My game is Thoughts of School.
Don’t read my reflection unless you’ve played the game or don’t care for spoilers.
On the day where the class was making our first Twine game, I presented the idea of someone being in a dream without realizing it. I had just thought of it on the spot, but then I thought it would make a decently interesting game. As for the theme of the dream, I could have made it a fantasy world, but instead I decided to make it about a college student reflecting back on high school. It would be easier to construct a narrative on a somewhat similar personal experience.
For me, high school was overall an enjoyable time, but it was also filled with a lot of regrets. There were some things I wish I had done, and both good and bad memories revisit me whenever I’m sitting alone. I use the in-game dream as a way for the character to sort of “set things right” within his or her mind, even though it’s all in the past. There are some choices within the game that don’t affect the ending, but are meant to be significant within the player’s mind instead. I based the setting very loosely around my own experience, although I tried to give the player a good variety of choices while sticking to the main messages.
The main theme of my game was self-reflection and improvement. I wanted the player to possibly think about his or her own past, remember any possible good times, and reflect on what more could have been said or done. Dreams can’t change anything about the past, but the thought alone could change what’s to come. From the feedback in class, it seems like I was successful in immersing the player within the experience, although I know that not every student had as good of a time in high school. As for the self-improvement aspect, either that was just missed, or people focused more on the immersion and didn’t think too much about it. It was a pretty short segment compared to the rest of the game, so maybe it’s to be expected. Though not everything can reach the audience, I’m happy if people enjoy playing the game.
In terms of connecting to in-class readings, I put in the second part of the Duel Monsters scenario to encourage the player to be more inviting of new people. One of the recurring ideas within our readings is that much of the video game community is reportedly hostile to female gamers, to LGBT gamers, and to the games that appeal to those people. Within my game, it’s happier for everyone if the player invites the unknown girl to play Duel Monsters with them. The scenario is not blatant about the choice’s significance; it just mentally rewards the player for making the better choice.