Post-IFstravaganza/Pre-proposal Reflection

I wanted to take the opportunity to collect some of thoughts about interactive storytelling and discuss major takeaways from my IFstravaganza that will (hopefully) positively translate into my work as I begin the planning my interactive story!

My initial understanding of interactive fiction was extremely shallow and mostly based on a very limited experience with video games (i.e., Mario Kart), choose-your-path Netflix specials, and pop-culture references to games like Dungeons & Dragons. Therefore, when I approached the brainstorming for my multiverse storyline I had a relatively small scope to work within. I began with thinking of pivotal events in the story that my “player” would encounter and then considered some binary choices that I would sprinkle throughout the plotline. Depending on whether they select option ‘A’ or ‘B’, the alternative would continue along a short-lived path until they were redirected to the primary branch or hit a dead end. In retrospect, I can see that I focused on the creative writing element because that’s what was most familiar and I had only ever engaged with the interactive elements as an superfluous addition rather than integral to the story.

Only till I got a chance to explore interactive fiction games was my mind broadened. I realized that I hadn’t flexed a creative muscle in so long that I had nearly forgotten how to. The games that I played included “With Those We Love Alive” and “Depression Quest”. These two games are a testament that there are an endless amount of approaches on how to integrate interactivity even within the genre. For “With Those We Love Alive”, the interactive options that were available weren’t presented in a traditional way, and instead allowed the player to continue making choices that further developed the scene and added depth to the world they created. I found it especially interesting that they were able to offer instructions that required me to engage even in reality, such as a guided meditation. “Depression Quest” was designed with a very clear objective, which was to bring awareness to the everyday affects of living with depression. They used their interactive elements to reflect and further reinforce that mission while moving the narrative forward with every choice. Both games do an excellent job at successfully integrating the interactive elements to propel their fiction forward in a way that wouldn’t be possible without it.

For my next project, I want to challenge myself to engage with the interactivity in an intentional way to add meaning to the story or enhance the overall experience of the reader.