History VideoGame / Oiligarchy

** If we don't stop relying on oil to run our society, then we will a) start nuking each other for oil, b) [[spoiler:[[HumanResources start using each other to make oil]] then start nuking each other for oil]], or c) end up permanently ruining our economy when the oil runs out.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The PlayerCharacter is one, being the corrupt head of an oil company. Over the course of the game, they can bribe representatives to increase the US' addiction to oil, [[DayOfTheJackboot aggressively crack down on any protests against you]], and [[spoiler:eventually doom the West to an [[ApocalypseHow/Class2 inevitable economic and civil collapse]] or straight-up cause WorldWarIII if they choose not to break America's oil addiction.]]
* CorruptPolitician: You can bribe the federal government to invade America and the Nigerian government to execute the Ogoni.
* CrapsackWorld: Keep America hooked on oil, and it will slide deeper and deeper into this. The newspapers begin to mention that heating costs are forcing millions to relocate to warmer places, food distribution networks are breaking down to the point of food riots and cannibalism becoming common, [[spoiler:and humans are being processed into oil to stave off collapse. This eventually culminates in WorldWarIII or a Farwell West, where Western society undergoes a more gradual decay.]]
* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: The game forces you to be an absolutely evil jackass. When the Ogoni start protesting and blocking your oil fields, can you find a peaceful solution? No, your only option is to bribe the government to kill everyone. And you cannot get to invest in Iraq without manipulating the US government invading them. And lets not even get into the part about the environment.
** The only way to avert this is to aim for the "green" ending right from the beginning, which can easily be achieved if you do nothing to keep environmentalism from spreading (by systematically skipping the elections and not "oiling" the representatives) and let oil demand regularly outstrip supply in order to have energy-saving acts approved, only opening new wells to placate your shareholders and avoid getting fired. By using this strategy, it is possible to retire as early as 1975, without even having reached peak oil in Texas.

* {{Eagleland}}: Type 1 if you don't have the government in your pocket, and Type 2 if you do.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Your oil company starts off as a small post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII business venture and goes to... well... an [[TitleDrop oiligarchy]] that keeps the entire world oppressed, feeding it untold amounts of money to pay for oil obtained through everything from human rights abuses to [[spoiler: burning live humans to make more of it once you hit Peak Oil.]]

** The Farewell West ending. It can be reached (although the creators believed otherwise when they first discovered the issues in obtaining it), but one can generally only do so by [[spoiler: blowing up all of your oil wells just as Peak Oil is about to hit, and maintaining a near-100% oil addiction through your savings. As soon as the GDP reaches -12% growth, it's yours.]]

** If we don't stop relying on oil to run our society, then we will a) start nuking each other for oil, or b) [[spoiler:[[HumanResources start using each other to make oil]]]].

* InherentInTheSystem: The oil industry requires you to do ''extremely'' evil things to maintain the bottom line. From destroying the environment to bribing the federal government to paying African dictators to slaughter dissidents. [[spoiler: Once the oil starts running out unless you decide to forgo your wealth and retire, you'll resort to turning humans into oil]].
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: In M.A.D World [[spoiler: the world devolves into nuclear war, destroying your wealth and leaving you to spend your final days rotting in a bunker]]. In Farewell West, [[spoiler: Western civilization is permanently crippled by economic collapse]].

* MultipleEndings: There are four endings, three of which can be triggered at or after Peak Oil is reached.

** M.A.D World: [[spoiler:Reach Peak Oil, but keep the government addicted to oil by bribing representatives. After oil hits $300 per barrel, [[WorldWarIII The Last World War]] erupts for control of the world's remaining oil supplies, with nuclear MutuallyAssuredDestruction becoming a reality. The oiligarch retreats to their private fallout shelter to ride out the storm, but is heavily implied to die in the dark as the bunker's power runs out.]]

** [[GameOver Fired]]: The [[PlayerCharacter oiligarch]] is fired for failing to deliver enough profit to keep the shareholders happy. Uniquely, this can trigger at any point due to being ''Oiligarch'''s GameOver.

* PointyHairedBoss: You can fail to deliver profits, eventually leading to your dismissal by the shareholders.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: To prolong your wealth and influence, you can bribe the American government to keep the world hooked on oil. Of course, you can defy this and refuse to bribe lobbyists and [[spoiler: allow the world to transition to green energy peacefully]].

* ToxicInc: Your oil company causes the likes of animal life dying off.

* VillainProtagonist: You, the "protagonist of the petroleum era." Your goal is simply to make as much money as possibly, fuck everyone and everything else. You either cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, or you go out of business.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, by virtue that he will neeever invade Kuwait unless you push him to by persuading the Kuwaitis to drill illegally.

* InherentInTheSystem: The oil industry requires you to do ''extremely'' evil things. From destroying the environment to paying African dictators to slaughter dissidents. [[spoiler: Once the oil starts running out unless you decide to forgo your wealth and retire, you'll resort to turning humans into oil]].

* CrapsackWorld: Keep America hooked on oil, and it will slide deeper and deeper into this. The newspapers begin to mention that heating costs are forcing millions to relocate to warmer places, food distribution networks are breaking down to the point of food riots and cannibalism becoming common, [[spoiler:and humans are being processed into oil to stave off collapse. This eventually culminates in WorldWarIII.]]

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: That would be you.
* CrapsackWorld: Keep America hooked on oil, and it will slide deeper and deeper into this, eventually culminating in WorldWarIII.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption : [[spoiler: Of the four endings, one involves you getting fired and another one involves the end of the world (and text saying "you spend your last days in darkness, pondering your role in creating this mess"). The third involves a happy ending for everyone ''except'' the VillainProtagonist player; an ending in which reduced reliance on fossil fuels renders the oil industry less important. The last involves keeping the western world addicted to oil but not actually supplying it, crashing the GDP ''so hard'' that modern civilization slowly collapses due to a permanently ruined economy. It does not appear to be possible to make the game last forever without eventually running into one of these endings]].

* GuideDangIt: The Farewell West ending. It can be reached (although the creators belived otherwise when they first discovered the issues in obtaining it), but one can generally only do so by [[spoiler: blowing up all of your oil wells just as Peak Oil is about to hit, and maintaining a near-100% oil addiction through your savings. As soon as the GDP reaches -12% growth, it's yours.]]
** It is possible to reach it more conventionally by careful management of oil supply and demand. [[spoiler: After the peak, carefully keep oil supply just below oil demand. The price will rise slowly, as the GDP falls. Your job is to keep the oil supply close enough to demand to keep the price rise as slow as possible, without ever letting oil demand outstrip supply at any time (in which case GDP growth returns to +3% and the ending becomes impossible). If you keep this up for several decades without reaching $300/barrel, you can reach the Farewell West ending.]]
* GreenAesop: If we don't stop relying on oil to run our society, then we will a) start nuking each other for oil, or b) [[spoiler:[[HumanResources start using each other to make oil]]]].

* HeelFaceTurn: You're encouraged to pull this off halfway through [[spoiler: to get the "retirement" ending instead of the "nuclear war" ending]].

* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler: In the "best" ending, the US breaks its oil addiction and converts to clean energy, and you go out of business. In another, as the world runs out of oil, WorldWarIII breaks out for the last remaining reserves, and you hide in your bunker to ride it out. In yet another, all of Western civilization collapses due to the economic strife you caused and because you can no longer supply enough oil to keep it running. Finally, you can simply be fired before reaching Peak Oil if you fail to bring in profits]].

* PostPeakOil: You eventually reach a point in the game where you can't sustain oil production. What eventually happen is [[spoiler: you start processing humans into oil, Western civilization collapses due to a crash in GDP growth, nuclear war, or simply a less-oil dependent world.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: See Cruelty Is The Only Option.

* VillainProtagonist: You, the "protagonist of the petroleum era."

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: The game forces you to be an absolutely evil jackass. When the Ogoni start protesting and blocking your oil fields, can you find a peaceful solution? No, your only option is to bribe the government to KillEmAll. And you cannot get to invest in Iraq without manipulating the US government invading them. And lets not even get into the part about the environment.

* ClimateChange: Shows up around the midpoint of the game. It doesn't really affect the gameplay, though.

* NoPartyGiven: The two political parties are referred to as the Donkeys and the Elephants, with [[NotSoDifferent no real difference between them]]. They will both happily pass oil-friendly bills so long as you fill their pockets with oil money.

* GlobalWarming: Shows up around the midpoint of the game. It doesn't really affect the gameplay, though.