I think that the game is a clever parody on established tropes, and ends with a fittingly ironic and darkly humorous twist, the destruction of all humankind.