“How to rob a bank” is an interactive twine game that tells the story of Ted, an inexperienced bank robber, and Elizabeth, his female partner in crime. The game also tells their “Bonnie and Clyde” love story. This interactive story is told through their I-phones; the stories unfold through their google searches, text messages, and apps. I thought that watching their lives unfold via their phone is a social commentary on much personal information exist on our phones in this modern era.
In the first three stories of the game when the background was blue, Ted’s phone would be on display while Elizabeth’s phone would be displayed when the background was pink. In addition, an instrumental reggae song was background of these three parts which gave a feeling of calmness even though they were robbing banks. I thought this music emphasized the fact that these young adults really had no idea what they were doing , and highlighted their calm disposition even when being fugitives on the run.
In the fourth story,”home”, the mood of the whole gameshifts because they are “thought to be” retired from robbing banks, and they have a child. The music in the background seems reflects the place in which they are currently living Hudson, Ohio; the music is composed of birds chirping, and cars passing. The last story, “sister, sister is a compilation of Huffpost articles written by Elizabeth’s sister, Deborah Franken. Lastly, I thought it was pretty cool how the game was put together; you could see their text, what they were searching, and you could see the time in which they were doing so. As a result, I felt as if I was walking through life with them.
I thought the whole concept of telling a story through phones was brilliant and the player discovered so much other information about the characters in the story by what they were searching on the internet, their text messages between one another and etc. For example we learned early on the age of Ted, 25, through what he types into “Will you have enough to retire” and that the reason why we wants to rob a bank; he does not want to get a conventional job, but wants to retire now. In addition, we learn more about their personalities and the type of people they are through their google searches. We learn that Ted is an adrenaline junkie because he gets so bored being in Ohio and misses the thrill of robbing banks. These are two of the many details we learn about these characters through their phone usage. I believe that interactive fiction game is a social commentary on how much personal information is on a person’s phone including their web searches, text messages, social media apps, etcs. It’s actually a little bit scary how much a person could uncover about you by going through your phone or any of your devices. In addition, in the last story “sister, sister” Debra comments “Also, it seems like someone is reading my mind. Seriously, I see ads related to things I’ve been thinking about. Can they do that? How is that possible.” This is referring to the targeted advertisements that we receive on a day to day basis and highlights how tailored these advertisements are to us.
To conclude, I believe that “How to rob a bank” is a social commentary on how much personal information can be discovered through our electronic devices.