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pluralstories2022-08-07 06:46 pm
lb_lee) wrote in pluralstories2022-08-07 06:46 pm
Counterfeit Monkey, by Emily Short (adventure puzzle game, 2012)
submitted by yolcatzin !
“Okay. We're both here, neither of us lost our minds in the synthesis process. As far as I can tell, the operation was a success. We're meant to be one person now, unrecognizable to anyone who knew us before.”
Blurb: The rebel Andra and her partner-in-crime Alex live in a world where words are reality. There are tools that can change the names of things to transform the things themselves. These even work on people — Alex and Andra have disguised themselves from the police of the oppressive island nation Anglophone Atlantis by portmanteauing themselves into a single being named Alexandra. Now, armed with only a letter-remover, they must escape from Atlantis before the day is over.
Why is it worth your time?: The way Counterfeit Monkey uses plurality as a narrative device is interesting to us. The player character's headmate is the narrator of the game. He often expresses his own opinions on the situations you find yourselves in and suggests things for you to do, and the game is sprinkled with scenes where he takes control to deal with things on his own. He's repeatedly acknowledged as a separate person from the player character by others who know of their predicament. It's a surprisingly good depiction of plurality despite the fantastical circumstances, and even though the author is (as far as we are aware) a singleton.
Also, the player character and their headmate remain in the same body for the whole game (aside from one bad ending that the game immediately lets you undo).
Plural Tags: on purpose, switching
Content Warnings: contain spoilers; in comments
Accessibility Notes: Free. Can be played in a web browser. Only requires you to read and write. There is an ingame tutorial. There is also a walkthrough (or "Invisiclues"). There are visuals (in the form of a map on the side of the screen), but you don't need to be able to see them in order to complete the game.
Can be found here: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl.
yolcatzin !“Okay. We're both here, neither of us lost our minds in the synthesis process. As far as I can tell, the operation was a success. We're meant to be one person now, unrecognizable to anyone who knew us before.”
Blurb: The rebel Andra and her partner-in-crime Alex live in a world where words are reality. There are tools that can change the names of things to transform the things themselves. These even work on people — Alex and Andra have disguised themselves from the police of the oppressive island nation Anglophone Atlantis by portmanteauing themselves into a single being named Alexandra. Now, armed with only a letter-remover, they must escape from Atlantis before the day is over.
Why is it worth your time?: The way Counterfeit Monkey uses plurality as a narrative device is interesting to us. The player character's headmate is the narrator of the game. He often expresses his own opinions on the situations you find yourselves in and suggests things for you to do, and the game is sprinkled with scenes where he takes control to deal with things on his own. He's repeatedly acknowledged as a separate person from the player character by others who know of their predicament. It's a surprisingly good depiction of plurality despite the fantastical circumstances, and even though the author is (as far as we are aware) a singleton.
Also, the player character and their headmate remain in the same body for the whole game (aside from one bad ending that the game immediately lets you undo).
Plural Tags: on purpose, switching
Content Warnings: contain spoilers; in comments
Accessibility Notes: Free. Can be played in a web browser. Only requires you to read and write. There is an ingame tutorial. There is also a walkthrough (or "Invisiclues"). There are visuals (in the form of a map on the side of the screen), but you don't need to be able to see them in order to complete the game.
Can be found here: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl.