Ok, some thoughts about
18 Cadence.
Finally finished - for the lack of a better word - the story and I can easily say that it's one of the most thoughtfully constructed interactive fictions.
Most authors, of all different types of genres, not only in games, aim to provide a lot of emotional stimuli in their works as a primary goal, while forgetting about the importance of intellectual stimulation, which they ought to deliver to the consumers. In the world of interactive media this situation looks exceptionally bad. Even if you ignore conventional games, which focus mostly on euphoric sensations, such as satisfaction after defeating another enemy or after solving a difficult puzzle – you've still got this feeling, that most of those ambitious game creators not involved in this mechanism, try only to achieve something more, by expanding the range of available sensations, neglecting in the process more meaningful content than those presented in an average Soap Opera. How many times did I hear, heck, I'm the author of those opinions, that certain games evoke the feelings of empathy, sadness or melancholy - like this was the most important element in reception of an esteemed work, but what could be said about something that is not there. Don't get me wrong, but what's the point, if this is the only reason.
That's why it's so essential to bow down before this unobtrusive interactive novel and acknowledge its greatness, because it follows the path available only to a few before, such as Tale of Tales, Cardboard Computer and few others. It encourages to think and analyze, in a very accessible way. The ''game'' tells a fictional, century long, story of a house at 18 Cadence Street, from the moment it was build in 1900, up to its burning one hundred years later, which ends its life, and everything connected with this place during this period. It's about people and their interwoven fates, about a births of a new life, first loves, lost hopes, about death. How vital role in this context play physical objects of everyday use in portraying undergoing changes: massive wardrobes resistant to the flow of time, the photos leaving with the people to whom they meant anything or even flower bouquets, fleeting to the admirers, in the same way, they will in relation to a history. Things gathered in abudance anticipating the inevitable death of its owners, memories kept in a form of a collection, with each year filling the void after what's been lost, but the time is unrelenting, hundred years whispers measly, that the time will come for them too. Everything is served in a subtle way, like the period of The Great Depression, which we experience through a slowly, year to year, shrinking property. Mixing of those elements; relationships formed between The House at 18 Cadence Street and its Residents - it's a pure poetry.
We're observing it from the perspective of a researcher – house plan: the porch, living room, kitchen and two bedrooms, which intended use changes accordingly to the current needs; on the right side, previously mentioned, list of objects assigned to each of these rooms. The story focuses on passing years – each year is a one event in the life of the residents, for each room separately; sometimes they completely turnover the staus quo – like death of a loved one, but mostly they tell about less important episodes, of which everyday life consists of. But exactly, what's important and what is not? That's time for You to come in – demiurge who decides about it. It's worth pointing out about the possibility of confrontating your ideas with the stories constructed by other players, and it's actually quite fascinating to do so. Back to the topic, each of those narrative elements could be commemorated by dragging them to the lower part of the table you're working on - visually juggling with someone's life. Even though it's just a fiction - it's really weird. It needs to be remembered that the board has limited capacity, just like our perceptual abilities. If it gets too messy and we want to include something, we he have to drop something else, but we already make the choices out of snippets at our disposal. If you think about it, it's quite depressing. How will we be remembered? In the age of pervasive social networks, discussion boards, each of us has left some trace, but in the long run the memories of who we really are will be lost in informational flood. In one hundred years this brave new world might colapse under its own weight, just like the House at 18 Cadence Street, taking away digested memories of ourselves.
I think it's really worth it to find out a little more about this place. There are not too many ambitious games like this one, where we can stir in the past to see what the future might bring up and where the emotions are only one of the elements the world is build on and not the main purpose of the creation.
I'll close the contest soon and put up another one. Maybe tomorrow.
