Insert something a little distracting here
This is where a little bit about interactive fiction games such as Galatea and Aisle.
Do They Work?
To be honest the work to a certain extent. It is enjoyable to explore different possibilities to see if there is a possible outcome since it is easily understood that the game is basically a large storage device that provides different responses with different commands. Therefore, players try to experiment as many things they can think of that would incite a response. For, me, this died out quickly because I’m the type who likes to know all the answers. When I’m given so many possibilities, it seems tiresome to try and experiment. Furthermore, after typing in various commands, a pattern emerges which seems to constrict what players say e.g. ‘ask about…’ ‘think about…’ ‘look at…’ etc. On the other hand, the results are quick and rewarding. It is fun to see what type of results players can receive, even if there is no right or wrong outcome. It becomes a matter of balancing the rewards with the exploration. Generally all this means is that there need to be more input commands. The more to experiment with, the more fun. The best outcome would be when anything the player types in generates a different outcome, and I mean anything.
Are they enjoyable to play more than once?
I think the answer to that is quite obvious. If the games weren’t enjoyable to play more than once then the game must have been really poor at grasping your attention when you played it the first time. Especially with the Aisle since the game finishes after the player inputs a command only once. A game like the Aisle is fun in a Groundhog Day kind of fashion, where the player replays the day over and over with new information each time. So generally the answer is yes, the games are enjoyable to play more than once. I think a better question would be, at which point does replaying the game become superfluous.
Signing off
