Slouching From Bedlam

Slouching Toward Bedlam I didn't much enjoy in the beginning. I couldn't figure out to do except the basic Inventory, Examine everything, and take anything I can. I walked around after that. Talked to James and the cab driver and walked some more just exploring the institution, I guess. In this game, I concluded that the doctor was going crazy also, but didn't want to tell anyone. The longlines of pushed together text, I also realized, was not a glitch in the game, but the episodes the doctor goes through.

I reached another room across the walkway and was able to put the rod key into some panel, sending the doctor on another trip and the room moving so that the exit is now North. I decided, what the hell, let's go N then. I came out in the Panopticon.

I must say I was excited because I just read an article for a difficulty paper in Dr. Arnzen's Honors Seminar in Thinking and Writing class on the Panopticon just recently. So I may have an understanding of how this game will be structured. A central tower watches and links to the cells or rooms of each prisoner/patient. That way all can be seen by the administration, but its structured in such a way that the patients can't see the admin. I have an idea now why the doctor may feel like he is going crazy because the Panopticon structure creates stress and a feeling of constantly observed can create paranoia.

So I contined the game for the rest of the hour, exploring the rooms and looking for something to do. After many of the rooms, letting me down I found one that had a shrill sound coming from the pipes and it got scary for a second (finally). But, I couldn't figure out what to do with the pipe so I just kept examining it. There was a cricket somewhere and so after nearly 20 minutes being in the same room, I tried to leave but no other rooms had anything useful. I tried going back to the place I'd come from and couldn't do that either.

I, then, looked for a walkthrough and realized that we chose the story with five different endings. Struggle as I might, I could not find the proper walkthrough (although I did find I could kill James) and I ended up Slouching Away From Bedlam when my hour was up.

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