The Waiting Game is a interactive visual novel exploring the 5 stages of grief through the recurring dreams of Orange, a character who has recently lost their significant other Yellow in an accident. Created for the final assignment for the Futuregames Narrative Design class.
My Contributions
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Drafted initial concept.
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Design emotional journey & story.
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Wrote narrative.
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Twine scripting.
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End to end experience.
Illusion vs. Reality
Discovering how delusions feed subconscious desires creating hardships.
Narrative Themes
Five Stages of Grief
Exploring the behavior we go through after the loss of a loved one.
Self Help
Learning how to break the cycle of grief and start the healing process.
Story Design
Personal Motivation
The Waiting Game is a story of self-constructed delusions and of lost love designed to understand and explore an all too common emotion: grief. Written with the intention of showcasing the cycle of grieving and providing the players with an opportunity to fill in the blanks with their own story or experience.
Twine Layout
The linear nature of the narrative allows for a simple layout.
The game begins at the top left and concludes at the bottom with a choice that leads to one of two ends.
The 5-stages arcs are represented by passage colors.
Light CSS code was used to input transitions, images, and formatting.
Two Blank Slates
The grief caused by the loss of a loved one is an experience that most face. The characters, Orange & Yellow, were made as blank slates, lacking sex and identity. Resulting in an inclusive experience that allows players to project their own experiences into the story.
Waiting
I was inspired by the quote "time heals all wounds" to incorporate a waiting mechanic into the story. I have artificially extended certain transitions of the game to allow the player to dwell on scenes and emotional beats. This is especially evident in the depression segment.
Starting from left to right are three depression loops. To pass from loop to loop the player simply must wait. However, if the text in a depression passage is interacted with, the player will be sent to another passage that's a part of the same loop. This will infinitely trap a player in the depression stage, unless they're patient.
As each loop progresses, the messages get exponentially lighter. And the delay grows shorter. Time slowly heals the wound of loss.
First Loop
Last Loop
No one will ever love me like that again.
Will I ever be truly happy again?
This shouldn't have happened to me.
vs.
I'll take a break for as long as I need.
This nightmare will be over soon.
I was lucky to have known them.
I use delayed transitions throughout this entire game. To make players wait, to represent the passage of an emotion, and to allow reflection. We're all, to some degree, playing a waiting game.
Reality vs. Dreams
A small slice of this story occurs in the real world. When designing the overall story, I wanted the contrast between the dreamscape and reality to be easily distinguishable. To accomplish this, I added longer, more personal descriptions to the passages, and abandoned the short form of linear storytelling while Orange remained awake. Lastly, I made it clear to the player that Orange was seeking Yellow out in their dreams.
Story Outline
The game follows the character, Orange, who desperately attempts to save Yellow from drowning.
As they're swimming up, the scene quickly turns nightmarish.
Orange wakes up in their old room. They're given the chance to explore the area before plunging back into sleep in order to see Yellow again.
Back at the pier, Orange excitedly sets up a picnic date. Now they only need to wait for Yellow, who never comes. Who will never come.
The realization sends Orange into a blind fury, which leads to nothing.
Once the dust settles, a portal opens up, Yellow calls out for Orange to come and save them. Without hesitation, Orange dives in.
Entering familiar water Orange hesitates. Below them is a another version of themselves about to trigger Yellow's horrid transformation.
Bargaining for Yellow's life has never succeeded for Orange, knowing this they decide to save themselves.
Orange comes to terms that Yellow is gone.
Orange enters a deep depression.
Despair overwhelms Orange resulting in a complete loss of self worth and shattering the illusion of the false reality.
Pain demands to be felt. Orange wrestles with all their doubts, fears, and hurt before finally breaking out.
Orange returns to the pier where Yellow waits. The two have a short dialogue before Orange is presented with a choice:
Feed the delusion.
Or
Wake up.
Next Game:
