There are 3 modes of play to choose from: vs. The System, vs. the computer, or Deathmatch; so play according to your mood that day. If you’re feeling in the mood to crush The System, you’ll know what to do. Another cool feature of Detox is your ability to see how your score compares to the Market Leaders list. The people on the Detox’s Market Leader list are leaders in Australia, and I think for a future update, it could be a little more customizable and players can pick which country’s system they want to work against (or for – whatever the case may be). They may be better able to relate to the issue. Maybe it can be part of an updatable database from where players automatically connect to have the list of their country’s (or some other country’s) current administration. Maybe it’s too much work. (I dunno) I mean, I'm from the U.S. but I live in France and well, hey, I’d actually like to see my score against the leaders in England. Call me schizo.

What happens next? Play until something gives. One or more of these things will happen: you’ll defeat The System, kill some of your civil servants, cause the civil servants to kill addicts (or something like that), work them too hard, fail some drug addicts or some combination of the above. At the end of the game, you will receive an extensive post-game analysis in the form of an itemized bill to the taxpayer. It’s funny (ha ha) and not funny (ha ha).

Detox appears to be deceptively basic but is far from simplicity. Skillfully programmed the game Detox runs smoothly and performed without any problems whatsoever. Conceptually, it could be perceived as a no-nonsense pong game with arms, but you’ve got to be blind, deaf and dumb not notice the biting wit, silliness and social/political statement impacting the game play, thus addressing general issues of life. What’s Detox all about? It’s a game with a statement and I wish more developers would go this route. Play it. Think a little bit about The System. Bounce those heads! Feed those workers! You’ll have fun and you’ll be a bit concerned about the futility of certain Drug Policies. But that’s ok because Detox is a game meant to be enjoyed but it also intended to convey a political message, sobering as it may be. Download Detox here (14 MB)

Detox is a Freeware by The Daily Grind

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While scouring the internet searching for the right game to review, I was suddenly jolted out of my sedated state with DETOX. It was the unsophisticated graphics and the name that caught my eye. My first thought: “WHAT the!?” I couldn’t resist. I knew I found my game gem or nightmare. In this case, I’d say both. But I mean that in a good way.

By the picture above, you can tell how the graphics in this game will present and the level of artistic depth or lack thereof. Hope as much as you like to find better graphics after you download it; you will not find them. But don’t let that deter or discourage you – they will grow on you, and while the graphics are rudimentary, they actually work with and not against the game.

On the surface, Detox is a four-sided Pong game, but look further and you’ll be forced to delve deeper into the The System’s drug policy; and this will make you think, unless you could care less about Life. The four sides of the board represent the Medical, Mental Health, Social Services and Law Enforcement Departments depicted by the board bats: a doctor, a psychiatrist, a social worker and a cop. Each department bounces drug addicts back and forth off each other, feigning a helping hand.

The player can control all of the social services thus playing with the departments and against The System, or work against the computer and try to make the departments overload and fail. Or, you can choose something in between. I liked playing as all the departments because I am naive and will always try to make something work rather than making something fail. The irony, however, of doing that is, if you try to make all the departments work, they get used up, stretching their work to the limit, which in the end, exhausts the departments causing them to fail. It’s sadly the ugly realization that it’s all part of The System anyway, and ultimately costs the taxpayers millions if not billions of dollars--all the while, not being very effective in assisting these unfortunate druggies.

Back to the game play! Little heads of drug addicts bounce around the board as the departments refer them to other services. For each “detox” bounce, someone, whether it's the civil servant or the addict will make a comment. These sound bytes are funny and distressing at the same time -- and this feeling strangely reoccurs over and over as I play Detox. Keep the addict heads on the board as long as possible or they’ll die or get lost in society (which might possibly be a better option than staying in The System. Hmmm.). Also, muffins and coffee cups float around the board after so many detoxes occur; you’ll need these to provide the necessary office sustenance for each service worker.