At A Glance
Media Type: Game
Platform: Web-based
Released: April 2019
Made for: COMM 351: Game Studies & Design @ UW-Whitewater
Created with: Twine
Coded in: Twine markup
Developers: Cass Aleatory (solo project)
Media Type: Game
Platform: Web-based
Released: April 2019
Made for: COMM 351: Game Studies & Design @ UW-Whitewater
Created with: Twine
Coded in: Twine markup
Developers: Cass Aleatory (solo project)
Look Closer is a text-based adventure rpg that I solo developed for COMM 351: Game Studies & Design using the Twine engine. Inspired by ztul's The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo, Look Closer is intended to be a meta, story-driven experience that forces the player to think critically about the situations in which they're placed and challenge the assumptions they may hold concerning games, the adventure genre, etc. The player is free to make whatever decisions they like and play as many times as they like... but there's only one path that will ultimately advance the plot.
Working on Look Closer gave me my first chance to write for a narrative game. While the class I wrote it for provided certain parameters, and thus limitations, on the project, it also did me the tremendous service of introducing me to the Twine game creation platform. Since I was only just starting to learn Unity at the time, Twine instantly became my primary gamewriting tool. Developing Look Closer gave me a chance to learn about the platform and how its strengths and weaknesses play into its potential for telling stories. Looking back on this game, I'm most proud of how I managed to tell a story that capitalizes on Twine's unique propensity for handling unusual plot structures on my very first attempt. I'm also pleased that I was able to take the skills and lessons I learned working on Look Closer and apply them to my more ambitious subsequent Twine projects like ESCAPE.
After ESCAPE: Ultimate is finished, Look Closer will be getting a major update of its own. This new version, which will not be called "Look Closer: Ultimate," is likely to release sometime in 2026. I originally described my plan for this update as "a high fantasy kitchen sink," but a more apt characterization might be that this update will deconstruct and examine a great many new fantasy tropes and stock characters, as the original does with 'princess,' 'dragon,' 'quest giver,' and 'highwayman.' Players can expect more chances to talk to and forge connections with the various characters they'll meet in their travels, as well as some development and characterization of the game's core mechanic ("looking closer") itself. Finally, there will be dragons. More dragons. Please follow Look Closer's itch.io page for more information in the coming months!
Everything! I wrote the story, designed the game, created the cover art, and programmed it all in Twine.