Games writer is writing a video game about writing about video games [update]

If finding interesting things to write about on a Sunday afternoon sounds like an exciting adventure, then perhaps you might consider Game Journalism Simulator, currently under development by the writer Jason Evangelho.

Conceived somewhat as a joke (like the opening paragraph to this article), Game Journalism Simulator has a serious purpose. Evangelho told Polygon he wants to use it to better understand games development while giving gamers a fun peek at the job.

Evangelho first got the idea for the game after seeing Polygon News Editor Brian Crecente livestream the creation of this article about the Wii U, reported from E3. The flurry of recent simulator titles — goats, rocks, etc.— led to the joke idea.

Then Evangelho considered the rather serious book by Dan Amrich, "Critical Path: How to Review Video Games for a Living." Evangelho noted that Amrich suggests game critics attempt some type of game development, just to understand the process and be better equipped to judge a game's components. That's what he's doing here.

"The game itself tasks players with navigating the nightmarish and rewarding waters of video game journalism by progressing from a lowly undiscovered blogger to an established full-time game journalist," Evangelho told Polygon.

Evangelho has reached out to other writers, registered a trademark for the game and currently is "neck deep in our design document.

"We want it to be a genuinely fun game," he told Siliconera, "which both empowers players and makes them laugh their asses off."