I have two characters I have used in a couple of games.
Has anyone ever tried to have two co-player characters (PCs) as a team? Is it possible?
in infocom’s ‘journey’ i believe you’re controlling a party, not just one player.
The two players take turns making choices, which sync up at regular intervals. Basically exactly what you’re asking about!
I’m not sure if this exactly what you have in mind, but these two IFDB polls might be relevant: Games in which the player switches between protagonists and Multiple point-of-view characters.
The Two Seasons in this year’s IFComp had a two-PC setup. It was kind of a minimalist implementation, insofar as the two characters always stay together during the course of the game, but it basically worked well and is kind of a minimal implementation of the basic idea that you’re asking about.
Bones of/Trials of Rosalinda is another good one with two characters who work as a team.
And since Lucian already brought up two human players, then in addition to Ma Tiger’s Terrible Trip, you might check out Amanda Walker’s The Purple Pearl…
Not exactly sure if they fit, but Paul O’Brian’s Earth and Sky series? Or Max Blaster and Doris de Lightning Against the Parrot Creatures of Venus?
An entry in this year’s IFComp, Ruined Temple, has four players working as a team.
I suppose it’s gauche to mention my own title, but I’ll add that my Under the Cognomen of Edgar Allan Poe has two main characters. You switch back and forth between the two, and between them, the secrets are revealed.
Isn’t that a game designed for two people to play at the same time?
Yes, as I said in the part of the sentence that you cut out of the quote.
Just in the recent comp, I thought the Under Loch/Enkii system provided a potentially interesting system for two player interaction (from the same keyboard). And the Uninteractive Fiction III introduced a potential method for collaboration across the network (although I’m less certain I understand how that was done, or its possible limitations.)
I did some research on split screen possibilities within the year, and found this novel implementation also.
Sorry, I skimmed past that.
Thank you for all of the responses. They give a lot to consider. It appears TADS may be a good option. I have a WIP I have been working on where two PCs may help.
There’s also Echoes for 4 players operating 4 characters, and The Den for one player operating 2 characters, both by the eminent @radiosity
Much different in mechanics than those already mentioned is the Art of the Fugue by @VictorGijsbers and others. I thought that was kind of cool when it came out.