An interesting choice for protagonist– who would’ve thought to make a game about a piece of gum? It was a light and fun story, though the branching does little other than set the stage. I almost wish I had more agency as a character, since the story was fairly linear, but I guess there’s not that much you can do as a piece of gum.
Cute story. Cute layout. I like the fact that you limited divergences to make each choice feel more meaningful which highlights the profound triviality of being a gum. There’s the moment of ambiguity as to whom or what you are in the first few pages that I think could have been leveraged into a reveal or a sort of punchline. The sheer simplicity/brevity in the narrative and interaction makes it really hard for me to find anything I don’t like. So I like it. I found a clearer existential streak to it than the other game that explicitly references it.
The use of repetitive passages was a nice touch – the ending where you repeatedly (and endlessly) get stepped on was both cute and thought-provoking. I can say with certainty that I had never considered the feelings of gum on the sidewalk before I played this game.
Like the others said, the repetition was great for conveying what the only things that might happen to a piece of gum, self-aware or not. Was a fun little game/interactive story that was well designed to fit its narrative. IDK if having more alternate possibilities would help or not.
Here’s my own personal journey:
1.) Ugh, this game doesn’t give me any control!
2.) Wait, I’m a piece of gum, this makes total sense.
3.) Ugh, I hate being a piece of gum!
There’s some nice commentary about societal roles and how much agency one person has compared to another in terms of how to choose to live their life floating just under the surface of this bright pink bubble of a game.
This story was very linear. I would have appreciated a few other scenarios for the gum to witness. I really wanted there to be a secret if I kept clicking “AND AGAIN” a certain number of times (I’ll never know). I enjoyed the constant interaction for more to read, but I also felt it was tedious. Nonetheless, it was an interesting way to engage the reader.
The way you made it made sense. It was so freaking frustrating. It sucks to be a piece of chewing gum. I enjoyed the reaction (and me smashing my trackpad) that you pull out with the extreme linear storytelling. I feel like this lack of any control is something we all can empathize with. You made me empathize with a piece of chewing gum!! Amazing aha! 🙂
When I was 10 years old I was on a community volunteer team to scoop gum off sidewalks. Perhaps in one of the “and again” forever stepped on sequence there can be a random chance that you can be scooped off and finally thrown and disposed off somewhere to achieve peace in death (I felt bad as a chewing gum)
Fun idea giving a biographical account of a piece of chewing gum. However, I wish that our piece of gum went through more strange and extreme scenarios. For example when the man lets his gf in the car, I thought for sure that we would experience a sloppy makeout scene, or get spit out onto the dashboard during road trip fellatio. When in the city we could have been kidnapped by a pigeon or used to hold together a sign for a homeless man. I think that the linear structure reinforced our role in the world, but it would have also been cool to have a drawing of a piece of gum on the side of the screen getting progressively more beaten up and sad every “step” (hah) of the way. That way I would get visual feedback that my clicks are getting me somewhere in long segments like the chewing and stepping sections
Cute concept, completely subverting the idea of a story with branching, with the game mechanics of no choices perfectly matching the story character of being an inanimate object.
An interesting choice for protagonist– who would’ve thought to make a game about a piece of gum? It was a light and fun story, though the branching does little other than set the stage. I almost wish I had more agency as a character, since the story was fairly linear, but I guess there’s not that much you can do as a piece of gum.
Cute story. Cute layout. I like the fact that you limited divergences to make each choice feel more meaningful which highlights the profound triviality of being a gum. There’s the moment of ambiguity as to whom or what you are in the first few pages that I think could have been leveraged into a reveal or a sort of punchline. The sheer simplicity/brevity in the narrative and interaction makes it really hard for me to find anything I don’t like. So I like it. I found a clearer existential streak to it than the other game that explicitly references it.
Maybe it’s because of its very simplicity and ambiguity than I’m able to grasp my personal interpretation on the story all the more clearer.
The use of repetitive passages was a nice touch – the ending where you repeatedly (and endlessly) get stepped on was both cute and thought-provoking. I can say with certainty that I had never considered the feelings of gum on the sidewalk before I played this game.
Like the others said, the repetition was great for conveying what the only things that might happen to a piece of gum, self-aware or not. Was a fun little game/interactive story that was well designed to fit its narrative. IDK if having more alternate possibilities would help or not.
Here’s my own personal journey:
1.) Ugh, this game doesn’t give me any control!
2.) Wait, I’m a piece of gum, this makes total sense.
3.) Ugh, I hate being a piece of gum!
There’s some nice commentary about societal roles and how much agency one person has compared to another in terms of how to choose to live their life floating just under the surface of this bright pink bubble of a game.
This story was very linear. I would have appreciated a few other scenarios for the gum to witness. I really wanted there to be a secret if I kept clicking “AND AGAIN” a certain number of times (I’ll never know). I enjoyed the constant interaction for more to read, but I also felt it was tedious. Nonetheless, it was an interesting way to engage the reader.
The way you made it made sense. It was so freaking frustrating. It sucks to be a piece of chewing gum. I enjoyed the reaction (and me smashing my trackpad) that you pull out with the extreme linear storytelling. I feel like this lack of any control is something we all can empathize with. You made me empathize with a piece of chewing gum!! Amazing aha! 🙂
When I was 10 years old I was on a community volunteer team to scoop gum off sidewalks. Perhaps in one of the “and again” forever stepped on sequence there can be a random chance that you can be scooped off and finally thrown and disposed off somewhere to achieve peace in death (I felt bad as a chewing gum)
Fun idea giving a biographical account of a piece of chewing gum. However, I wish that our piece of gum went through more strange and extreme scenarios. For example when the man lets his gf in the car, I thought for sure that we would experience a sloppy makeout scene, or get spit out onto the dashboard during road trip fellatio. When in the city we could have been kidnapped by a pigeon or used to hold together a sign for a homeless man. I think that the linear structure reinforced our role in the world, but it would have also been cool to have a drawing of a piece of gum on the side of the screen getting progressively more beaten up and sad every “step” (hah) of the way. That way I would get visual feedback that my clicks are getting me somewhere in long segments like the chewing and stepping sections
Cute concept, completely subverting the idea of a story with branching, with the game mechanics of no choices perfectly matching the story character of being an inanimate object.