Author: emweld

Her Story is a very interesting take on database games.  Her Story is complicated to say the least.  There are many different parts of the interface that develops a lot of player engagement.  I think it is even fair to categorize this game as an interactive documentary/ interactive puzzle based on the way the story is being told and the player assuming the role of an investigator whom needs to explore video clips and piece together the story.

The game begins when the player first views a glared computer screen.  From there, we see the word “murder” typed in the search bar.  There are no videos that go along with that keyword.  There are, however, icons on the home screen of the computer that, when you click on them, give insight as to how to navigate the computer to find what you are looking for.  From there, the player must continue to search new keywords and watch the following video clips.  Some examples of keywords I used are: “attic”, “death”, “death caps”, “mushrooms”, “sick”, “dad”, “throw up”, “STD”, and many more.  Putting together the exact storyline is a difficult task as the videos you watch do not appear in chronological order.  It is up to the player, as the investigator, to piece this story puzzle together.  It is also a challenge when the woman telling the story changes so often.  The woman shows signs of confusion (often forgetting pieces of the story and telling it in an unclear manner).  She also appears to change personality on a day to day basis.  Upon exploring the game further the player comes to learn that it is in fact two different women (twins in fact) telling the story.

I found Her Story quite different from the other database game we explored, The Whale Hunt.  The storyline of The Whale Hunt was no where near as evident nor intriguing as Her Story.  The Whale Hunt  uses a series of photographs tell a story whereas Her Story had words and many more interactive components to tell the story.  Overall, I enjoyed Her Story  more because of all the ways the player was able to get involved.  There was mystery, intrigue, and interactivity.  The game was confusing and fun all wrapped up into one interface.

Works Cited:

Sam Barlow, Her Story (2015)

Jonathan Harris, The Whale Hunt (2007)

This section of the class, The Random and Automatic, has mainly consisted of a series of games that have predetermined ends and/ or story lines.  These game creators have taken out the need for the player to choose- good news for indecisive gamers!  However, this prompts the question of whether or not this is an effective method of game design.

An important point to note in Dakota is the lack of choice the game provides.  It is more of a story told in motion- in my opinion.  This method of story telling reminded me much of “This is How You Will Die”.  Although these games had two very different story plots, they were very similar in the lack of choice the game design provided to the player.

In class, we talked a lot about the aesthetic components of games.  More specifically, we used Twitter bots to compare aesthetics.  The Twitter bots we talked about in class had very different looks; for example, @robotrecipies used a seemingly standard Twitter format.  This did not draw much attention from various viewers as each tweet just looked like the next.  However, each tweet from @factbot1 had a picture that corresponded to the fact that was displayed in the tweet.  Having various images captured my attention more than other bots we looked at.  I think this is a good comparison to Dakota as we can also discuss this games aesthetic properties.  Dakota uses large words flashing across the screen to capture the viewers attention. The goal of having the words flash across the screen fast is to get the viewer to feel involved in the piece, however Jessica Pressman discusses this in varying views.  “(H)is success can be attributed to its simple, minimalist and, indeed, modernist aesthetic. This aesthetic, I argue, has the effect of compelling viewers to close read. The flashing text pro-motes speed-reading while its literary content demands an opposite response” (Pressman, 79).

The minimalism Pressman points out is very interesting to me.  I think that she is right in saying the the very plain text design requires the viewer to focus more on the words that are popping up on the screen as opposed to anything else on the screen or otherwise potentially distracting from the words.  This is very different than the Abra: a living text  app we played.  This app had a lot going on, and many of the components (not all on the screen at the same time) added to the chaos.  I was pretty confused when playing this game as there were so many possibilities the game provided that I did not know where to begin.  I like that Dakota had much less going on, but at the same time wish there was more.  I wonder if there is a better method to clear up this grey area I speak of?

Works Cited:

Jason Nelson, “This is How You Will Die” (2005)

Amaranth Borsuk, Kate Durbin, and Ian Hatcher, Abra: a living text (2017)

Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries, Dakota (2002)

Jessica Pressman, “Speed Reading” from Digital Modernism: Making It New in New Media (2014), pp. 78-100

We were recently exposed to Twine games- as well as debates circling whether or not they are considered games.  I think this question is extremely relevant to the three games Cactus Blue Hotel, Will Not Let Me Go, and Please Answer Carefully.  These were very interesting to play, but made me really question whether I was playing a game or clicking through links.

I think in respect to Cactus Blue Hotel I began the game feeling that I was actually playing a game.  Soon, however, my feelings changed.  I found that I was clicking on certain words to move forward, when I was actually moving backwards.  I began to feel like I was clicking in circles.  I then started to click more so to end the loop rather than to understand the context of the storyline and find the actual end of the game.  I really did not even make it to the end of the game.  I ended up quitting when I became too frustrated with my clicks putting me in a viscous cycle.  This reminded me of how I felt when I was playing “Shade”.  In this game too, I quickly became frustrated (in this game more so with not understanding the vocabulary necessary to advance in the game, but all in all the same emotions arose.)  I am not sure if anyone else felt the torture of this twine game, but would love to discuss this frustrating loop further.

I became very frustrated again while playing Will Not Let Me Go (I am quickly learning I might not be the most patient person out there).  This game was filled with long story lines that confused me.  In this game as well I found myself clicking the key words only to move on through the story.  I did, however, enjoy this game a bit more than the latter as I could identify a goal the author wished to show.  Each different part of the game was mapped at the top of the screen by a black bar that grew as you completed the different sections.  In this way, I felt like I was playing more of a game- there was a goal to get to the end of the black line.  When you did finally reach the end, you realized that each story was connected and the ending of the previous story marked an all new beginning for the same characters to interact in the next.

Lastly, Please Answer Carefully was my favorite game from this section.  Again, this twine game did not feel so much like a game as there was no competitive aspect or major end goal.  I did enjoy this game the most though as I felt it was the most entertaining to play.  For me, (playing this game along in my not too lavish dorm room where I can hear all the sounds in the hallway and have my door unlocked) I was really scared!  I played the game with the sound on and the sound effects were quite startling.  There was deep breathing that really spooked me, not to mention the parts of the game where you had no choice but to answer the way the voice wanted you to.  I knew I was alone while playing the game, yet was so terrified there was somewhere with me I was unaware of.

Overall, these games made me really question what made a game a game.  I really had to think about what went into making games fun and entertaining.

Works Cited:

• Astrid Dalmady, Cactus Blue Hotel (2016)
• Stephen Granade, Will Not Let Me Go (2017)
• Litrouke, Please Answer Carefully (2019)
• Andrew Plotkin, “Shade” (2000)

We had to read from the book, Electronic Literature.  When I first picked the book up, I didn’t think much of what the title could mean, the two words in general really.  However, upon reading and from past class discussions, I have already grown to understand and appreciate a little bit more about what electronic literature actually entails.  Simply put, electronic literature, as I have been growing to understand, is an online space in which to put actions from books or even real life.  Pages 73-86 from Electronic Literature exemplify my point well.

One of the first online game examples this reading addresses is that of dolls, The Doll Games.  This game is a very good representation in my opinion of electronic literature.  The way the book describes the game, “The work takes a layered metafictional approach, taking a phenomenon- playing with dolls- that is often dismissed as an ordinary idle pastime of young girls wrapping layers of commentary around it from the imagined voices of the dolls themselves, to the reflections of the sisters on their games at different stages of their lives as writers and researchers, to the fictional voice of the scholar, to the relation of their stories to larger questions of how children use weird forms to play to wrestle with their emerging sense of identity and their place in the world” (Rettberg, 74).  I think this quote is particularly useful in explaining what electronic literature means.  The act of playing with dolls is something I think a lot of young girls have done at some point in their childhood, I know I have.  But the way in which that same action is translated to a digital platform is so interesting and really expresses electronic literature.

The book also talks about hypertext fiction, which is something we have discussed in class as well when talking about other games.  I really enjoyed reading about this as I felt I could easily relate it to the in-class games we had previously discussed.  It made it easier for me to understand what the book was trying to exactly get at since I had been previously exposed to the concept of hypertext fiction.

The game that was assigned for homework, My Body- A Wunderkammer was in my opinion a game of adventure and exploration.  This is something else we have spoken about in class that I saw relevant to our assignment.  The game has you click on different body parts to learn more and read more of the story.  As you clicked, you got to learn more about which each part of the body meant to the main character.  You were essentially part of writing the story you read by choosing which body parts to click on and when.

I think the following link is a good example of how I am trying to explain Hypertext as I have been understanding class discussions.

Work Cited:

Rettberg, Scott. Electronic Literature. Polity Press, 2018.