Ctrl-Alt-Destroy

by Andrea Phillips

In the near future, a video game will determine the balance of world power––and the designer is trapped inside it.




Game designer Tandy Kahananui has been developing Alternis for nearly a decade, perfecting its monsters and dungeons. But she never imagined her game would be co-opted as the basis for an ambitious top-secret project to keep the world from plunging into war, with nations competing digitally for real resources.

 

Team USA is losing, and the government needs a secret weapon to help them climb the leaderboard. When Tandy is conscripted into playing a key role and fighting for the future of her country, she quickly realizes she is in way over her head. But are other nations playing by the rules? For that matter, is the game itself playing fair?

377 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2019

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Reviews

[Malapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sin querer revelar nada, la historia requiere una suspensión de la incredulidad tamaño trasatlántico. Una vez que decides que bueno, vale, me lo creo, el resto es entretenido, algo para tener de fondo mientras conduces o cocinas y echar el rato sin darle más vueltas.

[Dav Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun. Imagines a world where resource distribution is decided by a game.

[Mike Vaughan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the game driving energy resources in the real world was a literal afterthought as it had zero impact on the actual story. Sorry to Summer Glau, but her reading of Dante made Jim completely obnoxious. The characters had no growth and the writing was pretty lazy with serious plot holes.