No Pineapple Left Behind
| No Pineapple Left Behind | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Subaltern Games |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Macintosh, Linux |
| Release | 18 February 2016 |
| Genre(s) | Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
No Pineapple Left Behind is a 2016 video game by independent developer Subaltern Games. The game is a simulation game in which players manage a school and teachers to maximise the obedience and test results of their students. No Pineapple Left Behind was conceived by developer Esther Alter, a former teacher, as a satirical commentary on the No Child Left Behind American federal education policy. Reviews of the game were mixed, with critics praising the effectiveness of the game's premise and political message, although critiquing the execution of the game's design and mechanics.
Gameplay
[edit]
No Pineapple Left Behind is a management simulation game where players manage a school by hiring teachers, managing their energy levels, and using spells to increase the grades of students at a cost to their humanity. When students reach the lowest level of humanity, they turn into pineapples, who do not have distractions, perform better academically and help the school meet its performance targets to maintain funds. When teachers are exhausted of energy, they can be burn out and fail teaching, causing grades to decrease and the school to lose money. The player can fire teachers before this occurs.[1]
Development and release
[edit]No Pineapple Left Behind was created by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based[2] independent developer Esther Alter, who founded the studio Subaltern Games in 2012. Alter stated that the game was created to raise awareness of "systemic problems" relating to the No Child Left Behind Act and the charterization of schools, with Alter drawing from her experiences as a sixth grade mathematics teacher.[3] The title of the game satirizes the use of a nonsensical narrative titled "The Hare and the Pineapple", originally written by Daniel Pinkwater used in a standardised test in New York grade schools.[4][5][3] In 2015, the game was showcased at the Boston Festival of Indie Games,[6] and the Game Developers Conference.[7] No Pineapple Left Behind was released in February 2016, shortly after the repeal of the No Child Left Behind Act in December 2015.[4][8]
Reception
[edit]Several critics expressed that the game's themes of No Pineapple Left Behind were effective. Leif Johnson of Vice considered the game to be a "depressing" game that "succeeds brilliantly in delivering its message" and "paints the modern American educational system as a tidy gulag archipelago".[4] Describing the critiques of the game as hitting "close to home", Alex Newhouse of GameSpot stated the game reflected their own "irritation I had felt at points during my time in public school" and felt it had potential as a "dark, witty and entertaining look at American schools".[1] Alec Meer of Rock Paper Shotgun felt the game's encouragement of players "natural inclination to follow direcives and make numbers go up" at the cost of "human concern about the consequences" reflected the "invidious dilemma the staff of under-resourced schools can find themselves in.".[9]
Reviews of the game's alpha also felt that its design was less effective at conveying its message than its premise. Newhouse considered the game's alpha was a "rough experience" and "questioned whether or not this game will have lasting appealed", finding the "menus to be cluttered and confusing" and the presentation to be "obtuse".[1] Johnson stated the game was "barely fun to look at" and lacked strategy, although stating that the "superfluity" of the game's "cluttered interface" unintentionally reinforced the message of the game.[4] Meer stated the game was "simple" and "slightly rickety", stating the game "becomes repetitious all too soon" and many of the management elements were "time consuming", feeling the game "might be mighting off a little more than it can chew by ostensibly involving management of an entire school".[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Newhouse, Alex (30 July 2015). "Why I Kept Firing Teachers in No Pineapple Left Behind". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ "Press". Subaltern Games. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ^ a b Herold, Benjamin (26 September 2014). "Satirical Video Game Skewers NCLB, Charter Schools, Testing". Education Week. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ a b c d Johnson, Leif (29 February 2016). "'No Pineapple Left Behind' Asks Players to Run Schools Like Prisons". VICE. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (20 April 2012). "When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ Velocci, Carli (19 September 2015). "The 5 Best Games at This Year's Boston Festival of Indie Games". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ Kleckner, Stephen (22 March 2015). "Developers pitched me at GDC, and these are the games I saw". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ Layton, Lyndsey (10 December 2015). "Obama signs new K-12 education law that ends No Child Left Behind". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 February 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ a b Meer, Alec (5 August 2015). "Impressions: Satirical School Sim No Pineapple Left Behind". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2025.