Every citizen receives a monthly public score for how predictable their behavior has been; the protagonist’s score suddenly drops despite changing nothing.
18 Dystopian Prompts Prompts
These prompts create a starting constraint, question, or situation. Use one as written, combine two, or change the audience, setting, objective, or limitation to make a new exercise.
Cities compete for rainfall allocations, and residents can trade future drinking-water quotas for present debt relief.
People may vote only on issues they have passed a government knowledge test about, but the test questions are secret until election day.
All jobs rotate every two years to prevent inequality, except one profession whose members never rotate and control the assignments.
Personal memories can be legally inherited, and children are required to carry one memory selected by the state.
Housing is free, but every apartment records one hour of resident conversation each week for “civic research.”
A city has eliminated traffic deaths by banning unplanned travel; the protagonist must justify every route forty-eight hours in advance.
Schools assign each student one lifelong specialization at age twelve based on a predictive model no family can inspect.
Citizens may erase one criminal conviction if they agree to transfer it anonymously to someone chosen by lottery.
All news articles automatically disappear after thirty days to reduce misinformation, making long-term accountability nearly impossible.
Food waste is punishable, but portions are assigned centrally and cannot be declined.
A government guarantees everyone a job by converting all hobbies with measurable skill into mandatory labor categories.
Privacy is considered antisocial, and homes earn tax penalties for rooms without networked sensors.
People can opt out of advertising only by allowing companies to monitor their dreams for product research.
A city solves overcrowding by assigning sleep shifts; two residents using the same room at different hours begin leaving each other messages.
Citizens can challenge any algorithmic decision, but appeals are processed by the same model that made the decision.
Books are never banned; instead, each reader receives a personalized version edited to avoid ideas predicted to upset them.
The state publishes every official lie in an annual transparency report, but only after the consequences can no longer be reversed.