Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
more or fewer pieces of the story depending
on how thoroughly she explores. Benjamin Rivers,
the game's creator, deliberately left the story of
Home
completely open to interpretation and
even prompts players to actively come up with their own ideas. After completing
Home
, players
are asked to visit the game's website and fill out a form to submit their own explanation of the
story. In the month after the game's release, dozens of possible interpretations accumulated
( s e e F i g u r e 7 . 1 0 ) .
Figure 7.10
Home
's website asks players to provide their own interpretation of the story.
Stories told through game systems lend themselves well to interpretation, precisely because
they're partly told without words: players experience this aspect of a game's story by pushing
into a system, using verbs and seeing what happens, and feeling out the contours of how the
game works. Although the mechanics may stay the same, different players may reach different
understandings of what the systems are trying to say.
Pipe Trouble
(2013) is a game where the player is tasked with laying sections of natural gas
pipeline in rural and suburban areas of Canada. On either side of the main playing area, two
characters express disapproval when things go wrong and let you know how happy or unhappy
