[Narrascope] Platypuses Jam games highlight

Hey! Hi!

As you may know (or not) for this year Narrascope we hade some bootcamps previous to the events, where attendants could learn Inform 7 or Twine, and proceed to present what have they learned in the form of new Interactive Fictions for Narrascope. Well, so this year I hosted the Platypuses Jam!, inviting the participants to have some fun thinking on games around platypuses, zorkian, real or methaphorical, or don’t use the theme at all.

This year we had 5 games, only 5, but they are so promising and so funny, that I want to make a thread highlighting them.

But first, idulge me with some words on the making of the jam, and a reflection on organising jams. Let’s go!

I organise jams like Rayuela de Arena jam or ECTOCOMP (the spooky IF competition returning every October). This experience has led me to design the Platypuses jam as an out-of-stress jam. There’s no obligation to follow the theme, even there’s no obligation to present a complete game. This jam is meant for the bootcamp participants to show what they have learned.

This is something I’ve been considering for years, that feeling that jams are too restricting. I mean, the nature of original musical jams is to go to the pub, jam with musicians, and just get something of it. It does not have to be completed in form. So as a jam organizer, I started doing exactly that, “Jam jammy jams” where there’s no need to complete a game, or start a new one, just hang around and get something done, share it with others, meet people, share experiences, etc. Who cares if you did not get time to finish a complete game?

I had this itch just some years ago when I crunched myself till 5 am, drinking a lot of coffee, I noted as my heart was fainting! It was quite scary and I said: nevermore. Also, one thing a friend says resonated with that moment:

QUOTE: “I see jams as a way to train game devs to the crunch culture.”

That really hurt and kept me thinking. I organize some ranked jams because if not the games go unplayed and uncommented, so it is like a lesser evil. So… this platypuses jam has been an advance of all those feelings.

The platypus theme was inspired by @kamineko, “discovery” that the royal family mentioned in the Zork lore were platypuses, in this great post:

So, for this jam, I like to make references to classic text adventure topics but with a twist. Past Narrascope jam we had Time for Adventure, suggesting classic themes but at the same time with a nod to Adventure Time. So for this year, Zorkian platypuses were just too funny to let them pass!

Also, for the Visual design of the jam web page, I went to something nostalgic, and I thought, what’s the best retro feeling of the Infocom games? Yes, playing them on a Macintosh, is something I’ve not experienced, but I love that aesthetic. So that is, the background is a monochrome pattern mimicking the Mac one, with public domain platypuses fitted.

Thank you for reading, and with that. On to the games!

6 Likes

You are a platypus. And you need to get to work.

OMG, this is a work in progress, but it is sooo funny. It is like playing 9:05 by Adam Cadre but with webbed paws.

The worldbuilding is great, with great detail on how a platypuses society would work, adhered with details of magic and cyberpunk.

Right now there are only 5 rooms to interact and no plot, but I hope the author completes this because it felt really funny and fresh.

Also, I liked how the participants were really fast getting modern conventions for playing IF, and you will see how the games highlight exits or objects of interest.

1 Like

Jgesq is so prolific that he made two games for the Narrascope jam. Even, you can follow him on itchio and you will see for yourself, with a lot of experience with CoS scripting and frequent updates on his games.

Also, he likes to “subvert the conventions”, so this platypus enigma is a short easygoing experience, with only 3 puzzles that just give them themselves.

The blurb says that it is a work in progress, but this feels complete, well-written, well-implemented, and psychedelically funny.

It is like a “joke game”, and I think like that, it is pretty funny. I recommend it.

1 Like

So, this is the other game made by jgesq. As he made two games, and he stated that he wanted to use Sugarcube to test a green phosphor typing effect in Twine, I expected this to be a short, gimmick experience, but nooo, then I found it to be a substantial exploration of a sci-fi NYC in 2049. Interesting, and very well written. And so I do recommend it.

1 Like

Solemo, by Josh Stead-Dorval, is a work in progress that…

is an interactive fiction set in a middle-of-nowhere frontier town, in the not-so-distant future. Play as a contractor hired to fix a communications relay hidden somewhere in the town, and get ready to discover more than you bargained for. That is, if you can even remember who you are…

The town is incomplete, but this is so promising. I mean, Josh was a speaker at Narrascope, the game is very well writen, with a heavy sense of palce, and he is so young and so talented…

In the end, we had not a frontier town with antromoprphic animals with a platypus protagonist with a 10-gallon hat, but Solemo, mark my words, is a place to look for in a, hopefully, recent future.

1 Like

And last, but not least, Arrival at the Farmhouse, by Jules Graybill.

I think this is content complete. The game by Jules is a “return home”, or “return to the ancestor’s house” mixed with a haunted house feeling.

Really, the sense of place in this game is a remembering of why we are here. You know, that sense of why a lot of us like text adventures, that way how we are playing a virtual reality within text.

Also the familiar farmhouse of the game has an eerie feeling about it, as if Silent Hill was condensed on 5 or 6 farm locations. It is quite good and well-written. Also it has a “remember” verb to help uncover the mysteries that lie within.


And that’s it. Sometimes high numbers are not better. This year we are very happy with the quality and promise that these 4 authors show, and I hope to see them around in the community and see them grow.

Thanks a lot!

1 Like

@Ruber_Eaglenest , thanks for the kind words about all our submissions, and THANK YOU for organizing and promoting the Platypus Jam. For my part, the prospect of submitting a story to the jam motivated me to work on polish and playability, and the version I published to the jam ended up being quite different from the final version I shared during the bootcamp.

2 Likes

Thanks for the opportunity to submit. I’m touched by your kind words and support. I’m working right now with the Plot Unfolding Machine (PUM Companion) as my toolset of choice. It’s a great way to play Solo RPGs and capable of sharing game worlds and completed APs (as played) for analysis and reading.
I shall continue my explorations with Twine/ CS and Inform 7 and wish you and all in the community continued success and health. :+1::star:

1 Like

I noted!!!

But when I get to the basment I though that I liked more the old one, because it was pretty scary to be lost and trapped there in the dark. So I though to tell you: hey Jules, add the darkness and being trapped back. But, then I got to the kitchen and there were the new scary stuff…

So I think it is ok as is now, because you have a natural tense moment in the basement, but not straight heavy scare, and the you go up and BAM, Scary time! You know, one must distribute ok the moments of tension and scares.

1 Like