Category: Group D

Unlike many of the other works we have examined this semester, How to Rob a Bank is not very interactive. It is the piece from the semester that most resembles a book. Pressing the space bar is equivalent to turning a page and its parts are similar to chapters of a book. Bigelow uses the digital platform to bring the pages of his book to life. Instead of just having words on a page, the story is told through text messages, phone calls, Instagram posts, articles, google searches, TV shows and other digital forms. It is a basic story bought alive using the many different forms found within a digital space.

In contrast to Bury Me My Love, the reader of How to Rob a Bank had no control over the actions of the main character. Surprisingly, I found How to Rob a Bank to be a much more interesting and exciting experience due to the many different forms used to tell the narrative such as using a baby name app generator to signal the pregnancy of a character. Bury Me My Love only uses text messages with the occasional picture which can get quite repetitive and boring. Furthermore, How to Rob a Bank allows the reader to navigate the game at their own pace using the space bar while Bury Me My Love uses real-time text messages coming in every couple of hours. While the real-time sense of the game allows it to seem more realistic, the fragmented engagement with the game left me quite disinterested and unconnected to the characters and the story. In all, How to Rob a Bank successfully brings a book-like narrative to life using the digital platform to bring excitement to every page.

 How to Rob a Bank annoyed me in the way things that remind you too keenly of yourself can irk someone. To quote the kids, it made me feel “cringey”.  The games exploration of “how to” culture was the most compelling way in which the interactive story toyed with the technological pitfalls of our present moment, wherein the abundance of information plays surrogate to individual agency. The disastrous lack of self-reliance, problem solving, and dynamic thinking in today’s age where seemingly there is a literal manual for most things (including, as we’re shown by Elizabeth’s searches, a manual for raising children) became the fundamental crux of the story. Ted Armstrong, the protagonist, relies on his phone to tell him anything from robbing a bank to how he should feel about someone. The identities of the characters, Elizabeth, ted, and Deb, materialize through their mediated presences. If you could read a persons life, could you do it through their search history? The game seems to say so in a tongue in cheek sort of way. There’s a quasi-epistolary nature to story that aids in this. If we were to track the evolutions of “journaling” as a historical through-line, “How to Rob a Bank” seems to be a false archive of a current propensity to search first, and think later. 

The game provides a seemingly unresolved discourse regarding criminality and morality. Deborah’s self aggrandizing and proselytizing personality, position Ted and Elizabeth in the right. However all characters seem to function like pixelations–they’re cartoon-like, lending the piece to a kind of satire of modern crime dramas that’s borderline unbelievable. Elizabeth’s frivolity I think bothered me the most in this respect: from her baby journaling, to her ditsy diatribe, she was barely a character. The parodic nature of the game left its reader in a kind of ethical purgatory–made more so apparent by Ted’s incessant use of the “morality” app. 

However, while the individual human characters fell flat on the page (err. phone), the game seems to offer that it’s the ease of technology, the unlimited access of information, that’s the true criminal mastermind behind the bank robberies. 

How to Rob a Bank is a bizarre piece detailing the adventure of amateur bank robbers and their quest to (initially) retire on stolen money. At first, there is only a man named Ted who begins looking up how to rob a bank which is visualized by showing a phone screen with him typing searches in google. It displays him searching for how to rob a bank, which banks are the best, and how much money he needs to retire. Ted begins to question his morals and finds a very rudimentary moral test, which is more of a symbolic statement of his internal doubts. Before he robs the bank, he messages someone named Elizabeth who turns out to be his significant other. At first she declines his messages and calls. But after he robs his first bank and sends her perfume, she joins in with him. His first bank robbery was rough, and he had to take a hostage. And in another one, he almost starved in a desert after going hiking to escape the police, but later robberies with Elizabeth went fairly smooth except with one silent alarm incident which they escaped. The family ends up settling and having a baby, but they end up restless and pick up bank robbing again (even using the baby as a ruse). It shows online articles of the public supporting them for affecting those who control the money, and they become known as the modern Bonnie and Clyde. Elizabeth’s own sister reports her to the FBI earlier, but they were still failed to be caught and continued on their escapades, stealing millions of dollars.

In the end it was hard to glean a message from the story, however, it was an interesting piece and reminded me of other database style stories. How to Rob a Bank consisted of ordered pictures and GIFs that successfully told a story of amateur bank robbers through the viewpoint of a phone screen.

“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.

Her Story not only is a chilling and immersive game, but it also destroys Manovich’s argument that database and narrative are competing natural enemies. Her Story showcases the beauty of a fascinating narrative being imbedded within a database.  Her Story contains a database as the video clips within the game are massive, searchable, non-hierarchal and flexible. The use of a database to piece together a complex story and mystery only adds to the intensity and beauty of the game.

The use of a searchable database to understand a complex murder narrative truly allows the game to be immersive. Her Story reminded me of the book I mapped for our choose your own adventure project, Who Killed Harlow Thrombey. Also, a murder mystery the reader was tasked with discovering the truth through the interactive nature of a choose your own adventure book. Her Story takes this to another level as the searchable aspect of the database forces the player to listen like a detective. Unlike other murder mysteries, Her Story does not provide you with clues, as the player you have to listen and decide what to search to further uncover the murder. Throughout the game, the player is truly immersed in the game as they not only trying to piece together the narrative but also listen and determine what can be searched that will lead them to the truth.

Besides the searchable aspect of the game, the fragmentation of the complex chilling story really makes the game addicting. As the player puts the narrative together, the truth becomes more confusing. The short video clips began to reveal a haunting and twisted story. Her Story is a truly great game not only because of its ability to unite database and narrative, but the complex narrative revealed within the database that leaves the player questioning what is real and what is just another story.

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)

The inherent paradox of a game like Her Story is that there is seemingly so much agency when a user is presented with a database, and yet there is a helplessness about it. What do we search? Where do we even begin with a murder?

One aspect of Her Story that is perhaps more coherent and  to me than other interactive pieces we’ve worked with is that the algorithm that connects code to a person’s language and ultimately their narrative. Her Story depends our ability to pick up on the patterns of language, on the intonation of the human voice, and the small idiosyncratic expressions of human beings. Data in Her Story is not the guiding force, but rather it is the user’s impression of a woman, or rather two women, or actually maybe just one woman (we aren’t truly sure by the end)–ultimately it is our intuition that leads us through the app. I think that is the fundamentally most compelling part of the game. The tropish “evil twin,” the cheating, and murder are the least compelling components of the story, ironically.

The manner of telling as well I found to be particularly interesting. We do not hear the voice of a police officer, we can only judge this woman, Hannah/Eve, by what she says. And frankly, I found myself endeared to her almost unquestioningly by the end of the narrative. She has unbridled control of the narrative in its 250 fragmentations. There are constant references to the act of storytelling in the clips such as the running theme of Rapunzel, the ballad, the news of Princess of Diana, etc.

In many ways the user becomes a kind of investigator, but the revelation that we are the woman’s daughter strikes almost inappropriately and feels more like an additional “M. Night Shyamalan twist” that wasn’t abundantly necessary other than giving credence to why we’re searching this archive in the first place.

Her Story is a deep delve in the story-telling style of using databases. From the beginning, it is clear you are dealing with a murder mystery. In front of the user is a console that looks a lot like a police database with the word “murder” typed in the search field. A few videos will appear that the user can watch, revealing what appears to be a woman who is answering questions and recounting her experiences. After watching the first few videos, you can track your progress using another app on the desktop and then try more search terms to find additional videos. The goal is to review as many of the videos as it takes for the user to figure out what happened. Once a key number of specific videos are watched, a small chat window will appear allowing the user to confirm if they understand what happened, however, the story is confusing and difficult to put together.

As the story progresses, and you have watched more videos, it is clear that there is some confusion with who is who. There are details of the stories that do not match up, and forgetfulness that might carry over to the next day. At first, it seems like a case of multiple personality disorder as the main character changes attitudes consistently day to day. The striking fact though, is the “Eve” character that appeared in several of the interviews, and after carefully reviewing the key word “twins,” one can finally determine that there is not just one person, but actually two. Eve is the only one who really tells the whole story however, so that is only if we can take her word as truth. When you listen to her interviews, you can find out about what is actually truth, and what is false, as some of her statements are tested by the lie detector (where she fails at confirming her name is “Hannah,” her twin sister).

Overall, Her Story is a complicated piece that takes a long time to work through. There are many stories, and since you jump around by entering key words, there is no way of definitively watching in order. The database format is sensible for documenting the interviews, but the lack of easy ordering makes it difficult to appreciate the story amidst the vast confusion of jumping around, very unlike The Whale Hunt which gave the user linear progression. Her Story is still an interesting work and gives a different view on how to make a story from a database.