Reality is a Game

Image of cyclists in Toronto on Bloor Street riding in support of protected cycling.

I live in Toronto, the capital of Ontario, Canada and this week the Premier of the province has delivered on his promise to make traffic worse and endanger the lives of people within the city. Yes, you read that right. A sitting politician has excitedly made life more dangerous for his constituents. He’s so into ensuring commuting is more dangerous that the legislation makes it so you can’t sue the government if you get injured (or worse!). Of course, I’m talking about Conservative Premier Doug Ford’s $48 million destruction of road safety infrastructure in Toronto on Bloor St.

Don’t take my word for it: ask the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, health care workers, student unions, more health care workers, and of course Cycle Toronto. Even people that love roads are opposed to removing bike lanes!

As a human being who thinks road safety is important I got mad at Ford’s wasteful spending which will make my city worse. I emailed every Conservative MPP and didn’t get a single response (but added to their newsletters which might be illegal). I went to rallies, signed petitions, and did all the things one ought to do to try and correct bad government planning. I’ve even emailed and called ATS Traffic and Verdi Alliance. For context, the photo above is from one action to protect the lanes.

Obviously, none of those approaches worked (yet) so I turned my frustration into games. First I made Dougie’s Delusion which is all about the fantasy of our premier that we can go back to the early 80s when allegedly dealing drugs, ummm I mean delivering packages, was easy on mostly empty streets. You can play it embedded here, click on the full screen button in the bottom right of the frame.

<a href="https://spoketacular.itch.io/cancel-bill-212">Play Dougie’s Delusion on itch.io</a>

Also playable on itch.io.

Newer creations

Since then I have made more games and interactive things, you can try them all now.

Gridlock vs. Flow A puzzle game about urban transit efficiency. Assign lanes to cars, buses, and bikes across four levels. This game demonstrates the efficiencies of sustainable transportation options.

Bike Lane Myth Buster Just a little quiz meant to get people to realize that their assumptions about traffic may be incorrect. Yes, bike lanes are good for moving people within a city and great for local economies.

Car vs. Bike Lifetime Cost Analyzer See how much you can save by riding a bicycle. This is just an interactive graph. Hint: it’s a lot.

Conservative Bike Simulator This is the most ambitious so far and it’s not any good yet. Feedback is welcome on this first-person bike riding game where you randomly get doored and cars randomly veer into you if you’re not in a protected bike lane. I went so far as downloading OSM data to try and recreate Bloor street in detail.

Good news!

I want to end on a positive note that Cycle Toronto has decided to take their challenge of the lane removal all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada! Stay safe on those dangerous car-filled streets my friends!

On the first night we got the destruction crew to call it quits:

First and second truck have left. LFG🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
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— Tom Flood (@tomflood.bsky.social) October 13, 2026 at 7:55 PM

There is clearly a culture shift in the city since 2012 when Doug Ford’s brother ripped out a bike lane and it was just me and one other person there trying to stop it.

A lot has changed since Nov. 13 2012 when I protested Rob Ford removing bike lanes on Jarvis. The only other protester there was @fuzzywuzzyto.bsky.social (who got arrested minutes before I arrived). I slowed down the machine the rest of the way at least.
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— Adam (@mrfaceplant.bsky.social) October 15, 2026 at 4:00 PM

Screenshot of the game Maple Resistance showing dialogue spoken by a fictional Donald Trump with text generated by a local LLM.

I built a prototype of a game that explores the takes on of the “bugs” of AI and turns it into a feature. That bug is, of course, hallucinations. The way generative AI works requires hallucinations to function but to the end user the hallucinations can come across as a bug. Hallucinations are what causes the “false truths” and made up facts that generative AI spits out. I started to wonder if there’s a way to make a game in which the hallucinations are beneficial to the play experience.

I want to create more games about policy and possible futures. In the same vain that the military uses war-games to train we ought to use policy-games to train our politicians and bureaucrats. A game gives us a space to experiment what works and doesn’t without actually causing harm to the real world.

With my AI thinking and interest in policy games I decided to make a game set in the year 2025 in which Donald Trump has won the 2024 election. Since Trump makes up facts and losses track of what’s being discussed he and a simple hallucinating AI could be indistinguishable from one another. The” bug” has become the feature.

The player’s goal is to prevent Trump from annexing Canada, so in Maple Resistance you negotiate with an AI Trump while trying to make political choices to protect Canadian sovereignty.

I also integrated a local LLM in the game; read on for why I made this game and what I learned.

It’s worth noting I started working on Maple Resistance at TOJam back in May and since then the world of both AI and politics has evolved (I was originally going to post this on July 15).

Maple Resistance: navigating annexation through gameplay

In 2025, the unthinkable happens: Donald Trump, re-elected as President of the United States, declares Canada to be part of the USA, following his successful annexation of Puerto Rico. But this time, there’s no military intervention—just a bold proclamation. This audacious scenario sets the stage for “Maple Resistance,” a text and card-based game that explores the intricate dance of diplomacy, identity, and resistance.

Designing dystopia

As a game designer, I like to experiment with new technologies and mechanics. One of my primary goals with Maple Resistance was to experiment with local Large Language Models (LLMs) and Unity to create a narrative experience driven by dynamic, AI-generated dialogue. This worked out. The local LLM worked better than I thought, and given that the LLM I was using is from earlier this year I’m sure that the newer ones are even better. For those that are curious I used Mistral 7B.

AI generated image with the prompt "What Canada would like if the United States of America annexed Canada in the year 2025" — AI generated image with the prompt “What Canada would like if the United States of America annexed Canada in the year 2025”

Card collecting mechanic for conversations

Another experiment was the card-collection mechanic tied to player interactions with NPCs. The idea was simple: engage in conversations, gather information, and earn cards that can be strategically played. While this mechanic had mixed results in its execution, it showed promise. In the “Maple Resistance” prototype, players can collect these cards, though the system is not complete and far short of what I originally envisioned. An interconnected inventory system remains an elusive goal; however, the process has sparked numerous ideas for future iterations.

Futurism and the polycrisis

Set against the backdrop of a polycrisis—a convergence of multiple, interconnected crises—the game explores themes of nationalism, sovereignty, and the fragility of political systems. “Maple Resistance” is a speculative narrative that resonates with current global uncertainties, from geopolitical tensions to technological disruptions. It invites players to ponder the future of nations and the delicate balance of power, all within the framework of an engaging, strategic gameplay experience.

All the cards and dialogue (expect for the AI generated ones) are based on real world instances or statements made in the last few years. The infamous Project 2025 was an influence when I started this back in the spring.

AI generated image with the prompt "A cartoon version of Canadians holding back Americans from entering Canada" — AI generated image with the prompt “A cartoon version of Canadians holding back Americans from entering Canada”

There’s always more

Working on “Maple Resistance” has been a journey of discovery. The integration of LLMs in Unity was a technical success, although the tech I used is already outdated. The card-collection mechanic, while not perfect, offers a compelling layer of strategy and immersion. These experiences have laid the groundwork for future projects that will refine and expand these concepts, ultimately aiming to create richer, more complex game worlds.

I hop that as we navigate an increasingly uncertain future, games like “Maple Resistance” serve as both entertainment and reflection, offering a space to explore the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead. Through games we can create experiences that not only entertain but also provoke thought and inspire dialogue about the world we live in and the futures we can imagine.

Let’s make more policy games!

Play now

Maple Resistance is available to download from Itch.io.

A bonus image that makes little sense for those of you that read all the way to the end:

When Premiers Destroy Bike Lanes, I Make Games

Newer creations

Good news!

Like this:

Maple Resistance: AI Trump Annexes Canada