Reflection
I’ve come across Twine before in other ETEC classes, but never built anything using it. At the end of ‘The Temple of No’ game, which was amazing, there is a comment/question that asks if you have ever played a Twine game that was actually good, not just good for a Twine game. It is a little harsh, but has an element of truth to it. I have never come across any Twine game/story that was close to being as good as the ‘Temple of No’ game…admittedly I’ve only seen a handful. I shared the game with my wife and a comment she made stuck with me. Part of the joy of the ‘Temple of No’ is the way in which the story is paced, how the words and actions are revealed to the reader in different amounts…building tension, causing frustration, and adding excitement. Of course this is true in all forms of storytelling, but because Twine is interactive storytelling it enhances those feelings.
I like that Twine makes it easy to get started. The basic tools are user friendly and fairly intuitive. I decided to use bits of a very short story that I had written many years ago; something that I was never satisfied with in its original form. I think we all like to think of the moments in our lives when we chose a particular path; how things might have turned out differently if not for ‘fate’ intervening. The branching in Twine seems like a good way to tell this type of story and reflect on the different paths in a person’s life. The original story was meant to be lean, but I like that in Twine I could provide the option to the reader of additional information if they chose to view it.
Mine is still quite a conventional piece of storytelling. I would like to spend more time in Twine creating something that is more like a game. I hope to work with my kids develop some of their ideas in Twine in the near future.
Reference
Johann, D., Pugh, W., ‘Temple of No.’ Crows Crows Crows Games. Accessed from: https://crowscrowscrows.itch.io/the-temple-of-no