Interactive Fiction

Playing the famous Interactive Fiction game “Galatea” in class on Tuesday had me thinking about the ways that IF uses specific literary qualities and digital qualities simultaneously. The literary qualities are the timeless ones: there are complicated plot lines, vivid imagery, and the characters have emotions and desires. Galatea, for instance, is really cranky- of course I can’t ask much more from a living statue that has been literally put on a pedestal by the people who have bought her! The digital is more complicated: how does it look? Is the interface attractive? How does the player actually play the game? When the literary and digital intersect sometimes really cool stuff is created. Sometimes not. I played two more IF games to get used to the concept: the first was “Missive” by Joey Fu and the second was “Creatures Such as We” by Lynnea Glasser.

“Missive” was interesting. The premise is described in the following: “It’s your birthday today. Your ex-girlfriend brings you a present, and inside are series of mysterious letters that tell the story an old love triangle that ended in murder. Solve puzzles, solve the mystery or get wasted and no neither. It’s up to you” (description from website: http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=pyc6502gxd98g918). The character the user is playing is very depressed- he is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, Emily, and spends his days at a dead end job. Many times the user is given the option to either investigate the mystery or get drunk. Emily makes several appearances (based on the choices I made) however it is clear she is still unsure of pursuing a friendship, or any relationship with the main character again. The letters revolve around the mystery of the murdered Mr. Henry Warren Astor, and by the end of the game (which takes progress over 7 days) the main character is asked who murdered Mr. Henry Warren Astor. I picked Mrs. Astor, as opposed to his mistress, Lilly Clark, who sends the majority of the letters to Mr. Astor. After I made my selection, I was told I had managed to solve 0 of the 7 riddles. Yikes! I did that poorly?! I enjoyed the game because of the mystery factor and the letters offer a different interpretation of what constitutes fiction. However, I also thought that it isn’t quite clear in the beginning of the game that the user is supposed to solve more than one mystery- namely, who killed Mr. Astor. The interface is a little dull, but the storyline makes up for that. I like the development of the characters most, as Emily and the main character that I am playing attempt to find reconciliation in their failed relationship.

“Creatures Such as We” was a little more complicated than “Missive.” When you begin the game you are unaware that the main character is also playing an IF game. It is literally an IF game within an IF game! No wonder it came in 2nd place in the 20th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition in 2014! As the games continues, you find out the main character is a tour guide on the moon and though she enjoys certain aspects of her job, she seems to feel restless as though she is missing life as it goes by. She encounters a new tour group and it turns out the creators of the game she just played, conveniently titled “Creatures Such as We.” They have many interactions and she even gets to find out why the game ended so depressingly- could she have done something to save her ghost avatar at the end?? Many of the conversations amongst characters are philosophical in nature. At one point, the character Ren even says “If video games are art, then to whom does meaning of art belong: the artist or the viewer?” I answered “Both, equally.” Though in reality I’m not sure if I believe that- I think that my character might though.

I stopped the game halfway through. Why? Because it was taking forever!! I’m sure there were some choices I could have made to make it speed by faster, but after an hour I was bored. The same conversations seemed to keep occurring and there wasn’t much of a rising action. When we consider Interactive Fiction in terms of fiction that is found in books, TV or movies, this one was missing the key ingredients that readers look for to keep them engaged.

Overall I am a little surprised by how much I enjoyed playing these games, especially after the very frustrating of not only playing “Galatea” but getting it to work (apparently my Java is working overtime to prevent me from computer viruses! Go Java!) It’s still new for me, it’s still odd for me- but I think that talking more about intersection between conventional fiction and interactive/digital fiction needs to continue and grow. Especially in our classrooms.

Note: I found both games on this website: http://ifdb.tads.org/viewcomp?id=cgofhzc9s5no8ufo