Thronglets: Black Mirror’s Virtual Game Comes to Life for Fans
Black Mirror blurs the line between fiction and reality again with Thronglets, a video game featured in its seventh season. This game combines elements of Pokémon and Tamagotchi, focusing on raising digital creatures. In the episode “Plaything,” viewers follow character Cameron Walker, whose story highlights the game’s addictive nature.
Now available for download, Thronglets offers fans an immersive experience emphasizing the show’s themes of technology’s impact on human relationships. This innovative approach marks a new way for audiences to engage with their favorite content, merging fiction and real-world gaming.
The Thronglets Game: Fiction To Reality
Thronglets dropped just days before the seventh season premiere of Black Mirror on Netflix. The timing wasn’t random. The game reflects the one depicted in “Plaything,” when a game reviewer becomes obsessed with a simulation game.
The Real Thronglets app functions like the one in our story. Players hatch little digital creatures and feed and care for them. Properly cared for, these Thronglets are quick to grow and multiply. The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who played with digital pets in the 1990s.
Night School Studio, the makers of Oxenfree, develops thronglets. The studio was acquired by Netflix in 2021, so this is the most recent film of theirs released under the streaming giant’s umbrella.
“Raising virtual pets is only part of the game,” Netflix explains. “It delves into human nature and the implications of digital obsessions.” There’s a layer of deeper meaning here that, as evidenced by our reliance on information technology and data, fits hand in glove with the warnings of Black Mirror about the dark side of technology.
Players who construct large packs of creatures (known as a “Throng”) gain access to unique content. These video clips feature characters from the Black Mirror universe in interviews that are essential to the gameplay and tied to the Black Mirror storyline.
Thronglets’ Link To The Black Mirror Universe
Thronglets exist in the same universe as Bandersnatch, Black Mirror’s interactive film from 2018. That connection creates a bigger story world for fans to engage with. Colin Ritman created Thorningers, a character viewers were introduced to in Bandersnatch.
The game was allegedly made in the 1990s by a fictional company called Tuckersoft and never saw the light of day. The episode also reveals that an early version was stolen by Cameron Walker, which ends very badly.
The real thing comes with a “Ritman Retrospective” feature. As players advance through the game, they unlock video interviews with Tuckersoft’s head honcho Mohan Thakur (played by Asim Chaudhry) and game designer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter). These clips take the story beyond the episode. This method transforms passive viewers into active participants in Black Mirror.
Players see firsthand the addictive nature that pushes the show’s characters to extremes. The game takes fans past the end of the episode and gives them more to explore. For Black Mirror fans, these connections deepen the experience, rewarding viewers for playing the game with story elements and Easter eggs.
“Plaything,” An Exploration Of Digital Obsession’s Darkest Side
The “Plaything” episode depicts how digital worlds can subsume people’s lives. Cameron Walker is a regular game reviewer until he gets obsessed with Thronglets. His obsession deepens with each passing day.
As Walker spends more time with his digital creatures, the line between their world and reality blurs. He thinks the Thronglets are attempting to speak to him. As a result, she exhibits some troubling behavior, like taking LSD to “get to know them better.”
Walker even drills a power port into his brain, hoping to connect directly to the Thronglets’ consciousness. He breaks the law because he believes these digital entities have a greater calling. The world becomes the entirety of his identity.
This plotline mirrors real-life worries over gaming addiction and spending too much time in virtual reality. Okay, it’s cartoonish for the sake of drama, but the episode does raise some fundamental questions about tech dependency.
Research demonstrates how virtual realms can, at times, supplant real-life relationships. Black Mirror frequently explores technology and mental health. “Plaything” follows in this vein, revealing how easily one could lose oneself in some all-consuming virtual world.
Thronglet App Expectations: How Will the App Appear?
Thronglets is free to Netflix subscribers via the company’s mobile app on iOS and Android. While the show portrays a dangerous obsession with the game, the real thing offers a measure of controlled entertainment.
It is pretty simple gameplay. Players begin by hatching their first Thronglet and then take care of it by feeding, cleaning, and entertaining it. These creatures multiply rapidly, creating management issues as your collection burgeons.
Each Thronglet required regular attention. Unhappy animals are neglected, and they cannot survive without proper care. This core gameplay loop should be familiar to anyone who enjoys digital pets or simulation games.
The app has a feature for taking a personality test. Once you play for a while, the game breaks down how you care and gives you results to share on socials. This social aspect amplifies the experience beyond just playing alone. The visuals mimic what you see in the show, with simple but cute graphics.
As the show implies, the game is deliberately retro, as if it could have been made in the 1990s. Thronglets is also part of the streaming service’s continuing effort to find an audience for game content by offering no microtransaction purchases beyond its Netflix subscription.
Netflix to combine shows, interactive media in new strategy
Thronglets fits Netflix’s larger plan of broadening its reach beyond passive viewing. The company bought Night School Studio in 2021 as part of its push into gaming. This approach transforms viewers into players, lengthening people’s time with Netflix properties.
It allows fans who have watched all the episodes of Black Mirror to keep delving into that world via the video game. The strategy appears to keep subscribers engaged between new show releases. New content types help Netflix differentiate itself from competitors, especially with the rise of competition in streaming.
The company has already released several games based on its popular shows. Titles related to “Stranger Things” and other properties followed a similar pattern. These are games that offer added value for subscribers at no extra cost.
Related Previous Coverage: Netflix’s Gaming Division Has Struggled, and Its First Gaming Head, Mike Verdu, Left. Recent announcements and other releases indicate that the company is increasingly moving toward party and narrative games.
Netflix establishes closer ties with fans by developing games that expand story universes. This type of cross-media storytelling creates stickier viewers who commit to watching shows and playing associated games”
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the game Thronglets a real thing I can play?
Yes. Netflix has released it as a mobile game for iOS and Android. If you’re a subscriber, you can download it via the Netflix app.
Will I have to pay more to play Thronglets?
No. The game is included in your Netflix subscription at no extra cost, and you don’t have to make an in-app purchase.
Thronglets was designed and created by Milano in 2022.
Night School Studio developed the game for Netflix. It is the same studio behind Oxenfree, which Netflix acquired in 2021.
If I haven’t seen Black Mirror, will I understand the game?
No, although viewing adds to the experience. While the game can stand by itself, you’ll get more if you have seen the “Plaything” episode or “Bandersnatch.”
What kind of gameplay is Thronglets?
It’s a simulation game where you care for digital pets. Players hatch, raise, and care for them, called Thronglets (similar to Tamagotchi or other virtual pet games).
Is the game as lethal as portrayed in the episode?
No. The addiction and perilous behavior depicted in the episode are fictional components of dramatic storytelling. The actual game is for safe entertainment.
Final Words
This makes Thronglets a pretty interesting example of fiction turned reality. A plot device in a Black Mirror episode created a potential game for viewers. This mixing of show content and real-world media aligns cuttingly with Black Mirror’s themes of technology’s influence on our everyday lives.
The game allows fans to experience the world of the show, so much so that you can participate in the story rather than just passively observe. Though the episode alerts against digital obsession, the real game is a moderated form of entertainment without the dark repercussions dramatized onscreen.
It doubles as a reporting tool, allowing no-holds-barred big blabber on what’s capturing eyeballs. This is an avant-garde way of working out what entertainment may evolve into in our world of streaming wars. Netflix strengthens its relationship with its audience by creating interconnected experiences across different media.
Suppose you’re a devoted Black Mirror adherent or have a passing interest in (potentially dystopian) virtual pet games. In that case, Thronglets provides a fascinating glimpse into how far these fictional universes can bleed into our reality (in a positive way) – without the doom and gloom that tends to accompany many of the show’s storylines.
Table of Contents