Est. recently · A private institute of extremely advanced thought
Three of the finest minds of our generation. Possibly of any generation. We asked each other, and the vote was unanimous.
At Plebtek we tackle the questions others are too afraid to ask, such as “what if the jetpack were faster?”, “should the tank be bigger?” and “what if the stick had a katana?” Our findings are published exclusively as video games, free to play in your browser, because knowledge belongs to everyone. Even plebs.
Current research
Each division is led by a world authority in their field. The field is usually one they invented that morning.
Division of Applied Jetpack Physics
Principal investigator: Chris
A fast 2D tribute to Starsiege: Tribes. Ski down hills at 900 km/h, jet over the enemy base, grab their flag and get it home before the spinfusors find you. Capture the Flag, Siege, Capture & Hold, Rabbit and more, against bots or your friends online. It runs right in the browser: nothing to install.
Peer-review finding: “I died a lot, but very quickly.”
Play Shazbot →Department of Grand Strategy
Principal investigator: Tim
Real-time strategy in the grand tradition. Three armies, one desert: build a base, harvest supplies, earn promotions and break the enemy before they break you. Take on the AI in a skirmish, or challenge a friend online.
Research question: how many tanks is too many? Preliminary answer: there is no such number.
Play Supreme Leaders →Institute of Stick Sciences
Principal investigator: Tristan
Formerly the institute’s most closely guarded secret, codename Project Stick. An online stick-figure brawler where every attack winds up before it lands: watch for the swing, dodge back, then strike first. Grab swords, bats, katanas, shuriken, grenades, shotguns and bows, fight through a multi-storey building, and wear the crown for the most kills. Quick play, a server browser, your own games, or practice against bots.
Declassification report, in full: “Sticks. With katanas.”
Play Stick Fury →Office of Institutional History
Principal investigator: Chris
How this institute came to be. Before Plebtek there was the Bureau of Continuous Output, whose Project TIRELESS set out to eliminate rest. In Sub-Level 4 a few junior researchers isolated the Sample: an amber, faintly warm material that makes any room feel like a Sunday afternoon. Then, on a night shift, Sub-Level 6 stopped answering. Its last message read “it is so warm down here”. Forty-one hours later the Sample reached the Bureau’s resonator, and within four seconds the corridors ended in beaches. A browser shooter of short rounds and one life each: the Fellows against the grey Compliance Division, sent to contain it. Every match is an incident report from that night. The ending is a matter of record. You are standing in it.
Night shift log, 0312 hours: “Sub-Level 6 stopped answering forty-one hours ago. This is not a cause for concern.”
Clearance pendingInstitute of Stick Sciences, sub-basement
Principal investigator: Tristan
He has gone quiet again. The institute recognises the signs. Details remain classified, and the institute can neither confirm nor deny the involvement of the undead. What we can say: a door in the sub-basement is now taped shut, something behind it keeps knocking, and Tristan has been seen stocking up on shotgun shells and refusing to elaborate.
Status report, in full: “Braaains.”
Clearance deniedThe group
Plebtek was founded by three friends who noticed that they were, statistically, the smartest people in their group chat. Rather than keep this gift to themselves, they set about building games with the help of artificial intelligence, each in a field of their own choosing, and checking in on one another’s progress with the seriousness it deserves. Membership is closed. Applications are not being accepted, and frankly, how would you even qualify?
Fellow of Velocity · Shazbot
Believes any problem can be solved by going faster, and has built a 900 km/h jetpack game to prove it. Leads the Division of Applied Jetpack Physics, mostly at high speed.
Research interests: speed, explosions, shouting “Shazbot!”
Generalissimo of Grand Strategy · Supreme Leaders
A strategist of rare vision who sees ten moves ahead, then builds enough tanks to make the other nine irrelevant. Heads the Department of Grand Strategy.
Research interests: supply lines, promotions, more tanks
Chair of Stick Sciences · Stick Fury
For months the institute’s most closely guarded secret. Then, without warning, he released Stick Fury, and the sticks were armed. Colleagues are still recovering.
Research interests: sticks, katanas, dramatic reveals
How we work
Rigorous, repeatable and, above all, ours. We combine cutting-edge artificial intelligence with our own natural intelligence, which by our own measurements is considerable.
Something would be better if it were faster, bigger, or on fire. Ideally all three.
We explain our vision to an artificial intelligence in great detail. Then again, more slowly.
We play each other’s games and give rigorous, constructive feedback, such as “Shazbot!”
The results go live on a plebtek.com address, free of charge, for the betterment of humanity.
“Socrates said the only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. With the greatest respect to Socrates, we know quite a lot.”
From the archives
Great discoveries deserve a record. Here, preserved for future historians, is the full and unabridged story of the institute’s most secretive project.
See the institute’s page as it was, back when it was all just sticks →