III: Unfair Games — Chapter 1
Contains spoilersOverview
The trio settle on Unfair Games as their studio name, but authorship is disputed. Marx cites Shakespeare, Sadie recalls a lifelong mantra, and Sam links it to his belief that games can be fairer than life. The unresolved credit establishes themes of fairness, memory, and authorship guiding their work.
Summary
Marx, Sadie, and Sam each believe they coined the company name Unfair Games. The chapter opens by noting the ambiguity, as all three take credit at different times.
Marx traces the name to a favorite line from The Tempest, though Sadie argues the logic doesn’t track. Sadie instead ties the name to her childhood refrain, “It’s unfair,” a phrase she overused enough to incur maternal fines.
Sam insists he named it in the hospital after breaking his ankle, inspired by the idea that games can be fairer than life: “A good game, like Ichigo, was hard, but fair.” He claims he wrote the name on a bedside sheet, but no one finds it, and the narration notes Sam’s stories can be apocryphal. The authorship remains unresolved, but the philosophy behind the name endures.
Who Appears
- Sam
Claims he named Unfair Games in the hospital; believes games can be fairer than life.
- Sadie
Attributes Unfair Games to her childhood mantra, “It’s unfair,” and disputes Marx’s logic.
- Marx
Thinks he named the studio after a line from The Tempest, though others disagree.