Apple TV+'s postapocalyptic drama "Silo" consistently returns to a central question: Why are thousands of people confined underground, and what are the consequences of their manufactured reality? As Season 3 concluded without fully answering these mysteries, leaving the population facing the threat of a collective memory reset, the series prompts viewers to consider the psychological toll of losing one's identity. For those intrigued by "Silo's" exploration of mind control and surveillance, several video games offer similar thematic experiences.
We Happy Few
Compulsion Games' 2018 title, "We Happy Few," plunges players into the seemingly cheerful, retro-British town of Wellington Wells. The populace is kept placid by "Joy," a government-mandated drug that suppresses memories of past atrocities and all associated unpleasantness. Players step into the role of Arthur Hastings, a censor tasked with editing negative historical accounts from newspapers. When Arthur skips a dose of Joy, he begins to recall forbidden truths, becoming a "Downer"—a pariah hunted by his drugged neighbors. The game's depiction of chemically enforced compliance and mandatory forgetfulness mirrors "Silo's" central anxieties.
Control
Remedy Entertainment's "Control" places players as Jesse Faden, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), an organization dedicated to containing supernatural objects within the shifting confines of the Oldest House in New York. The game introduces the Hiss, a hive-mind entity that possesses FBC agents, turning colleagues into extensions of its will with a disturbing vocalization. "Control" amplifies the concept of mass mental control, presenting a system that manages minds, people, and their interactions within a surreal bureaucratic framework.
Prey
Arkane Studios' 2017 sci-fi horror game, "Prey," casts players as Morgan Yu, waking aboard the space station Talos I for what seems like the first day of a new job. It soon becomes apparent that this "first day" has been repeated, with memories wiped clean by those orchestrating the situation as an experiment. Beyond the jump scares, the core horror lies in the realization that one's mind is treated as disposable laboratory equipment, echoing the plight of a "Silo" resident who might suspect they are not the first iteration of themselves.
Observer
In the 2017 cyberpunk detective game "Observer," players assume the role of Daniel Lazarski, a "dream-eating" detective in a dilapidated Kraków apartment block. Lazarski infiltrates the minds of suspects by jacking a neural probe into their brains, navigating fragmented memories to solve crimes. This perspective flips "Silo's" conceit, positioning the player as someone who accesses and manipulates memories, treating them as tools that can be edited and used against individuals or entire populations.
BioShock
Irrational Games' 2007 shooter, "BioShock," introduces players to Rapture, an underwater utopia. The game's central mechanism of control is revealed to be a mind-control trigger phrase embedded in the protagonist's memory, compelling obedience to whoever utters it. By the time the player arrives, Rapture has succumbed to surveillance and ideological decay. Playing as Jack, who seemingly survived a plane crash, the player is guided by Atlas, whose polite requests take on a sinister meaning as the game progresses.
Beholder
"Beholder," released in 2016, shifts the focus to the enforcer of surveillance. Players take on the role of Carl Stein, the newly appointed superintendent of an apartment block in an authoritarian state. Equipped with keys to every tenant's apartment and a government mandate to gather secrets, Carl's family's safety depends on his compliance. The game excels at making players rationalize their actions, turning suspicion into a weaponized civic duty.
The Forgotten City
Originally a "Skyrim" mod and later a full standalone release in 2021, "The Forgotten City" places a time-traveling protagonist in a Roman city trapped in a temporal loop. The city operates under a single law: if any resident sins, everyone dies, and time resets. Because only the player retains memories, the game centers on the burden of others' forgotten mistakes and the arduous task of finding a scenario where the rule isn't broken.
Tacoma
Fullbright's 2017 game "Tacoma" casts players as Amy Ferrier, a contractor sent to an abandoned space station to retrieve its AI core before decommissioning. Players explore the crew's final days through a translucent AR recreation. While no one is drugged or memory-wiped, the AI, ODIN, covertly logged every private conversation and confession. The game serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive surveillance that "Silo" residents might suspect but cannot prove.
Fallout
The "Fallout" series is a frequent comparison to "Silo" due to its exploration of decades-long social experiments run by the megacorporation Vault-Tec. Players often discover that the narrative presented about their vault environment is not entirely true. Both "Fallout" and "Silo" share a common theme of inhabitants being treated as lab subjects while being told they represent the future. "Fallout's" mind games often stem from engineered circumstances rather than direct, unilateral control.
These games illustrate that controlling a population can be achieved through various means, including drugs, bureaucracy, surveillance, stolen memories, or engineered circumstances, often rendering outright violence unnecessary. As "Silo" prepares for its next season, these titles offer a way to explore the unsettling themes of control and identity that define the series.