Senior Project Advisor
Thomas Hummel
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Spring 2025
Keywords
conceptual art, computer science, gaming, programming, failure, project design, mood management, procrastination, perfectionism, regret, grief, loss, ambition, goals, transformation, fragmented self, multiplicity, childhood
Abstract
Poor Fuel: The Autobiography of a Nonexistent Game combines act, admission, past, and future. If it existed, Poor Fuel would be a procedural, time-limited, mood-management game. Its explicit goals would be minimizing regrets and maximizing prospects. From within a world of countless rules, expectations, and paths, you—a lit and ever-diminishing candle—would cultivate enjoyment through the balance of internally- and externally-imposed pressures. The ending, as gameplay fades into white, would feature the words: Light your life, watch your wick, choose your presence, choose your absence; this is not the end but a beginning, make sure you are who chooses. But Poor Fuel does not exist. Instead, what exists is the autobiography of its absence. A tale told in fragments. An accounting of losses, failures, inspirations, near-becomings. An unlit wick of imbalance. Through the construction of its own nothing, Poor Fuel: The Autobiography of a Nonexistent Game embodies the point at which two lives collide: the one that was and the one that could be. The result is not a game one plays, but the game we all play.
Department
Honors
Recommended Citation
MacLeod, Finlay, "Poor Fuel: The Autobiography of a Nonexistent Game" (2025). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 975.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/975
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf