Grapple Dog
LQ: 9.0
Recommended Age: 5+
Skills Used: Self-Awareness, Working Memory, Reading
Beholder is a stealth game based on the literary works of George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. You are Carl Stein, a man living in an alternate 1984 where the government controls every aspect of your life. You, along with your family, are moving into a new building where you will take over as the landlord. Your job is to keep the building up-to-date, secure renters, and most importantly, spy on your tenants. You will receive directions from the Ministry of Orders telling you who to spy on and what to do if you see something suspicious. You can also file profiles on your tenants, providing the Ministry with more information. For this you are rewarded with money and reputation points, which can be turned into purchases such as repair kits and surveillance cameras.
You can also choose to play the game another way, trying to save your neighbors and join in the resistance against the government. Each pathway presents its rewards, challenges, and unique outcomes.
Beholder is rated T for Teen due to alcohol and drug references as well as violent imagery. Learningworks for Kids stands by this rating.
Organization: Arranging and coordinating materials in order to complete a task.
There are a lot of things you need to keep track of within the game Beholder. You need to make sure that your tenants are happy with you but you also need to keep your family happy as well. You need to be aware of all the new laws that are passing and if anyone is currently breaking them. You need to know what orders you have been given by the Ministry and how much time you have to complete them. You also need to know what items are in each tenant’s apartment because they might come in handy at some point. The player needs to use their organizational skills to keep track of all of this information and use it in the proper order. Players who struggle with organization may find that they are forgetting pieces of information when they are needed most, running out of money or reputation too quickly, or failing missions set out by the Ministry. The game features an easier mode that can allow the player to practice a little more with the game mechanics before moving into normal gameplay.
Self-Awareness: Understanding our own actions, thoughts and feelings.
Beware requires the player to make some difficult moral and ethical decisions. When it is between an innocent neighbor or your young daughter, who do you choose to protect? The player can also choose different paths during gameplay; they can sell out their neighbors and report everything they do to the Ministry or they can show compassion and try to help their neighbors and cover for them. Either way, the player must think about the character they are playing and how they would feel making these decisions in real life.
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