Friday, December 14, 2012

Indie Game Reviews: Story Nexus



You might remember me discussing Fallen London a while ago.  It is on a website called Story Nexus.  Since I shared Fallen London, the Story Nexus website has added the ability for anyone who wants to, to be able to create their own storygame.  Storygames are sort of like choose-your-own-adventure books, which you might have read as a child.  You read a story and then you get to choose what the main character does, which affects what happens in the story.  These games are like those books mixed with a traditional role playing game, where your choices affect your abilities and you develop specialized skill sets.  These games are made by different people.  Some are authors, some are game developers, and some are even scientists.  You can play all of the storygames other people made or you can make your own.  My favorite, and the most developed, storygame is Fallen London, which I discussed before.  In this game, your character lives in a seedy steampunky version of London, hence Fallen London.

Other storygames I have played on the site are Cabinet Noir and Zero Summer.  I didn't really enjoy Cabinet Noir.  In that storygame, your character is a French Detective.  It's just not the sort of book that I enjoy.  Surprisingly, I really enjoy Zero Summer.  It seems like more of a Western and takes place in Amarillo, Texas.  I think I enjoy it because the main character, who you play, is a man with amnesia who has to rediscover who he is.  Somehow that appeals to me.  The other game that I am the most excited about playing, but haven't yet, is called The Hour.  The premise is fairly simple; you have to live through the same hour over and over and over...forever.  It sounds like it should be very thought-provoking.

Update: It's not at all surprising that I really enjoy Zero Summer because now I learned that it is set in post-apocalyptic Amarillo, Texas.  I don't think I've told you, but you may have realized, that post-apocalyptic worlds are my favorite settings for both books and movies.  Insane asylums are a close second.  Reason 5,981 why I'm weird.

There is a storygame for everyone, humor, history, romance, scifi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, educational, and quite a few that defy all labels.  Also be sure to check out the Winter 2012 World of the Season winners, Samsara (1st place, Zero Summer (2nd place), and Evolve (3rd place). (I forgot to mention that there's a competitive element involved in the world creation part.)  Click here to see all of the worlds and find one (or six) that you enjoy.

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