Eat the Rich, Play the Poor: Social Mobility Themes in Modern Games

Hook: Tired of shallow coverage? Play with the politics of power

Gamers want fast, trustworthy coverage that helps them find games that actually say something about the world we live in. You’re tired of nebulous reviews that call every indie “emotional” while missing how a game handles class, privilege, and social mobility. If Jade Franks’ one-woman show Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) taught us anything, it’s that raw, specific stories about class can be funny, biting and deeply human — and games are beginning to tell those stories too. This guide connects Franks’ themes to modern games, gives you a curated playlist, and hands you practical ways to find, evaluate, and support games that wrestle honestly with socioeconomic issues.

The thread from stage to screen to controller

Jade Franks’ semi-autobiographical show charts the awkwardness of being the first in your family to get a shot at a different life: culture shock, micro-snubs, the tug between ambition and loyalty. Late 2025 brought renewed attention to Franks’ work — the Fringe run and a Netflix adaptation in development — and that trajectory mirrors a bigger trend in 2025–2026: cross-pollination between narrative arts and games. Creators are borrowing the intimacy and confessional honesty of theater and TV and applying it to interactive storytelling.

“If there’s one thing worse than classism … it’s FOMO.”

That line from Franks is instructive for game design. Class and social mobility are often not just plot points — they’re systems. Games translate those systems into mechanics: paychecks that don’t cover rent, reputation economies that gate opportunities, and social scripts you can’t just toggle off. When a game treats socioeconomic reality as a playable system, players can experience the friction and moral choices that mirror Franks’ lived tension.

How games map class and mobility — four narrative-mechanical patterns

To spot a game that thoughtfully handles class, look for design patterns that turn social structure into play:

• Resource scarcity as lived experience: Mechanics force you to make survival decisions (rent, food, healthcare) that shape narrative options. Example: survival, job-sim or management systems that aren’t just time-sinks but moral stressors.
• Reputation and gatekeeping systems: Who you know and what you look like changes outcomes — not just combat stats. This models privilege and network effects.
• Institutional storytelling: NPCs, quests and environments expose bureaucracies, corporate power, and systemic barriers.
• Choice constrained by context: The illusion of freedom is a theme: options exist but are costly, risky, or only available to the privileged.

Case studies: Games that earnestly engage class and social mobility

Below are games that use one or more of the patterns above. I break down how they approach the themes and what players can take away.

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)

Why it matters: Disco Elysium is probably the most widely-discussed modern game that foregrounds class. Its fractured protagonist wakes in a decaying city shaped by political fault lines. The narrative is saturated with class analysis — unions, poverty, and political ideology — and the game gives you cognitive “skills” that filter how you interpret class-based events.

Design: Dialogue and skill systems make ideology a playable stat. There’s no combat in the traditional sense; the primary obstacles are social and interpretive.

Play takeaway: It demonstrates how letting ideology and lived experience change your perception can be more meaningful than hit points.

Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age)

Why it matters: A tabletop-like, episodic RPG about precarious work and survival on a space station. You’re a human brain in a synthetic body scraping resources between shifts — a vivid simulation of gig economy precarity.

Design: Resource and time management force trade-offs between rest, income, and relationships. The game’s modular, narrative-driven structure makes social mobility fragile and contingent.

Play takeaway: Shows how systems can model precarity while preserving intimate storytelling.

Papers, Please (3909 LLC)

Why it matters: A border-control clerk’s day job becomes a moral tightrope. The game compresses institutional brutality into ration cards and stamps.

Design: Strict procedural systems with escalating moral costs — following orders vs. protecting families — spotlight how institutions shape individual choices.

Play takeaway: Bureaucracy itself becomes a mechanism for social exclusion.

Neo Cab (Chance Agency)

Why it matters: A neon-noir ride-hailing sim about the gig-worker economy and algorithmic precarity. You’re an emotionally intelligent driver whose wages and social ties are unstable.

Design: Time and emotional labor are core resources. NPCs have social capital and friction that reveal class divides.

Play takeaway: Emotional labor is a measurable, playable resource — and it’s often invisibilized in real-life labor debates.

Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)

Why it matters: Small-town decline, unemployment, and generational stasis are at the heart of this narrative adventure. It’s a very human portrait of how economic collapse shapes identity and aspiration.

Design: Social exploration, character-driven dialogue, and town events depict the long-term social effects of economic stagnation.

Play takeaway: Shows that stigma, nostalgia, and limited options can be as confining as overt discrimination.

The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment)

Why it matters: A satirical AAA title that skewers corporate capitalism and privatized colonies where profit dictates policy. It’s more overtly comedic than other titles but still interrogates how corporate power shapes opportunity.

Design: Player choices influence faction status and access to resources, making corporate membership and allegiance a literal path to privilege.

Play takeaway: Satire can make systemic critique approachable in big-budget spaces.

Indie spotlight: short-list for thoughtful players (playtime + discussion prompts)

If you want a weekend dive or a longer campaign that sparks conversation, try this curated indie playlist. Each title includes a quick prompt you can use in a stream or book-club-style discussion.

1. Citizen Sleeper — Playtime ~8–12 hours. Prompt: How does precarity reshape your decisions about trust and relationship-building?
2. Neo Cab — Playtime ~4–6 hours. Prompt: What costs are invisible in platform labor, and how does the game represent them?
3. Night in the Woods — Playtime ~10–15 hours. Prompt: How do hometown expectations and economic decline shape identity in the game?
4. Disco Elysium — Playtime ~20+ hours. Prompt: How do ideology and lived experience alter your moral calculus?
5. Papers, Please — Playtime ~4–8 hours. Prompt: Can you maintain your humanity under procedural pressure?
6. The Outer Worlds — Playtime ~20+ hours. Prompt: How does corporate power replace governmental responsibility in the game’s economy?

Practical advice: How to find nuanced games about class in 2026

Don’t rely on store front pages alone. Use these tactics to find games that engage class and social mobility thoughtfully:

• Use targeted tags on itch.io and Steam: search “political,” “society,” “narrative,” “choices-matter,” and filter by user reviews that mention “class,” “community,” or “labor.”
• Follow developer diaries and postmortems: Developers who write about mechanics that model social systems (community blogs, GDC talks, developer Twitter/X threads) often reveal whether class is integrated into design or just window-dressing.
• Watch for festival winners: Indie showcases (indie showcases in 2025–26 like [name generic festivals]) and BAFTA/IGF nominations often surface titles that handle themes with nuance.
• Read critical essays and playthroughs: Outlets and creators who contextualize games within social history provide better picks than clickbait listicles.
• Engage curators and communities: Join tags and Discord servers focused on socially-conscious games; community recommendations often beat algorithmic suggestions.

How to evaluate if a game handles class responsibly

Use this quick checklist when deciding whether to invest time or money:

• Does the game present class as structural, not just an individual flaw?
• Are the voices diverse and does the narrative avoid reducing characters to stereotypes?
• Do mechanics reinforce narrative themes (e.g., scarcity, gatekeeping) rather than contradict them for convenience?
• Does the game acknowledge consequences and trade-offs for upward mobility?
• Is there visible research or lived experience informing the writing (developer essays, interviews, credits)?

How to play critically: running a ‘class-in-games’ community session

Whether you stream or sit down with friends, here’s a fast blueprint to turn play into rigorous discussion:

1. Pick 1–2 short titles (Neo Cab + Papers, Please) for a 2–4 hour session.
2. Frame the session with a short excerpt from Jade Franks’ themes: culture shock, FOMO, and divided loyalties.
3. Assign roles: note-taker for systems, note-taker for narrative, and moderator for social dynamics.
4. Play, then debrief: 15–20 minute discussion using the checklist above.
5. Close with action: support the dev directly (buy, wishlist, follow), and share your notes publicly to amplify nuanced coverage.

Supporting effective portrayals — what players can do in 2026

Players are not passive consumers. Use your influence intentionally:

• Buy direct: If you can, buy from the developer’s storefront or itch.io to improve dev margins.
• Signal boost thoughtful coverage: Share essays, developer interviews, and critical playthroughs on social channels with clear notes on why the game matters.
• Fund creators: Back devs on Patreon or Kickstarter if they’re working on sequels or spiritual successors that explore socioeconomic themes.
• Demand nuance: When reviewing or discussing, call out lazy tropes and reward thoughtful mechanics with constructive critique.

Where the medium is headed — 2026 trends and future predictions

Late 2024 through early 2026 saw a clear increase in socially-conscious titles from indies and mid-size studios. Expect these developments to continue and accelerate:

• Cross-media adaptations: With Franks’ show moving toward Netflix and more playwright-to-screen pipelines active, expect stronger narrative techniques to transfer into games through collaborations and writers moving between media.
• Mechanics-first social narratives: Designers will increasingly treat socioeconomic systems as mechanics rather than backdrop — think budgets, welfare systems, and reputational economies that shape outcomes.
• More developer transparency: Postmortems and design diaries will become essential reading for discerning players who want to know how a game models class.
• Curated discovery: Platforms and indie festivals will launch more curated lists for “games that matter,” reducing noise and helping players find titles that engage with privilege and mobility.

Final thoughts — why this matters for players and culture

Jade Franks’ story is not niche: social mobility, FOMO, and divided loyalties are lived realities. Games that treat those themes as systems invite players to feel and think differently. They can’t replace policy debates, but they can humanize complexities — and that matters in a medium with the power to simulate consequences.

Actionable takeaways

• Try the curated playlist (Citizen Sleeper, Neo Cab, Papers, Please, Night in the Woods, Disco Elysium, The Outer Worlds) to see different approaches.
• Use the evaluation checklist before investing time or money to avoid surface-level portrayals.
• Host a critical play session using the step-by-step blueprint above to turn play into productive conversation.
• Support devs directly — wishlists, storefront purchases, and crowdfunding matter more than ever in 2026.

Call to action

What games have made you think about class or social mobility? Share your picks and brief notes in the comments or on our Discord — and if you liked this guide, subscribe for weekly deep dives that pair news, cultural context, and curated playlists. Follow Jade Franks’ Netflix adaptation this year and add her show’s themes to your next playthrough: let’s make conversations about class as common in our gaming spaces as discussions about graphics or frame rates.

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