Category: Games

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Escape the Dungeon or Die! A Text Adventure

In OHAC 62: Push the Red Button, we played Escape the Dungeon or Die!, a text adventure I wrote with some assistance from a coworker over three years ago. I finally turned it into a proper PDF, similar to my others.

I wanted to take a step forward from Dream Sequence and created what’s essentially a series of escape rooms, each with a puzzle to discover and solve. Per usual with my text adventures, a spiffy title captures much of the information about the world of the puzzle. It’s a double entendre—either you escape the dungeon or die, but is it a dungeon that you’re escaping or a six-sided die?

The entire map is an unfolded die, and the pips offer a canvas for crafting puzzles. You can read more details in the document below.

After several years, I’m still pleased by this adventure. Even though it ended up being a bit too difficult for its original intended audience, it’s great to play with nerds.

You can find the official PDF below, and here is Mikhail and Jack’s collaborative map from playing it for the podcast.

Escape the Dungeon or Die!Download
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A Mario Kart Milestone (Again)

I previously wrote about my excitement that Mario Kart 8 was receiving more courses. Two years later, all the courses are released and have been summarily conquered by my Gold Mario character. I have 3 star trophies across all 24 Grand Prix cups, in all available speed levels.

Though I fell off playing Mario Kart regularly in the last year—that change has been for the best—it remains a relaxing activity on a lazy weekend afternoon or a fun evening game to play with Erin. There are no more explicit accomplishments left for me in the game,1I’ve decided to not open up the can of worms that are Time Trials or Battles. so I can launch it when it strikes me as fun, and otherwise spend my extremely self-limited gaming time playing the several other Switch games I’ve purchased over the years. Among those I’ve started and hope to complete are Cuphead, Röki, Bastion, Firewatch, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. It may take me years, but I’ll make progress!

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    I’ve decided to not open up the can of worms that are Time Trials or Battles.
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Last Question Update

Two months ago I revisited The Last Question, a basic RPG I wrote at the start of the pandemic. A group of friends has agreed to start an actual campaign with me later this year — we’ve had trouble finding a good time to get started — so I decided to retool the game itself. I wasn’t happy with the initial set of mechanics; it didn’t seem to mesh with the intent of the game.

After some research, I settled on the Motif system, which focuses on asking questions. A natural fit. I wrote a gameplay guide in Affinity Publisher1I learned InDesign at work, but am certainly not in a position to subscribe to the Adobe Suite, so Publisher was a great option. that I’m pretty proud of, and will provide below.

I’m excited to play this game with some friends. It’s a creative outlet just for us. There’s no spinning this into an actual-play podcast. There is a lot to be said for having fun in a way that isn’t performative for someone else.

The Last Question Gameplay GuideDownload
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    I learned InDesign at work, but am certainly not in a position to subscribe to the Adobe Suite, so Publisher was a great option.
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Text Adventure: Watchman

Last fall I wrote a new text adventure. Now that we finally played it on OHAC 36, I’m posting it here.

It was fun to write. The pun I had in mind to start things out spiraled into a lot of research about timekeeping devices of the past. Writing the little riddle hints was also a joy. I like adding language aspects like that, because it’s an excellent medium for a text adventure. I’m hoping to keep writing more in this vein.

WatchmanDownload