"North Koreans Develop First Video Game, Pyongyang Racer"

Pyongyang Racer

North Korea sure likes to do things their way. They kidnapped a South Korean director and his wife to make a Godzilla rip-off; they had a reality show that exposed citizens whose haircuts do not conform with the “socialist lifestyle”.

Just recently, North Korean programmers working for software firm Nosotek developed the country’s first video game. “Pyongyang Racer” is played in-browser and has since become unavailable as of post time after being crashed by throngs of netizens who visited the website. However, the people at Cracked were able to play the game and made a review about it.

Pyongyang Racer reminds you of racing games in late 1990s, complete with buildings and monuments depicted in polygon. The problem, though, is that you are not necessarily racing against other motorists because other (very few) vehicles are just parked in the middle of the street, which kinda reflects in real life since only the privileged few own cars in North Korea. The main objective of the game, so it seems, is to be able to make several laps while collecting barrels of fuel to replenish your car’s tank before it runs out.

The game restarts if you hit too many unmoving cars and buses, as well as if you drive off the road (but not on the wrong side of the highway).

Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency, commission Pyongyang Racer. It is unclear what the company hopes to achieve in this game, but they certainly know that the players should have their expectations way, way low to fully appreciate the game.

Source: Bloomberg, via Cracked