Howard Glitch: an Interactive YouTube Game
YouTube is not exactly known for its interactivity, as most of its actions consist of clicking and watching. However, Howard Glitch, is different. Unlike most gaming videos on YouTube, where you just watch past game plays of someone else, this experience asks the user to explore multiple videos by choosing the right path, or its Game Over.
The narrative consists of 6 passengers trapped on a ship destined for an unfortunate ending, where the user is the 6th passenger. The ship is controlled by Howard the Glitch, who is miles away fast asleep at home. You must find a way to escape the fate of the ship, and climb Mount Denial. Essentially, you are trying to escape the reality that you are going to die.
SPOILER: As much as you will try, there is no way to escape death. There are what looks like 3 different endings, each leading the user back to reality, thus producing a Game Over. There are also ways to resurface to reality before then (one clickable exit actually brings you to the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, letting you get “RickRoll’D”).
Using YouTube as a platform makes Howard Glitch very accessible (although the game does not work on the mobile version of YouTube because you can’t click the on-screen annotations). It also requires lots of planning of the developer’s part. Each time you click on the screen, it brings you to another video, requiring many videos to continue the adventure. Aside from the first video, all the other videos are Unlisted as to prevent anyone from searching them.
One aspect the producers took into consideration is that videos can have varying time. This allows them to assign tasks that must be accomplished within a certain time restraint, like finding the right portal in 5 seconds. Now, its not like you lose the game if you don’t accomplish this, as the video just finishes, and you can easily replay it, or even pause it at any point. In addition, YouTube has a very active comment section, which is very evident on each part of the story. You can read comments to see where you went wrong, or in my case, find out that there is no way to win this game.
Interactivity on YouTube is hard to achieve. Publishing this narrative on YouTube as many separate videos allows the user to have control over how the story unfolds. It also requires them to figure out the right answers, and return to previous videos if needed. This is all done by clicking on the screen, which isn’t quite as interactive as other projects, but more so than most YouTube videos.
The YouTube game of Howard Glitch is actually a sort of trailer for the bigger project. The YouTube version is a teaser, hoping to welcome users into the world of Howard Glitch. The bigger project consists of 3 parts: a novel, a music soundtrack, and illustrated graphics. These 3 components are told from different perspectives, allowing a multimedia experience.
All in all, Howard Glitch is a unique way to make YouTube’s basic features interactive and immersive. It takes YouTube’s basic features and uses them in a creative way. It’s a great way to pass 30 minutes! Check it out here:
Also, here is a sped up version of my try at Howard Glitch:
