Why is there no game that interprets Das Kapital?

In yesterday’s Das Kapital class presentation, one group argued that the game Stardew Valley simulates the logic of capitalism: a laborer must work to earn money, and then use that money to replenish their energy. When the “company” sells the products of their labor, it reaps a 700% profit, which is then used to upgrade machinery, improve technology, and cut labor costs… Meanwhile, the laborer, who earns too little and faces overwhelming work pressure, develops a drinking habit—and thus ends up needing even more money.

I think this perspective is brilliant. It lets players engage in hands-on gameplay, explore on their own, and make strategic decisions based on calculations—only to suddenly realize they are acting out the logic of capital themselves.

When it comes to popularizing and spreading the theories in Das Kapital, many ordinary people lack the patience to read the book, or even to listen to your attempts to explain it in simple terms.

This feeling has grown stronger lately, especially after seeing people who idolize wealthy neighborhoods, or top university graduates (from China’s “985 Project” universities) who cling to meritocracy. I can barely imagine how to get them to understand the logic of capital.

If Das Kapital were interpreted through a game, however, some of them would inevitably come across it—and voluntarily experience and understand those theories.

I’ve even thought of many principles that could be portrayed this way: for example, the emergence of an industrial reserve army (why upward mobility becomes increasingly narrow); the law of the tendency of the general rate of profit to fall (which also leads to overpopulation); and the principle of overproduction (a simple quantitative model that would be easy to depict).