Spectre

Spectre is an introspective indie platformer that uses recombinant narrative to explore themes of memory and legacy. Playing as the elderly Joseph Wheeler, the player explores a landscape of moments from the character's past, discovering hidden patterns in his long life. Spectre was a 2010 IGF Student Showcase Winner and a 2009 IndieCade Honorable Mention. It can be downloaded from spectregame.com.

Spectre was developed as part of the MFA thesis work of my good friend, Jamie Antonisse. Jamie's studies focused on unconventional narrative forms, and I worked with him extensively on early conceptualization and design for the project, as well as design and programming during the game's production. From an academic standpoint, Spectre explores one of the most interesting challenges facing storytellers in interactive media: how do we handle the implicit conflict between narrative stakes and player agency? Spectre is a story told entirely in the past tense, where the player is faced with both choices and challenges, both of which have consequences but do not affect the sequence of events that make up the plot. Instead, moments from the character's life are reframed and recontextualized in meaningful ways, making the player a more active participant in the actual telling of the story.