Blanch
Idea: The game deals with a man who has been lost while climbing a snowy peak, the person hiking the mountain to find him, and their partner at base camp who has to wait till both, one, or neither return. It takes the third-person perspective and jumps between character and time-in-story randomly. The choices to make will not be explicit actions such as “grab the ledge” but will be more general, such as “push forward today” or “give up hope.” While it is not told in order, responses to situations presented/choices do affect the outcome of the story (I’m considering even to allow the player to decide when the stranded hiker dies, regardless of the efforts of the one trying to find him).
Paragraph 1: He grabs hold again, and lets out a grunt of frustration. A frustration filled with rage against the cold and a refusal to let it win. As he crashes the axe into the ice above him, he is counting. “Did he take four, or five…. Four or five?” Struggling to remember how many O2 tank were still there when he left.
- >> Let’s hope it was five.
- >> Damnit… It might have been four.
Choices:
- A blizzard has passed, and the sky is clear. Do you move today and risk being caught in another one, or play it safe?
- Waiting at base camp, do you continue to worry, or preoccupy your mind with menial tasks?
- On top of the mountain, do you give up and allow yourself to die?
- Do you bring your friend’s body or leave him?
- Do you start trying to hike down despite having two broken legs?
- Do you send out a distress call from camp requesting emergency assistance? Will they make it in time?
Nacht
Idea: You play the role of the night and some of his ‘children’ or facets: loneliness, complacency, and rest. As these three personified beings you choose who you will attach yourself to (multiple people, possibly), and how you will affect them. The game will be told in second person (referring to ‘you’ the player), but will not explain who or what you are; it will only say what you observe and allow you the choice of how to react.
Paragraph 1: Lights go on. Lights go off. People stroll, dogs bark, cars screech to halts. As you descend, a chill of a breeze passes, and the clouds gather into masses of gray. The high crescent above gives you the feeling that there is much to be done.
- >>A man stumbles alone down a narrow street
- >>A well-to-do business woman drives home, a detached stare on her face
- >>A student stares intently at his desk full of papers and books
Choices:
- Do you lull one into a sleep before their work is done?
- Do you remind one of the friend they have turned away from
- Do you give one new motivation in the day-to-day struggle?
- Do you give peace to the one trying desperately to sleep
- Do you fill one with hope of finding a companion?
This is an image (not my own) from: http://english.sina.com/technology/p/2008/1201/201958.html
I think both ideas are workable, and could be great with the right treatment (you have a good plan for both already). Now, the choice of which one to do is going to come down to whether or not you want a game with a sense of closure. In the first, an ending is inevitable. In the second, it seems unlikely, unless the night and his children have some sort of overall plan. Then again, the night is a cyclical entity.
The second one sounds awesome; I find it much more beautiful and thoughtful. Depending on how long this stretches (if it’s over the course of one night or several), you could even consider adding in a daytime aspect as well.
I think both are good but the second one I found more intriguing because it was more poetic and less of a usual narrative. I am curious how the game would end though.
I like your first idea of jumping from character to character on the peak. Could definitely make for an interesting story as the choices your character makes affect the others. I think it would be good to include both explicit actions and more abstract actions, though, otherwise I’m having trouble seeing exactly how your choices might drastically affect the narrative. (Unless you just want to have random blizzards and avalanches happen as you proceed.)
The second idea is really really creative and interesting. Much more poetic, as the other comments have mentioned. I’m also questioning how you could end the game or bring a sense of closure to it, unless you want to purposely leave it somewhat open-ended and ambiguous.
I like both of these, actually. The first idea appeals to me more, but I feel like it would be strange to play as all three characters and try to keep them as independent entities in the player’s head. For instance, if you know that the lost hiker is still holding on, then you wouldn’t have the search party wouldn’t give up unless you’re a sadist..
I like the idea of night’s children creeping on people, but I wonder where it would go? Is night trying to achieve something? Maybe there’s a goal night’s trying to accomplish that it can’t before dawn comes, like trying to put a chronic insomniac to bed. Or it could be cyclical seeing as night already is, allowing for players to experience each of the offered choices.
ERIC YOU’RE GREAT
The second idea is more interesting. Following the story of an emotional state would be very unusual but interesting. is the emotion like a virus and it has to spread from one subject to another to “survive”? Can it be contained in a single entity? Or will it be destroyed or transformed if it does not have a new victim to consume? There is a lot of potential here.