The Road Beyond the Village

(Platform: Arcweave)

Figure 1: A screenshot of the first page of the game.

1. Link to My Game in Progress

Playable game: Link

The Road Beyond the Village is an interactive fiction game about Niran, a 16-year-old student in rural Thailand who wants to pursue design education. When he gets a chance to meet a visiting designer in Northbridge, he has to decide how to balance this opportunity with his limited money, family responsibilities, and promise to help his friend Mali.

I was inspired by my experiences in Thailand, where students’ opportunities are not always determined by how motivated they are. Money, transportation, family expectations, and other responsibilities can also affect the choices available to them. I want players to experience some of these challenges through Niran’s decisions rather than simply read about them.

Playtesting and Changes

I playtested the game with three people outside class on October 24–25. Two reached an ending where Niran boarded the bus, while one reached a different ending or was unsure which ending they had reached.

Figure 2: The fourth playtest (in class).

Figure 3: The fifth playtest (external playtest).

Figure 4: The sixth playtest (external playtest).

The feedback helped me see several problems I had not fully noticed while developing the game.

• Pacing: Two players felt that clicking through many short dialogue sections became tiring. One preferred reading longer conversations and clicking when there was an actual choice to make.
• Story clarity: Two players had trouble understanding the family history involving Niran’s mom and uncle. One also felt that the transition from Mali’s storyline to the family mystery was too sudden.
• Timeline: The different timestamps and deadlines confused some players. One thought the repeated times might be clues to a mystery instead of information about Niran’s schedule.
• Visuals: Some illustrations did not match the dialogue or situation, making it harder to follow what was happening.
• Navigation: Players wanted a way to review earlier events without restarting the game or undoing their choices.
• Emotional impact: One player said they did not feel a particularly strong emotion while playing, partly because they were confused about the story.

Based on this feedback, I reduced the original 198 short dialogue elements to 93 longer, more continuous narrative elements. I kept the main decision points and endings but tried to make the reading experience less fragmented. I also clarified why Northbridge matters, the relationship between Niran’s mom and uncle, and the role of the bus-booking clerk. I simplified some timestamps and worked on making the transitions between scenes easier to follow.

Another change was adding ten optional “Review story so far” checkpoints. I wanted players to have a way to remember important events without having to start over. These checkpoints let players revisit earlier information and return to their decisions without changing the choices they have already made. I successfully imported this version into Arcweave.

Figure 5: A screenshot of the “Review story so far” checkpoints.

Figure 6: A screenshot of the “Review story so far” checkpoints.

I am still working on the illustrations. I want the characters and settings to feel consistent with the story, especially the Thai school and village environment. The images should help players understand who is speaking, where events are happening, and how different choices affect the story, rather than just make the game look more interesting.

One thing I am thinking about is how to make the choices feel meaningful. I do not want players to simply be told that Niran has a difficult life. I want them to experience the tension between pursuing an opportunity, helping a friend, and meeting family responsibilities. This also connects to Ian Bogost’s idea of procedural rhetoric: the choices and constraints built into a game can communicate an idea through the player’s experience.

My biggest concern is finding the right balance between making the story clear and giving it enough emotional depth. I want players to understand the pressures Niran faces, but I also want them to make their own judgments about his decisions. I do not want the game to suggest that there is only one right choice or one morally correct ending.