Storytelling in BABBDI
BABBDI is a first person walking simulation that will leave you with more questions than when you started. The fun comes from the discovery of information and the narrative that unfolds following said discovery. Upon starting the game, you are given zero context about where you are, why you are there, how you got there or even who you are. As a player, all you know is that you need to walk to seek more information and find a way out of the mysterious, abandoned concrete jungle that you spawned in. To walk is to explore and in a game like this, the mechanic of exploring is essential to beating it. As you explore BABBDI, not only do you collect useful artifacts, but you also collect information. The very few (and odd) people of BABBDI are helpful in providing you with context of the place you are trying to make sense of. With that being said, some of the conversations I had within the game made me more confused, like the conversation I had with the character that only spoke spanish. While certain characters and parts of the map led me to have more questions, my mental model of the world expanded. The more I walked and the more I talked, the more I found myself creating my own explanations for why BABBDI is the way it is. I think BABBDI is purposely vague so that the players are forced to explore. When players explore and eventually beat the game without finding explicit answers, it doesn’t matter because at that point, they have acquired enough information about the world to create their own story. The moment I knew that the point of this game was to explore was when I learned that the way to escape was connected to one of the very first people I interacted with: the man with the sick wife. That person was part of my way out, but the game didn’t let me know that until the end. That’s how games like this get you to explore the game even if it means acquiring information that’s “useless” or exploring parts that “don’t matter”. It’s almost like you are not allowed to get the easy way out without having the city of BABBDI make you go insane like the rest of its citizens.
To continue, BABBDI also tells the story by carefully crafting the mood and atmosphere of the city. After exploring for 20 minutes and not making any progress, I felt like I was losing my mind. The ominous music and long stretches of nothing kept me on edge the whole time. The music and lifeless settings are key to reproducing what it is like to feel lonely and lost. At some points, it felt like I was walking without a purpose even though, as a player, I knew that walking is the only way I’ll escape. I think I felt that way because there was no indication that I was making any progress (aside from the “saving” animation that would come up when I reached a new location). Those feelings of lonesomeness is what made running into other characters so rewarding and relieving. I began to see characters as progress and keys to learning more about how to escape. People, music, and items play huge roles in telling the story of such an odd city.
