Sam needs the help of a good friend. You are Sam's guide and only contact outside the evacuated area. Without you, Sam will not survive the next few days.A character-driven, chat-based, story-rich text adventure game in which trust is as important as problem-solving? Of course I'm going to like Everbyte's Dead City. I'm sometimes asked what the future of gamebooks will look like. Like this.
And while poking around Everbyte's site I also found they've made an audio adventure -- something I was harping on about twenty years ago, and still am. The future of gamebooks is finally here.
But wait, there's more. Storyfix Media have just released Christopher Webster's interactive adventure The Pulse. This is another one that breaks with the old second-person narrative style in favour of building a relationship with a character. You make the decisions, they take the risks. Immediately there's the potential there for conflict, suspicion, unreliability, trust. If you've played my Frankenstein interactive story you'll know it's a development in the genre that I think is ripe for experimentation. To the castle..!
I really love this story format. My first introduction to the chat based format was Somewhere-The Vault Papers. I'd encourage you to check it out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.somewheregame.com/
Thanks. If I get a chance I'll check it out.
DeleteWhile it isn't a gamebook, I'd still urge you to check out Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive (they had to change the name because it was somehow too close to the name of another game).
ReplyDeleteI probably should. I'm supposed to be designing an escape room type game at the moment.
DeleteHere's a link to the first in the series: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/619697
ReplyDeleteYou could do worse than putting a spin on this concept.
The opening text is lovely in its simplicity:
I woke up in a room.
The room is not locked and I remember...everything.
I'm a werewolf.
Tonight I will turn and people will die...
unless I can find a way to prevent myself from leaving this place.
I must make sure that whatever happens, I...
DON'T ESCAPE
That's a great hook.
DeleteThe first game is the purest in the sense of "Don't Escape." Don't Escape 2 posits a zombie apocalypse and a compound you have to fortify to avoid becoming their supper. Don't Escape 3 takes place on a spaceship and your main goal is to figure out what's going on. All three of these games are free.
DeleteDon't Escape 4 requires payment, but I think it's worth it. There's a lot of replay value due to multiple scenarios with multiple randomized variable within them. You don't have to play the first three games, but there's a few Easter eggs you'll only understand if you have.