Say Cheese and We Become What We Behold: The Original Game
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Say Cheese and We Become What We Behold are closely linked: the Roblox game's own description says it is based on Nicky Case's original. If you enjoyed taking photos of the park and watching the headlines spiral, the original is worth knowing about. This page explains what We Become What We Behold is, why Say Cheese is allowed to build on it, and how the two compare.
What Is We Become What We Behold?
We Become What We Behold is a short, free browser game by Nicky Case. Its itch.io page calls it "a game about news cycles, vicious cycles, infinite cycles", and Nicky Case writes that they made it in two months.
| Creator | Nicky Case |
| Where to play | ncase.itch.io/wbwwb, in the browser |
| Price | Free |
| Length | A few minutes |
| Platform | HTML5, built with PixiJS |
| itch.io tags | Comedy, Dark Humor, Experimental |
| itch.io rating | 4.8 out of 5 from nearly 9,000 ratings |
| Translations | Fan translations into more than a dozen languages |
The rating and the long list of fan translations say a lot. For a game that takes a few minutes to play, it has had a long life, and Say Cheese is the latest project to build on it.
Open Source, Zero Rights Reserved
The reason Say Cheese can adapt the original openly is that Nicky Case gave it away. On the game page, they say they released all of the code and art to the public domain with zero rights reserved, and that anyone who wants to remix the game already has permission. The full source code is on GitHub, linked from the itch.io page.
That is unusual. Most games, even free ones, keep their art and code under copyright. We Become What We Behold was built to be remixed, and Say Cheese is exactly that kind of remix.
What Say Cheese Keeps
The heart of the original is a camera and a news screen. Say Cheese keeps that core idea.
| Idea | How it works in Say Cheese |
|---|---|
| A camera is your only tool | You never fight or collect anything, you only take photos |
| Photos become the news | Every photo you take is turned into a headline |
| The news changes people | Characters react to the headlines, from arguments and fights to kindness |
| Circles and squares | The park is full of circles and squares, and their conflict drives the main story |
| A cycle that feeds itself | Each headline shapes the next event, which you photograph again |
Say Cheese's official thumbnails show the hashtag news banners that carry this idea, such as "BE SCARED. BE ANGRY." over a terrified circle, and "OOH NICE HAT" over a crowd that has all started wearing bowler hats.
What the Roblox Version Adds
Say Cheese is more than a straight port. Here is what is new on Roblox.
- A clear role. You play a journalist hired by "Big Media" to spread chaos and panic, with a goal of keeping billions of people glued to the screen.
- A choice spelled out. The description asks directly whether you will destroy the peaceful society or try to change fate and bring hope.
- 12 named endings. From Viral to Follow the Money, each with its own trigger. See all 12 endings.
- An endings menu. It tracks which endings you have unlocked, which makes replaying the story a goal in itself.
- Multiplayer servers. Servers hold up to 12 players, and each player follows the story through their own photos.
- A villain with a face. A man in a suit pays to cause chaos at the start, and the final ending is about following that money.
Should You Play Both?
Yes, and the order is up to you. The original takes a few minutes in your browser and costs nothing. Playing it after Say Cheese is a nice way to see the idea in its most compact form. Playing it first will make the circles, squares and headlines of Say Cheese feel instantly familiar.
If you are starting with Say Cheese, our beginner guide explains how the camera works, and the story explained page covers what the Roblox version is saying. You can jump in from the official Say Cheese Roblox page.
Say Cheese and We Become What We Behold FAQ
Is Say Cheese a copy of We Become What We Behold? It is an adaptation. The Say Cheese description credits We Become What We Behold by Nicky Case, and Nicky Case released the original to the public domain so anyone could remix it.
Who made We Become What We Behold? Nicky Case, who says they made it in two months. It is free to play in the browser on itch.io.
How long is We Become What We Behold? Just a few minutes, far shorter than unlocking all 12 Say Cheese endings.
What does Say Cheese add to We Become What We Behold? A journalist role for Big Media, 12 named endings with an endings menu, and 12-player Roblox servers.