Billed as "a video game with real life consequences", Lose/Lose is a simple vertical-scrolling shoot'em up with a twist -- each alien appearing on your screen represents a random file on your computer. Thus, each time you kill an alien, the game will delete that sprite's associated file. If the aliens manage to destroy your ship, the Lose/Lose application is deleted. Wacky and dangerous!

Developer Zach Gage calls attention to the fact that the aliens don't actually fire back at you, calling into question what your mission is in the game. Are you defending your planet? Terrorizing a pacifist alien race? Just killing whatever comes up on your screen for fun?

"Why do we assume that because we are given a weapon an awarded for using it, that doing so is right?" asks Gage. "By way of exploring what it means to kill in a video-game, Lose/Lose broaches bigger questions. As technology grows, our understanding of it diminishes, yet, at the same time, it becomes increasingly important in our lives."

"At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions? If we have reached that point already, what real objects do we value less than our data? What implications does trusting something so important to something we understand so poorly have?"

You can download Lose/Lose and see the game's highscores at Gage's site. You can also watch a trailer for the game below, and enjoy watching aliens shot down without having to worry about losing valuable documents.

[Via Tlon]