Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of Electronic Literature focuses on interactive fiction and computer games. A line that really stood out to me from the text was that computer games are "the focus of the largest popular entertainment industry, dwarfing even the film industry." I guess I never realized just how popular they are. The Zork series is an example of computer games that were popular during the 80's. Zork is an example of interactive fiction as the game relies on the text to tell the narrative. The audience reading/producing the story is the player of the game. Many works of interactive fiction are considered to be games because they are resolved by the player either winning something or solving a riddle/question. I feel like the computer games made in the late 2000's are less works of literature than ones like Zork and Varicella because those only have the text to tell the story and guide the player whereas the newer games have audio and visual aspects so the actual words of the game don't matter as much.

I looked into Adam Cadre's Varicella that was mentioned in Electronic Literature. It was very easy to find online and play, which I was kind of surprised about since it's an older work. I really liked the vocabulary and narrative of this game. I enjoyed the drama of it all and my favorite line from the first part of the game was, "All you need is an opportunity. And that opportunity is now." Some of it was difficult because I didn't really know what to type and what keywords the game needed in order to progress through different rooms in the palace. A lot of times I got, "That's not a recognized verb." which was kind of frustrating because I was just trying to exit the western ballroom. Overall it was fun once you figured out the correct wording to type in.

Maddie Ireland