No doubt you have already heard (literally) about the greatest story in the world. Three days ago, the Ever Given, a 1,300-foot cargo liner, ran aground on both banks of the Suez Canal, blocking the passage of any other ships. Despite the best efforts of engineers, tugs and a very determined bulldozer. It is still stuck. About an hour ago, you can experience the excavator situation through the lens of a video game.
So is. After three painfully long days, the angle of play has finally hit shore. Get out the champagne, everyone!
The Suez Canal Excavator, launched on itch.io by designer Eric Wilder, introduces you as the Excavator. You may have seen the memes, both about the bulldozer and its equally ineffective counterpart, the bulldozer. People on Twitter compared these efforts to other insurmountable causes: trying to contain anxiety about Covid-19 by going for a walk, for example, or trying to change systemic issues through mindless individual choices (in the big picture).
The controls couldn’t be simpler. Use the left and right arrow keys to move forward and backward. You tap “J” to instigate an “action,” in this case, a feeble attempt to dislodge the rock that fits the Ever Given on the bench. The Suez Canal Excavator looks and sounds like Pokémon Red or Blue.
Kotaku tried the game a bit this afternoon. No matter what you do, the rock will not move. Every time you try, you will come across the same message: “It’s super stuck,” an unmistakable reference to “It’s super effective!” pop-up in mainline Pokémon games.
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“I thought the uselessness of the meme was hilarious,” Wilder told Kotaku by email. “I had to turn that into a game.”
It’s unclear why Ever Given has taken off the way it has despite, well, not taking off at all. Logistically, the situation is nothing to scoff at. According to CNBC, Ever Given costs the global supply chain billions of dollars a day. Some observers suggest it could even affect the global trade in semiconductors, which are currently in short supply and essential components in the production of everything from cars to computers and, yes, sorry, the PlayStation 5. Hard to get one, by the way.)
And yet this is all fucking hilarious and strangely moving, or at least relatable. You look at the ship and feel a kinship. Over the past year, many of us have felt stuck, condemned to varying degrees of isolation and inertia by an unprecedented global pandemic. Someday we will get where we need to, just like the ship. In the meantime, at least there is a silly game to help us.
More on the boat
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