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I'm trying to recall the name of a book I vaguely remember. The plot is about a dystopian world where a group (of kids) use a video/computer game to communicate with each other and plan their revolution.

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  • hi, welcome. would you be able to give any additional information? when around did you read the book? do you have an idea when it was authored? was it part of a series, or standalone? all details are helpful.
    – FluffyFlareon
    Commented Jun 19, 2021 at 6:53
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    "The Restoration Game" by Ken MacLeod maybe?
    – Clara Díaz Sanchez
    Commented Jun 19, 2021 at 11:30
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    Maybe For the Win by Cory Doctorow?
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 20:20

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Is it Little Brother by Cory Doctorow? In the novel the teenagers hack some free Xboxes to create a private mesh network and use that to communicate and plan their activities.

From a summary of the plot:

Marcus head home and uses his immense amount of skill with technology and some free Xboxes that were given away the previous year to create an internet network that is private from the DHS's prying eyes. He spreads it around at school, and within a couple of weeks, thousands of people across the city are using it and calling it "Xnet." Then, inspired by Van, Marcus and Jolu figure out a way to change the amount of encrypted traffic that everybody on the Xnet is using, changing it from about 5 percent per person to about 95 percent. This is all done to confuse the people from the DHS that are watching and monitoring.

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    If we're talking Doctorow, this sounds very like For the Win. Not all of the communications are in-game - one character avatar might meet up with another, and give them a secure email address for communication outside the MMORPG.
    – Astrid_Redfern
    Commented Jun 20, 2021 at 20:19
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    I think Little Brother is closer, For the Win certainly has stuff organized through the game, but it's more game centric and the world felt basically like OUR world and a way forward against sweatshops and such. LB specifically has a small plot element of a clockwork pirate themed game used to organize in (until it's found out) against a growing totalitarian 'anti-terrorism' panic (which granted also felt like 'our world' but anyway felt more explicitly dystopian)
    – starpilotsix
    Commented Jun 25, 2021 at 10:50

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