A coded cult. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town.

In 2013, if you were a Windows PC player, you could step into the digital, mundane,

turn dystopic world of an alternate reality Kanye West, where you'd encounter famous friends

and enemies Nicki Minaj, Tupac or Jay-Z, and try to save the world. But what was an innocuous

and unlicensed video game would become something bigger, something maybe conspiratorial.

Today we'll be talking about the hip-hop themed science fiction 2D role-playing game

Kanye Quest 3030, and it's possible ties to the mysterious cult of ascensionism.

That's a lot of addictives, but I swear, they will pay off. It all started on July 22nd, 2013,

when an indie game called Kanye Quest 3030 became available for Windows, on Steam,

Newgrounds, and lots of other popular gaming sites. It was made by a designer named Phoenix,

and inspired by classic RPGs with Pokemon-like aesthetics, think bright colors,

heavy pixelation, and a kind of sense of humor about it. Pretty common for indie game identities

of the time. If you don't believe me, let me describe to you the premise of Kanye Quest 3030,

which was not, of course, licensed or authorized in any way by the musical artist Kanye West.

In Kanye West 3030, it is the year 2010, and you are the famous Kanye West. One day you're

taking out the garbage in your fabulous mansion when you trip and fall into a portal,

which takes you to the year 3030. Things are different in 3030 America. The US has become a

dystopian society ruled by the clone of rapper Lil B, who claims to be a god. This future world

knows Kanye is on his way because they're briefed about a prophecy, which claims that Kanye

West would return one day and overthrow Lil B. When the prophecies made known to you,

you might stay in this future dystopia and team up with other musicians like Jay-Z,

Tupac, and Reza to fight for a free America. But not all musicians are allies in 3030. Along the way,

...