Building half earth socialism with Son La Pham and Francis Tseng

In collaboration with utopian collective Trust, designer Son La Pham (he/him) and developer Francis Tseng (he/they) created Half Earth Socialism (2022), a browser game companion to Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass’s book of the same name. As part of the game’s launch, Son La and Francis joined me on the show to discuss how the collaboration began, the challenge of building a global planning simulator as a browser game, and the importance of going beyond raw calculations to allow players to become emotionally invested.

You can play Half Earth Socialism for free and purchase the book from Verso.

You can learn more about Son La Pham and Francis Tseng on their personal sites.

Good Things to Share
Son La: the sports park with the green roof (you know the one) where baby lambs mow the lawn.
Francis: being in Berlin and appreciating how walkable/bikable the city is.

Things Discussed
Half Earth Socialism (game), Half Earth Socialism (book), and Half Earth Socialism (political theory)
Trust
Reigns (Nerial, 2016)
Into the Breach (Subset Games, 2018)

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.