elizabew – Looking Outwards – 12 – sectionE

For my final project, I want to create a choose your own adventure game. The idea first came when I was stuck in a rut and could not decide on what to do, so a friend of mine told me that a “choose your own adventure game” would have an interesting ending and would be doable with what I’ve learned from in this class.

Some of the games that immediately came to mind for me are: Undertale, The Stanley Parable, and MUD—but i will just be discussing The Stanley Parable and MUD in this post.

The Stanley Parable is an interactive, fictional PC game designed by Davey Wreden initially, and then designed by both him and Davey Wreden in the official remake. I’ve played choose your own adventure games before, but this was the game that really got me into the genre. I admire not only the interesting and unique story, but its immersing effect on the player that pulls them into a world without using action-packed gameplay; while only being guided by only a narrator, visual elements, and sound. There are numerous endings that creates a replay value since every new decision that is made creates a whole new story. I may be biased since this game bring up a feeling of nostalgia, but I still find it to be one of the best in its genre.

MUD is an online, text-based role-playing game where users interact with the world based on only keywords—no visuals or sound. It is considered to be one of the roots of rpg games and an inspiration for other games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The game had a preprogrammed game, but it allowed multiple players to interact using online chat, player vs player, and interactive fiction. Players would only be able to interact with one another and with the world by typing in commands and reading/viewing descriptions of the environment around them, objects near them, and the other players in the world. This game was incredibly popular, and goes to show that visuals are not always needed to play an interesting and immersive game.