lj games club – MDickie and Comedy Games

MDickie and Comedy Games

At our next Ljubljana Games Club meeting, taking place on May 13th, we’ll be discussing three of the latest games by solo developer MDickie (Matt Dickie): Wrestling Empire (2021), Old School (2023), and Hard Time III (2024). MDickie’s games have gained popularity among streamers and YouTubers thanks to their bizarre, amateurish aesthetics, janky wrestling mechanics, and chaotic sandbox design. While these games are rarely considered “good” by conventional standards, they succeed in creating emergent comedic narratives that portray the interpersonal drama, violence, and absurdity of the wrestling world (Wrestling Empire), the education system (Old School), and prison life (Hard Time III).

We’ll analyze MDickie’s work as an example of “comedy games” and explore how games can function as vehicles for humor more broadly. To prepare, aim to spend 30–60 minutes with each of the three games.

If you’re short on time, I would recommend trying Wrestling Empire, as it’s widely considered the best of the trio and offers a strong sense of MDickie’s overall approach. You can find all three games on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1620340/Wrestling_Empire/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2529120/Old_School/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3009850/Hard_Time_III/

They are also available on the Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/wrestling-empire-switch/
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/old-school-switch/
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/hard-time-iii-switch/