Sam's Dilemma

This Interactive Fiction was the first project for my graduate course, The Computer as an  Expressive Media. We were asked to create an interactive narrative using critical making practices.  I chose to critically asses the article, "What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right." 

I altered the story to focus on a single-parent family, where the mother is extremely limited by time and funds to help her kids. While she understands her son,  Sam, is experiencing depression due to a traumatic incident at school, she is limited in her abilities to help.  Further, I wanted to show how people think and feel about situations versus what they say and do in reality.

The game begins from the mother's perspective. The player can choose  how to help Sam, and what to say to Sam. The player's actions impact the mother's bank account and emotional energy, which affects what is possible in the future.

Towards the end of the game, the perspective changes to Sam. Sam remembers past events and retaliates according to his anger level.