AI is going to end the world as we know it, but not in the way you think.
In the past few days, I had the chance to play a new game unlike anything I’ve encountered before. It runs on a groundbreaking AI engine that doesn’t just learn- it mutates and evolves, rewriting its own code over time, much like the natural processes found in living organisms.
To the player, it takes the form of harmless-looking, cute and funny little AI creatures that just need your help to live and prosper happily in their digital world, but the implications of agreeing to help them are yet to be known. The company behind this game, called Thronglets, is TCKR Systems (formerly Tuckersoft). If that name sounds familiar, it’s because they’ve been behind a few games and other technological projects with questionable intentions.
OK, if you made it this far without reporting this post for conspiracy, first of all, thanks 😊 now let me explain: 6 years ago, while I was watching Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, I came across some super weird sound at one the movie's ending, which somehow was actually the first one I hit (reminder: Bandersnatch had many possible endings, which one you get depends on your choices in this interactive movie) . It felt out of place, and my curiosity got the better of me. This made me research what's going on with it and long story short, it wasn't there for no reason, it was actually an obscured, hidden data.
I found out that sound was actually a ZX Spectrum game tape (I wasn't alive when that computer was released, so I had no idea that a game stored in this analog format would produce those sounds when played through an audio system).
That discovery led me down the rabbit hole and turned out to be really cool CTF-like challenge, which after completion, gave me the opportunity to play the actual Bandersnatch game!
You
can check out my original post, including a video walkthrough of all the steps
I took to get there here:
So in case you missed it Netflix just dropped a new season of Black Mirror. Without giving away too many spoilers, one of the episodes, Thronglets, has a direct connection to Bandersnatch and the company behind it - Tuckersoft.
When this series started, it showed us aspects of hard to swallow, dystopian futures, where Sci-Fi concepts like AI, fully immersive VR, quantum computing, neural implants, biohacking and other technologies, goes wrong. Some of these episodes were disturbing to the point that you couldn't just shake them off your head after watching, thinking "it's only a show, no way this could actually happen".
Fast forward to today, and nearly all of those concepts have become part of our reality, even if we're only just beginning to scratch their surface. Perhaps the creators of Black Mirror, much like some tech leaders who’ve recently voiced concerns about the dangers of unconstrained AI, were onto something after all.
Back to Thronglets, watching Black Mirror from a technological POV is always a fun ride. To me, most of the things presented do make sense, while few still look and sound like CSI Cyber, Hollywood-style nonsense. Nonetheless, it's clear the creators of the show are all-in on making it interactive from a tech perspective, by putting those Easter eggs, releasing real games with hidden content, and even creating this TCKR Systems LinkedIn page.
Here are all the Easter eggs I've found in Thronglets:
1. Thronglets is an actual game, it's kinda like a Tamagotchi on steroids but with much darker theme, and this time you don't need to solve any challenges to play it! Here -
As you can see, it looks really similar to how it's shown in the episode, only the HUD is different as this is a mobile game. I believe what we see in the episode is the actual game with some post-production magic. In the episode we see the young Cameron Walker loading and playing it on MS-DOS, so a few years have passed since Bandersnatch on the ZX Spectrum.
2. What I believe was only rumored up until
now, is now confirmed - Tuckersoft who made games like Bandersnatch and Thronglets eventually became TCKR Systems. In around 08:41 you can even see a Striking Vipers
(which appeared in an episode in season 5, as a VR game
made by TCKR) poster in their office, alongside Space Fleet poster from USS Callister episode, which also had a sequel this season (I believe it's the first time we have a direct sequel in Black Mirror universe). Not sure what this poster means though, did Tuckersoft had anything to do with the TV show? or they made a game based on it ?
There's also a Bandersnatch 2 poster! who knew it had a sequel?! maybe we'll have access to it as well, one day.
3. Not really Easter eggs, but I had to put these ones : this is the very cryptic game review young Cameron wrote on a very old MS Word
And this is the futuristic QR-like code that ended humanity as we know it, or made it evolve to the next level, depends on who you ask (and yes I tried to scan it already, unfortunately nothing happened) :
4. TCKR Systems has a shiny new website https://tckrsystems.tech . The Careers and Contact pages are really funny. Found 2 email addresses: info@tckrsystems.tech and careers@tckrsystems.tech . Both exist and valid, but I got no response from them. (TCKR if you're recruiting I want in!)
5. Here's part of the 'Terms and Conditions' section in the website (didn't touch the link I swear) :
"No waiver of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision, and our failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. For further clarity please visit bitly.com/98K8eH. "
