15 | LGG | HOW TO FLY A KITE / CÓMO VOLAR UNA COMETA
15 | LGG | HOW TO FLY A KITE / CÓMO VOLAR UNA COMETA
by: rubereaglenest
Progress:
- I reached the end in about 9 minutes.
Engagement with Horror Genre:
- There is a major sense of escalation to this piece. It starts innocently enough, but each successive mini-scene builds an overall portrait of real-life ongoing carnage and devastation. The horror for me was in the revelation—at some point or another, one of the details will flag the reader’s realization as to what this piece is really about, and it’s a sobering recognition. There is also a body horror element in being a spirit that is trying desperately to make a difference and help provide some guidance and hope in the midst of the destruction but is struggling with their new form to try and make this possible.
Things I Appreciated:
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There is a non-linearity to the narrative, where you can approach building each piece of the kite in the order of your choosing. The piece is a kind of portrait where each fragment is drawn to add up to the full picture, which mirrors the construction of the kite a symbol of hope/resistance amidst violence. So I would say that the narrative of what you are actually “doing” in the text is well-aligned with the themes of the piece.
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Similarly, I thought the details were subtle enough at the beginning, I wasn’t sure where it was going, but then at the big moment of recognition I had, previously innocuous details—like the coating of dust, the gray canvas—are suddenly cast in a terrible new light.
Miscellaneous Comments:
- In terms of the mechanics, I found myself occasionally cycling through some of the options and having the same messages reprinted, unsure if I was making progress or not. While that is somewhat immersive in the sense that, as a spirit not necessarily accustomed to manipulating objects in supernatural ways, it makes sense that it doesn’t unfold smoothly, I found myself becoming distracted by my own clumsiness in not always understanding what progress I was making and preoccupied with the gameplay elements, perhaps a bit at the expense of absorbing more of the weight/impact of the narrative. Those were just minor moments of discombobulation for me though, it didn’t detract much.
What I learned about IF writing/game design:
- I think this is the first comp piece I’ve read that has such a direct and contemporary activist message, and it does that very effectively. It has me thinking about how the interactivity of an IF piece has a kind of potential to involve the reader emotionally by making them explicitly part of what is happening in the narrative, in a way that other genres/forms might. (Of course, good journalism and facts and statistics have their place, and more “static” literary/allegorical works as well, but I thought this was a good example of cutting across that with a different, inspired approach.)
Memorable Moment:
- For me, it was at the point of describing the four colors of the pennants from the demolished wedding scene that I realized what was happening. (Admittedly, I should’ve taken a closer look at the cover art…) Suddenly, the previous details clicked into place, and with a sinking feeling, I started to dread the new details that were inevitably about to emerge.