Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 3)

Jason

Elden Ring (FromSoftware) with Noah Pedinelli (host), Jeremy Andriano, and Alexander Hurezeanu Broadcast date: April 11th, 2023 Writer: Noah Pedinelli Producer: Jeremy Andriano 2022’s Elden Ring is the latest release from legendary Japanese game development studio From Software and the auteur game designer Hidetaka Miyazaki. His creations, from 2009’s Demon Souls through the Dark Souls Trilogy and beyond, are often defined by what is considered to be their punishing difficulty. However, in this episode we discuss whether Elden Ring’s stands out not for its difficult gameplay, but for its unique narrative delivery.  The player enters the game’s world at a … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 3)

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Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 2)

Jason

Nier: Automata (Platinum Games) with Kevin Ghouchadra (Host), Jeremy Andriano, and Alexander Hurezeanu  Broadcast date: March 14th, 2023 Writer: Kevin Ghouchandra Producer: Patrick Dolan  The last of humanity has fled to the moon to avoid extinction. Androids 2B and 9S, on the frontline of humanity’s resistance, fight the 14th Machine War, aiming to take back the earth from a robot army of mindless destruction…or at least that’s what they think. Just as the robots and androids repeatedly fight the same endless war over and over again, Nier: Automata’s story seems to ask the player to replay the same game again … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 2)

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Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 1)

Jason

Jonathan Blow’s The Witness with Jason Boyd (host), Jeremy Andriano, Patrick Dolan Broadcast date: 14 February, 2023 Writer: Jason Boyd Producer: Patrick Dolan In The Witness, the player wanders around a mysterious and gorgeous island solving increasingly complex line-drawing puzzles. But is that all there is to the game? What about the statues and audio logs that are to be found all over the island and the videos that can be watched in the theatre beneath the windmill? Is there a story or message in The Witness? All audio clips in the podcast quoted from The Witness (puzzle screens sound … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 1)

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Hades

Kevin Ghouchandra

http://www.supergiantgames.com/games/hades/ Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra A. BASIC INFORMATION Creators: Creation technology: Microsoft XNA Publisher: Supergiant Games Date of original release: September, 17th 2020 (Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, Steam) Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5 Version used for entry: Nintendo Switch Ver 1.0.38233 Peripherals required: Speakers/Headphones Rating: ESRB T (Teen) Awards/Distinctions: B. LITERARY INFORMATION Related Literary Genre(s): Epic, Quest narratives, Classical Mythology and Literature Story/Plot Summary: Hades centers around Zagreus, son of Hades, the lord of the Underworld. (In classical mythology, Zagreus is said to be the son of Zeus by Persephone.) … Continue reading Hades

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

DEVICE 6

Jason

https://simogo.com/work/device-6/ Entry by Jason Boyd A. BASIC INFORMATION Creator: Simogo (https://simogo.com/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Simogo Date (of original release): 2013 (October 17) Platform(s): iOS Version used for entry: iOS (Air Pad 2) Peripherals required: head/earphones Rating: 12+ (Apple Store) Awards/Distinctions: B. LITERARY INFORMATION Related Literary Genre(s): Psychological Suspense/Thriller, Dystopian Fiction, Metafiction Story/Plot Summary:  Player249 (the player) uses DEVICE 4 (their iPad) to control Anna, a woman who has been kidnapped and brought to a mysterious island. Player249 helps Anna explore the island with the goal of trying to learn about HAT, the organization that has brought her to the … Continue reading DEVICE 6

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The Return of the Obra Dinn

Jason

https://obradinn.com/ Entry by Jason Boyd A. Basic Information Creator(s): Lucas Pope Creator website: https://dukope.com/ Publisher: 3909 (Lucas Pope) Date (of original release): October 18, 2018 (PC: MacOS/Windows) Platform(s): PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox Version used for entry: MacOS (High Sierra 10.13.6) Creation technology: Unity Peripherals required: Keyboard and mouse; speakers/headphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature 17+) Awards & Distinctions: 2019 Independent Games Festival: Grand Prize & Excellence in Narrative; 2019 BAFTA Games Awards: Game Design & Artistic Achievement; 2018 The Game Awards: Best Art Direction; 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards: Best Narrative. B. Literary Information Related Literary Genre(s): Mystery/Detective Fiction, Sea Adventure, … Continue reading The Return of the Obra Dinn

Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Playable Stories Archive Entry Template

Jason

A. BASIC INFORMATION Title of Work Work website Creator(s) [Studio & Creative Team, with roles] Creator or Studio website Creation technology [software, eg. Unity] Publisher Date (of original release) Platform(s) Version used for entry [incl. OS version] Peripherals required (incl. speakers/headphones) Rating Awards/Distinctions B. LITERARY INFORMATION Related Literary Genre(s) Story/Plot Summary Suitability for Teaching C. GAME INFORMATION Game/eLit Genre(s) Gameplay [What kinds of activities does the player undertake? Including difficulty] Time to complete Replay required/useful? Walkthrough D. SOURCES AND RESOURCES Wikipedia entry Metacritic critic reviews URL [note that critic reviews for a single game are separated according to platform, so … Continue reading Playable Stories Archive Entry Template

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Tacoma

Jason

https://tacoma.game/ Entry composed by Jason Boyd A. Basic Information Creator(s): Fullbright (studio); Kate Craig and Lexie Mason-Davis (3D Art); Tynan Wales and Nina Freeman (Design); Noel Clark and Janel Dewis (Animation); Hannah Bown, Brett Douville, Leon Hartwig (Programming); Patrick Balthrop (Sound) [taken from first credits screen at the conclusion of the game] Website: https://fullbrig.ht/ Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Fullbright Date (of original release): 2017 (August 2) Platform(s): Windows, MacOS, Linux, XBox One; PlayStation 4 (May 8, 2018) Version used for entry: MacOS (High Sierra 10.13.6) Peripherals required: Keyboard and mouse; head/earphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature, 17+) Awards/Distinctions: Eurogamer, Top 50 … Continue reading Tacoma