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SiSSYFiGHT! and the Spirit of Comedy
In 1998, the brilliant game designer Eric Zimmerman and his team created one of the most
in-your-face, transgressive, satirical, and funny games I've ever seen. It was commissioned and
launched by Word.com in 2000. Here's what Eric has to say about it:
In 1998, Word.com asked me to direct the creation of an online game for their site. The result
was SiSSYFiGHT 2000, one of the earliest browser-based multiplayer games with real-time in-
teraction. In SiSSYFiGHT 2000, each player takes the role of a bratty little girl vying for social
dominance of the playground. Your goal is to reduce the self-esteem of the other girls, and one
or two girls can end up the winners.
The game uses a prisoners-dilemma structure in which players all decide on their actions
simultaneously. Teasing only works, for example, if two or more players both tease the same
target. At the same time, all of the in-game conversation and negotiation takes place via pub-
lic chat. Since the success of your action depends on coordinating your actions with other
players, winning a game of SiSSYFiGHT entails very savvy social maneuvering.
SiSSYFiGHT was played by millions and quickly built a community of dedicated players,
who took part in fan art and fi ction, special game events, and real-world meetups. Diana
Barbee selfl essly and expertly managed this community for more than a decade, assisted by
original SiSSYFiGHT developers Ranjit Bhatnagar and Naomi Clark. After Word.com closed,
SiSSYFiGHT was managed by Gamelab for several years. In 2009, the game was taken offl ine
by Gamelab, but SiSSYFiGHT lives on in the hearts and minds of its players (© Eric Zimmer-
man 2010).
But surprise! In 2013, Eric Zimmerman, Ranjit Bhatnagar, and Naomi Clark—members of the
original design team—have embarked on a campaign to relaunch the game in open-source for-
mat.
In the true spirit of Comedy
, they are ready to engage the discourse around sexism that the
game so brilliantly put in front of us. You go, girls!
Screen image
from the original
SiSSYFiGHT 2000.
