Before this course, I had a fairly narrow idea of what video games are. I am only willing to enroll on the condition thatI can make analog games. More specifically, despite my awareness of interactive fiction, I assumed that the role of interactive fiction was to aim to replicate the experiences of big budget games on a smaller budget. I imagined branching stories where choices dramatically changed what happened next and where the primary fun came from challenge, identifying the optimal outcome. The readings and the process of building “Expect the Unexpected” began to shift that understanding. Rather than creating a high-stakes survival challenge, I wanted the experience to feel warm, funny, reflective, and somewhat like a “Choose Your Own Adventure”.
Despite the established practice in the genre to make the player’s choices consequential, I chose to include inconsequential choices. Many parenting decisions (such as sleeping or feeding) were intentionally inconsequential because I did not want the game to imply that there was one “correct” way to parent. Other choices about supporting families had consequences that could unlock photos for a digital baby book and appear in an end-of-game summary. The result was a largely linear story with small branches. The fun therefore came less from challenge and more from discovery, and reflection (two things I believe are central to learning). Players could imagine what they would do, laugh at familiar parenting situations, and occasionally discover how an earlier choice affected something later. The photos, timeline, sounds, and personalized details helped make the experience feel more like following a family than completing a quiz.
Watching other people play was probably the most valuable part of the process. Players paused to debate choices, laughed at scenarios, discussed their own experiences, and reflected aloud on systemic challenges facing parents. No one complained about it being boring, despite my internal fears that asking people to play my game would be an imposition.
I am starting to honestly believe that interactive fiction does not need enormous branching trees to create meaningful interaction. Choices can prompt reflection even when they do not fundamentally alter the plot. I am still working on believing that video games can be this way more broadly. Going forward, I want to keep making games that reflect my own interests rather than assuming that games must center competition, survival, or conventional gamer aesthetics. This project made me much more confident that small, personal games can still create meaningful play.
