Four players take the role of heroin addicts attempting to save money; their opponent is the Capitalist, who controls the bank. Each addict must maintain a high, represented by a servo-powered eyeball that closes over time – if an addict’s eye completely closes they lose the game. The goal of the game is for the addicts to save enough money to purchase a cure and overthrow their addiction – however, the Capitalist’s goal is to keep the addicts’ funds low so that they are forced to continue injecting drugs until they die from injuries represented on their Body cards. The capitalist wins if all drug addicts die or leave the game, while the addicts only win if all of them escape their habit and leave the Capitalist with no source of revenue, thus overthrowing the Capitalist entirely. 

The project began in 2014 as an independent study at the UCLA Game Lab with Eddo Stern. Over the years, the project has evolved to become a sculptural installation. It will continue to mutate as time goes on.

Junk was a Spotlight Award Nominee in 2019 at IndieCade.