Choices
Stories You Play
The way narratives are told have evolved. They have become more creative and into an epidemic that is now categorized as Digital Storytelling. Storytelling has created its path with drawings and encrypted stones, word of mouth, written form, technology, to digital media. The latest forms of digital storytelling or digital narratives that have caught my attention are games that allow you to choose the way the stories are told, meaning you choose your characters, the episodes you want to follow, your next script, and the decisions. The idea of a story building up as a result of the choices you make is exciting and have definitely put a spin on how narratives are shared. You find yourself more in tuned with this form of storytelling, compared to when reading a narrative, the traditional way, which results in you frequently bookmarking due to boredom.
Specifically, I am speaking of the Choices game within your phone’s app store. When playing this game, the reader is presented with the options of different genres for their story. They are then given the chance to choose the gender they want to play as. Immediately after the choice is made, they are asked to name their character and give them a look, which includes skin tone, a hairstyle, and an outfit. The story begins. They must tap the screen for the narration and dialogue to happen. Between narration and dialogue, they are presented with options to respond. The way the reader responds takes the story in a different direction. Along the way, how they respond and the decisions they make, can win them gems that pays for exclusive options. Say their gems run out, they are able to buy more gems with real money. They also have keys that are used to read the next chapter. If the reader runs out of keys they can buy more of those as well or wait a certain amount of time until they can read the next chapter. There are over a hundred releases of books to choose from if the reader decides to move on from their current book. This form of interactive content is a genius idea in today’s era as it reaches out to the viewer, capturing their attention, but just as fast as it can capture their attention, it can lose their attention.
The High School story was about my character, Xai, attending high school at a new school. She encounters friendship, fun, romance, and drama.
While playing the game, I felt a sense of reality and the need to respond and choose paths that I would if those situations were real. The way I started playing the game was affected by my morals. For example, Xai had just made it official with her long-time crush. The next day on her first day of high school, she was greeted by the most popular good-looking guy in 12th grade. He sang sweet-nothing’s in her ear as she blushed and smiled from ear to ear. She finally came to her senses and remembered that she was in a relationship. The guy asked her out on a date, and that is when I was presented with the options to respond. One option read, “Yes, yes I will!” and the other read, “No, I have a boyfriend.” Realistically, morally, and being non-polyandrous, I chose the second option. After a while, I reassured myself that it was just a game, and to choose options that would put a twist to the story.
The graphics were a definite attention grabber and had the greatest effect on how the story was told. Without the animation and graphics, the book would not be as interesting as it was. There was dialogue between several characters and being able to see a face with a text bubble eliminated the confusion that printed books sometimes cause. The animation allowed the reader to view the character’s facial expressions when rude remarks were made, when compliments were given, when the character was sad, and so on, rather than having to imagine it as you would when reading a printed book. The use of graphics enhances and supports any situation, but them being animated had an even greater effect.
The different options given to me to react made me feel in control, although I knew the story itself was still in control. Most interactive stories as such, present you with many options, most of which are hogwash, and the rest ultimately lead to the same ending. In chapter two of the book my character Xai, and her friend Emma, attended a house party of one of the popular guy’s. Emma was not directly invited because she is not the usual hot babe, but I, Xai insisted that she joined me. While there they danced with the guys in the band, played cards with the football team, ate snacks with the cheerleaders, and swam with other friends. Once I completed the chapter I had the chance to reread it and select other choices, and so I did. I made different selections that took me down different paths temporarily, such as Xai taking a stroll away from the party with a guy named Caleb. The story somehow made its way back to one track where I was greeted with the same ending of me catching Caleb’s girlfriend making out with his friend. A reader’s knowledge of the same outcome has an effect on how they interact with the story and can easily make them interest by creating the feeling of false hope. In my case, it did not lose my attention and it meant nothing once I began to read, because I got so caught up wondering how my selection of different responses would affect the next scene.
After a while, I grew tired of losing gems just to temporarily experience a different path, but end up at the same ending. I would eventually run out of gems causing me to purchase more. This quirk made a big impact on the way I interacted with the story. I avoided the options that required me giving up my gems. Since I did not want to exchange my gems for a different path, I was not able to experience all that I could have. Upon completing chapter 3, I no longer had keys to continue to the next chapter, and I was for certain that I did not want to pay for more. The screen read, “Free key: 2:29:01.” It lost my attention.
