Ever Persistent

Short choose your own adventure-esque game. There are multiple endings and multiple paths. 900 dogs reside in Chernobyl after the accident in 1986. Radiation surges throughout the area even years later, with new flora sprouting. Wildlife is persistent after all. Especially the dogs. You happen to be 1 of the 900. The radiation has gotten to some of the things that reside there. It causes mutations, especially closer to the center of the accident. You are born into this world and you crave freedom. You journey throughout the exclusion zone of Chernobyl. WIll you find a way out or are you cursed from the land you were born in. Do you deserve what’s coming to you? Or is it fate and there’s no stopping what will happen.  

Reflection:

I wanted the player to feel trapped and sad towards the character they play as. To really think about how they want to play. I want them to get attached and have a feeling of sadness when the dog receives the same fate no matter what. I wanted them to pursue getting the dog to freedom and keeping the dog's spirit.  based on the empathy the player shows when interacting with another dog, More consequences for not being empathic. Because during the playthrough I was surprised when people would pick the aggressive/selfish routes first. So I added alternatives to routes already in the game that changed slightly based on past experiences. I.E. Some paths change literally by a sentence or even going to places before the others lead to a different route. I  enjoyed writing this a lot and I like how much time I was able to spend on it and I liked being able to show people in playtests my game and seeing there reactions. I enjoyed the art for it too, though fo rthe final draft I don't think the pictures will upload.