New Mac 'Game' plays Russian Roulette with Your Files

Looking for an ideal holiday gift for that brooding philosophy student in your life? Check out Lose/Lose. It’s reminiscent of classic arcade games like Space Invaders, but with a sobering twist: Each time you destroy an alien, the game deletes a file from your Mac. Forever.

Created by Zach Gage, a digital artist in New York City, Lose/Lose puts the player in the position of shooter as aliens rain down from above. Get touched by an alien, you lose. Kill an alien, you score points—but you also vaporize a random file from your home directory. If your ship is destroyed, the game deletes itself from your hard drive.

The game is clearly intended to be food for thought rather than mindless entertainment. Above the download link on his site, Gage issues a warning—in large, red, all-capped lettering—that Lose/Lose permanently deletes files from your hard drive. It’s not meant for hardcore gamers. Or maybe it is.