We Become What We Behold is a short point-and-click experience with a sharp social message. You snap photos of simple interactions between round and square characters, and those images slowly change the behavior of the game’s community, producing darkly funny and thought-provoking feedback loops.
A Miniature Social Experiment In We Become What We Behold
We Become What We Behold is an original piece by developer Nicky Case. Launched in October 2016 and updated two years later, it isn’t an intense action title or a sprawling role-playing saga. Instead, it functions as a compact sociological experiment that runs about five minutes and often lingers in your thoughts long after you finish.
The first quote is very important: “We shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.” Here, the “tools” are the camera and the media.
Simple, Powerful Gameplay
The mechanics are intentionally minimal. You act as a… sky boss with one goal: use the mouse to take pictures of the tiny inhabitants below. The scene is a small stage where “normal peeps” — whimsical creatures with square and round heads — mill about.
Each photo is more than a frozen instant. It is immediately broadcast on the in-game “news” — a TV at the center of the screen — for everyone to see. What you decide to highlight directly influences how that society behaves.
The Journey From “Like” To “Boom!” - Game Milestones
Fancy Man With The Hat
He stands out. Photograph him and the hat becomes fashionable — soon everyone is scrambling to get one. You just sparked a trend.
When A Trend Becomes Boring
If you keep photographing hats, the crowd quickly tires. Interest fades and hats become uncool. You’ve witnessed a trend burning out.
The Lovers
A charming square-round couple. You might expect admiration, but the TV frames it as scandal: “LOVE IS CONTAGIOUS?” The pair is avoided and shamed, showing how media can twist something beautiful into a sensational headline.
The Angry Person
A red character is yelling. Capturing the outburst on its own is one thing, but when you snap the moment they attack someone the game prompts: “CATCH ‘EM DOING SOMETHING.” That’s when the media frenzy truly escalates.
The Death Spiral Of Negative News
After that “angry” photo airs, the world shifts. Fear and anger spread faster than fashion. “Normal peeps” begin to distrust and exclude one another. The difference between square and round heads, once benign, becomes a source of conflict.
The more you document conflict, the more hatred you amplify, and the more society unravels. A vicious cycle forms: sensational coverage -> public panic and hostility -> more sensational events. Everything accelerates toward a grim, predictable end.
The Deep Message Behind Simple Pixels
The Power Of Media
The game highlights that media not only reflects reality but helps create it. We view the world through what’s reported, and we often unconsciously imitate those behaviors.
Negative News Spreads Faster
Anger, fear, and conflict draw attention and spread far more quickly than kind or ordinary stories. “Who tunes in to watch people get along?” — an in-game line that cuts to the heart of modern news incentives.
Responsibility Of The Camera Operator
You — the player — stand in for journalists, content creators, and social media users. Every share, every photo, helps shape public perception.
Conclusion
We Become What We Behold is a social experiment wrapped in a brief game. Each click is an editorial choice, and the chain reactions that follow show how small moments can be amplified and distorted across a community. The game demonstrates how collective attention can be steered — and how harmless information loops can spiral into harm.