You're part of the story
Imagine a story that's not so much something to read, to listen to, to watch. But to be part of it. Is that not just what life itself is? It's possible. In the world of gaming experiments are tried out in which the user is part of the story, a particpant. It's nothing new, haven't we all done some shooting or racing on a screen ourselves with controllers at hand? But the reason we blog about it here, is that sometimes new forms are tried that are instructive to us all.
Enter "Her Story", an interactive video game for many platforms like web or mobile that seem to be a radical form of user participation in the story. Her Story is the new video game from Sam Barlow. As a crime fiction game with non-linear storytelling, Her Story revolves around a police database full of live action video footage. It stars Viva Seifert, actress and one half of the band Joe Gideon and the Shark.
Her Story grants players access to a police database of archived video footage that covers seven interviews from 1994 in which a British woman is interviewed by detectives about her missing husband. Players take on the role of the person sat before a police computer terminal, their own computer or device playing the part of the fictional computer. They type search queries and the database returns clips of the answers where the woman speaks those words. Quickly one feels itself being placed in the role of the detective, interpreting the woman, wanting to know more about here. Did she murder her husband herself? Or is she just a victim?
The maker, Sam Barlow, is known for other videogames like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Aisle. He managed to develop Her Story with financial aid of the Indie Fund, a known venture investor for innovative game makers founded by successful gamedeveloppers. He explains: “If you can Google, you can play Her Story. The mechanic of searching for clips in the database is so simple that anyone can pick up and play. But it’s a mechanic that quickly reveals its richness and complexity. At times it can feel like you’re engaged in a genuine dialogue with this woman and her story. It’s a unique way to interact with a narrative, a sculptural way of viewing a story — and something that can only be done interactively.”
Her Story is a perfect example of interactive storytelling. The method is very well suited for use outside the gaming world, like in branded content or advertising.