Slouching Toward Bedlam was an interesting experience for me. I previously chose to use this IF game for an earlier excercise in the class so this wasn't my first experience with it. However, I really struggled with working my way through the game because I hit a wall. No, I literally hit a wall.
I wasn't able to get past the initial scanning of the rooms. I tried to take things like the phonograph machine. I tried to examine things like the computer console in the circular room and the archives, james and his desk, the outsdie courtyard, etc. However I wasn't able to find any logical "next step" in the game. So I went to the blogs and saw that Aja had found a "rod key" somewhere to which she opened Panopticon. So I went on the search for the rod key but wasn't able to find it. I then read Dena's blog and heard there was a time machine. A TIME MACHINE. I like this story even more. But I couldn't find it. I spent over an hour trying things, searching things, and also trying to figure out the plot of the story and why my character seemed ill. But I wasn't able to get to anywhere logical and hope that the class discussion will put some closure on the game for me.
So, I decided to take every action I could. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I killed James. Yes, innocent James. I did this before on my first experience with the game but decided that it was my last and did it again. James dropped and "the cold creeped in" so I searched for the next person in the game. My frustration was mounting and someone had to pay for it! So went out to the courtyard and killed the cab driver. I strangled him but it wasn't until he turned down a dark alley somewhere in the city. "The cold" began to spread, as the literature said. As did the cold, so did my anger for the game. No where to turn. I was in a dark alley, just me, the cab, and the horse. The cab blocked the alley north, and there were walls I could not pass in all three other directions. So I was stuck. Now I couldn't even get back to the hospital. So, take a guess at what I did next. Kill the horse! So I killed him and that's where the game ended for me. It said I was put on trial for murders and found guilty and admitted to the hospital in which I started. I'd like to hear how the game was supposed to be played because I didn't get very far on my own.
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