Tuesday 16 January, 2018

My initial conception of the game went right out the window as the nine characters are separated into immutable groups of three, so no picking and choosing specific individuals. Whether by chance or design, I called the coin flip correctly and my first playthrough found everyone safe and alive on the surface with only vague memories of what had happened. Roll credits.

Further gameplay offered particularly squirrelly dilemmas. The dog (a seeming Deus Ex Machina, as it had never before been mentioned) showed up in the vent with a note from the other two groups with a plan to vote in a circular arrangement so no group would be eliminated (in theory, at least). An old bromide asserts that a person who trusts everyone will make fewer mistakes than one who trusts no one though, from the gameplay, it was difficult to discern if this had the intended outcome. Switching between groups seemed like a cheat.

The incinerator proved fiendishly difficult to make headway with, as it was the first time interacting with objects and connecting the sliders on the control panel with the letters from the poster only visible through the goggles was a bit of a stretch. From there on, the puzzles were easy though the 'key' was a bit of a surprise.

The resulting dilemma with Sigma wasn't as intense as it might have been. Sigma rightly argued that either option - pulling the trigger or not pulling it - would guarantee the survival of Diana and one other, but pulling the trigger (with a 50/50 chance of killing Sigma) was the only option which allowed a chance for all three to survive. What's more is that Sigma himself was advocating for this course, all but relieving Diana of any accountability for taking said course of action.

The manufacturing room was simple straightforward puzzle logic throughout until the very end, when Zero conveniently disapproved of the escape plan and claimed that one of the other teams would be destroyed in the process. Considering that the system had just announced the demise of one team, this ploy turned the situation into something of a win-win.

Per the available maps, the area opposite the target door could not have been normally occupied by any of the other groups. There was no certain means whereby the explosive could be stopped or, if so, stopped before detonation; additionally, the group had only Zero's word for it that anyone else was indeed in jeopardy from the detonation, only after-the-fact at that. Even assuming the claim to be true Zero would have had to move at a blazing pace to have become aware of the escape plan, devise this counter-ploy, incapacitated the other team, position their unconscious bodies on the opposite side of the door, then casually goad the first group as if he had anticipated it all along.

Not bloody likely.

And here's where I paused for the night. Still feeling quite terrible as I think I picked up that Super-Flu over the weekend, but at least I managed to get this much done.

Good work here Shelia! Sorry about your roommate; hope she is doing better now. I like how closely you analyzed the choices and puzzles in the game, this attention to detail will allow you a lot of things to write about for your OPA. One interesting theme you hinted at that may be interesting to explore is the juxtaposition of obedience vs. curiosity. To apply this to the player’s role, how does the juxtaposition of obedience vs. curiosity change when you are in a game as opposed to real life? Are you more likely to lean towards your curiosity and be less obedient in games than in real life?

Clay