Game Theory - The Cursed Lore Of Choo Choo Charles

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Join Game Theory Host MatPat as he breaks down the secrets HIDDEN in Choo Choo Charles Credits: Writers: Matthew Patrick, Tom Robinson and Editors: Dan "Cybert" Seibert, Tyler Mascola, JayskiBean, Pedro Freitas and Shannon (Bomb0i) Assistant Editor: GeekyPeanut Sound Editor: Yosi Berman

It was a beautiful morning on the island of Aranirum. Charles red-led in the sunshine as he hunted down every living show. He was feeling pleased with himself. What a very useful engine he was. Hello internet! Huh! Uh! Hey, uh, I don't know if you can tell this, but my voice is shot! I apparently caught what my four-year-old had, food poisoning, coupled with extreme muscle stiffness, subsequently followed by four days of not having a voice.

And I recognize that, uh, In order for this video to go up in any semblance of a timely fashion, it needs to get recorded. So if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to hand it off to head editor Dan. I'm going to now put all the ice on all of my nodes. And I'm going to rest my voice in the hopes that I can finally record this incredibly long Fnaf Timeline episode. Anyway, Dan, oh, all right, I will talk to you later. Hello, Internet. Welcome to Game Theory.

The show that always Chew-Choo chooses violence. Yes, hi, hello. It's head editor Dan, stepping in for a very serious. sick Matt, whose voice apparently has died and gone to theory heaven. But enough about that, dear viewer, let me introduce you to Chew Chu Charles, an indie horror game where your goal is to stop an unstoppable man-eating spider train. Wow, he really does not like fire, does it? You can just give up.

I don't know if you've noticed this. You're not making much progress here, bud. Okay, the moderately stoppable man-eating spider train. Oh, you can't get me. He has been bested by the one thing he can't challenge. Basic wood instructions. Okay, he might be a little stoppable. Anyway, regardless of his threat level,

it's our job to get rid of him. To do that, we must find three mystical eggs in various minds throughout the island. While on our quest, the game presents us with a bunch of questions. Questions about a mysterious background. Questions about the nature of this evil spider train. Questions about pickles.

Just pickles. My name. Oh, this is going to be a good episode. Wrong you are, Matt Pat. This is going to be a great episode. So what secrets are lurking in the corners of the island of Aaronnearum? All aboard the crazy train loyal theorists, because this episode is about to go off the rails. God, why is you right these puns?

Let's start with the simplest question first. What exactly is Charles? I've repeatedly called him a man-eating spider train, and if you play the game normally, yeah, that's largely what you're going to walk away thinking. But if that's your understanding as to the true nature of Charles, then shoot dang, my friend, you are wrong. It turns out Charles isn't actually a train. at all. I know that sounds crazy considering I'm talking about a nightmare fuel-injected version of Thomas the tank engine, but stick with me here. One of the earliest missions in the game is to

unlock a chest for a man named Darrow. Inside that chest is a stone tablet that seems to be depicting people fighting off a giant spider monster. Huh, now doesn't that sound familiar? The fact it is literally carved into a stone tablet and looks like an early caveman drawing implies the spider creatures have roamed the land of Aranerum for tens of thousands of years. It would seem to suggest that the spider and the train are two separate pieces, and the spider ultimately came first in a sort of twisted chicken and egg scenario. This also makes sense based on the way the island was named. The island is named Aranerum based on the word Arania, Latin for spider.

So where does the train park come in? Well, to understand that, we need a bit of history about the island. Throughout the game, we learned the story of Warren Charles III, a rich tycoon that started a gold mining operation on the island. And we see evidence of his operation everywhere. Large open mine shafts, mine carts, tools, tall buildings full of essential mine-related paperwork. Ah, yes, my room dedicated to my filing cabinet. But most importantly, he brought his trains.

Warren is the reason for the rails running all around the island. He needed mining trains to carry his spoils to and from the mines. In fact, when we get our first train from Eugene at the beginning of the game, you can see the Charles Mining Company logo plastered on the side. So on that note, have you ever stopped to take a look at? Charles train cabin? I understand that the answer is likely no when a spider train is doing everything in candy. Eat your face. Naturally, you're not going to walk towards it and ask for an inspection. But if you do manage to get a closer look right before you're devoured, you may notice on the side of the cabin is a logo for the Charles Mining Company. The train belonged to Warren. It was not part of Charles' original body. In fact, I think we can pinpoint exactly when Charles came into possession of the train.

In the first mine we visit, there's a note left by Eugene that tells us this. While mine in the farthest tunnel, we broke through a wall and into a large cavern. There's something strange here, and we don't know what it is. Now, Charles isn't what they immediately find here. According to another note, this is when they find the mystical eggs that we've been tasked with collecting. They found a whole nest of eggs while clearing out debris from the caven. And when they start using the eggs, this is when Charles first shows up in all of his train glory. While the prism was extracting life energy from a batch of eggs,

when Charles attacked for the first time. So while Charles wasn't found within that cavern, I do believe that's where he was laying dormant. It was also here where he would have taken over one of the mining trains that the miners had left behind. Why do that? Well, humans have advanced a bit since the old caveman drawing days. Their technology is better, more deadly. No longer are they finding with bows and spears.

They have guns and flamethrowers. And bazookas! Pazooka's just a fun word to say, guys. Let me have that. Plus, Charles has proven himself to be strangely intelligent. I've been staking out the area for days and Charles has never crossed the old wood bridge. Somehow the beast is cunning enough to know it's dangerous. Charles saw the explosives and mining equipment and quickly realized he couldn't survive an onslaught with those more advanced humans.

So he used what was around him, the mining train that the crew had been using to transport supplies to and from the mine. This gave him a layer of protection from their bullets and made him far more deadly. Which leads us to the events of the game and stories we hear about the rich tycoon Warren Charles III. While we and the rest of the island want to take down Charles, Warren appears to have other ideas. He has hidden the eggs in three mines across the island, which means that nobody is able to summon and fight Charles. He even takes away the weapons of the locals in order to stop them from even attempting to fight Charles. My late husband built a gun to help fight Charles,

but Warren's goon stole the barrels and... took him up to their team. So immediately, this guy gives off strong villain vibes. But his evil deeds don't stop there. We're told in another note found on the island that he... Made us bring our families to this hell hole, so we never need to leave or to keep information about his business practices away from the mainland.

That's right. Warren is a shady businessman. Shocker. Mr. Warren never told anyone from the mainland about his mining operation here. He never even reported the cave-in. He hasn't paid us since then. Our living quarters are atrocious. Stop it all off.

None of us miners ever received copies of our pepperwork. So, not only did he accidentally release an ancient spider demon, not only did he lure everyone away from the mainland to keep them quiet about his dirty dealings, but he also committed the biggest sin of all. He didn't issue his workers their W-2s. Now, how are they going to file their taxes? Wow, thanks, Matt. I really wanted to think about tax season right now.

Though, I have to ask, what did you expect from a guy with a horseshoe mustache cowboy hat and yellow suit? Tell me crazy, but with an outfit like that, Trustworthy isn't the first thing that springs to mind. Banana Cowboy is what immediately springs to mind. Editor, can we get a banana cowboy? Oh, that is excellent. That said, there are even larger accusations being thrown at Warren. The local theorist Greg, a conspiracy theorist,

suspects that Warren may actually be using Charles in a plot to Take Over the World. And you can tell that Greg is trustworthy because he doesn't wear a yellow suit. In fact, he's so trustworthy he doesn't wear anything. According to Greg, Warren Warlord III is trying to hatch. and raise more of these eight-legged critters, a whole army for who knows what purpose.

Warm must have realized how powerful these things are, and rather than protect us from them, wants to use them to take over the world. So there we have it. Case closed. Warren is in cahoots with Charles and is trying to conquer everything, right? Wrong.

You guys know Matt. You know that Matt personally loves yellow jackets. You guys also know that Matt isn't going to just trust any theory out there, especially when the accuser signs his name, Genius extraordinaire. So we did some digging to see whether Warren was really the mustache twirling villain everyone thinks he is. And if you go through the game and find all the notes, you start to see a different side of the story.

A note you find in a random shack on the northeast side of the island tells us that the Charles family is rather wealthy, with lots of success in the mining industry. However, the writer goes on to say, I'm surprised he's choosing to take such a risk here. Some people have taken this to mean that Warren knew something, something everyone else didn't, that he knew about the eggs. If this family was so wealthy, why would he risk coming to the island just for the sake of gold?

And while that certainly makes a lot of sense, it's far from the only interpretation. In fact, if you find more of the lore sprinkled across the island, you'll quickly come to learn that Warren isn't as wealthy as everyone thinks he is. During the mission for Ronnie, in the center of the island where we have to climb a series of old towers built by Warren to retrieve some paperwork, there's a note you can find that tells us, we'll need to to strike gold fast if we want any chance of avoiding bankruptcy. The note is written in the first person. It's from the perspective of a person who set up this mining operation. And given these towers are where important employee paperwork is filed, files that Ronnie tells us no employee ever received, it gives me reason to believe this note is from none other

than Warren himself. He set up the mining operation. He was looking for gold. And it's all because his company was running out of money. He wasn't necessarily bankrupt from the expedition, but he wasn't far off, and this was a last-ditch effort to save the company. That's why he took the risk. It wasn't for the spider eggs. Thank God, it really was for gold.

Again, I've seen people online suggest he was looking to sell these eggs for profit, only to realize how dangerous they were. But that also doesn't line up with what we see in the game. The character Gale tells us that while under Warren's orders, he was responsible for hiding the eggs and protecting them. We also see this echoed in a note from one of the mine shafts. Make sure nobody goes near the egg. If you see anyone that shouldn't be there, shoot them immediately. No risk can be taken. As soon as it finishes, kill it and bring the body to me.

He's talking about the spider eggs hatching. He's doing the exact opposite of what Greg was expecting. Rather than raising them to make an army, he's actively trying to kill them once they hatched to stop more death from occurring. Warn isn't safe. selling the eggs, he's actively hiding them, locking them away, and then having armed guards protect them from being stolen. He fears that destroying the eggs will only anger Charles and make him stronger. That's not an option. So instead, the only solution is to isolate the

eggs, wait for the baby spiders to hatch, and then kill them. What's even less evil is that after the Charles incident, Warren starts evacuating people, at least according to the note from Gale. Yeah, everyone on the island is convinced this guy is evil and wants everyone to stay and die on the island. But at least to start with, that wasn't actually the case. I've been praying someone from the first evacuation group would just send back another boat. But I guess they all think that Georgia's supply boat is still evacuating people. Fun fact, we actually know someone that was on the first evacuation boat. During the game's tutorial, we hear this lie.

That gun you were looking at wasn't on here when I was evacuated from the island. Good old Eugene. May his memory live on, just like Matt's voice. When you consider all this, it absolutely explains why Warren never informed the mainland about the cave-in. This wasn't about hiding bad business practices. It was about trying to stop others from coming to the island and either dying to the sharp legs of Charles or trying to destroy the eggs themselves. He was afraid of escalating the situation, and his fears are 100% founded because look who decides to show up.

And what do we do? Escalate the situation. We kill Warren's guards. We steal the eggs. We try to do the exact thing. Warren was trying to prevent. Destroy the eggs. And lobehold, it makes Charles stronger.

The only mistake Warren made was doubting us. He didn't expect us or anyone to be able to win the final battle. But can you blame them? We're talking about a giant hex spider protected by a train shell. I'd have my doubts too. Warren isn't the villain of Choo-Choo-Charl. He's just a businessman desperately digging for gold to try and save a dying family business, only to unearth a horrible monster instead.

And if that wasn't bad enough, his employees abandoned him. They all turned their backs on him and betray him. He saw the danger that was in front of them and actively tried to prevent Charles from becoming stronger. He evacuated people from the island, and he didn't tell anyone else about it so there wouldn't be more deaths. And what did he get for his good deeds? Some face-to-face time with a monster he tried so desperately to keep contained. Or maybe, just maybe. Warren knew something bigger and something more dangerous was coming.

And I'm not talking about the cave full of Charles eggs that show up during the post-credit scene. Oh no, my friends! I'm talking about this ominous warning found in a hidden note from one of the shrines. Beware the bus. His name is Gus. He's not on the island, though, so don't worry too much. When you go back to the mainland, don't ride the bus. Bus. Gus Bus. Bus the Gus. He's bad and fast. Charles fears Gus. Forget about spider trains.

Now we're talking about something really scary. Spider buses! Great! Gotta be honest, the scariest thing about the spider bus would be the germs coming from the guy sitting next to you. Now that is what I call horror. But hey, it's all just a theory. A game theory! Thanks for watching.