Medium and Genre: Video game, text adventure + puzzle
Year Released: 2012
Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium. A blind playthrough might take a while.
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: Mild body horror (Dismembered body parts can be created with the word-changing mechanics. (e.g. removing the "M" from a tome turns it into a toe.) They're not described in detail, but creating at least one body part is required to reach the end.); Dehumanization (Atlantis's government sentences criminals to be turned into inanimate objects. This is portrayed as horrific.); Non-graphic death scenes in some bad endings; Gender dysphoria (not deeply focused on, but Alex remarks on feeling uncomfortable in his and Andra's shared, female-presenting body.);
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.
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Date: 2022-08-07 08:10 pm (UTC)Creator: Emily Short
Medium and Genre: Video game, text adventure + puzzle
Year Released: 2012
Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium. A blind playthrough might take a while.
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: Mild body horror (Dismembered body parts can be created with the word-changing mechanics. (e.g. removing the "M" from a tome turns it into a toe.) They're not described in detail, but creating at least one body part is required to reach the end.); Dehumanization (Atlantis's government sentences criminals to be turned into inanimate objects. This is portrayed as horrific.); Non-graphic death scenes in some bad endings; Gender dysphoria (not deeply focused on, but Alex remarks on feeling uncomfortable in his and Andra's shared, female-presenting body.);
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.