Darkness holds one of the primal fears of mankind. But why are we afraid of it? We are afraid, because something might be lurking in the utter blackness and when it is trying to harm us we will not see it coming. Since it easier for us to deal with the tangible than with the abstract, we tend to antropomorphise our feelings. And this leads to the birth of the bogeyman, our manifested anxieties. Especially children with their more vivid imagination combined with all their insecurities – born out of inexperience – are prone to conjuring them up. And since your fear can be turned against you, parents use it to make their children behave – as cruel as this might be. Yes fear is a powerful tool: Whomever you are afraid of has control over you. And this is one of the main themes of Bogeyman.
In May 2021, the winner of a small competition for self-created text adventures was voted. The PunyJam participants had the task of starting the game in a room called Broom Closet. The description of the room was also precisely specified. The rest of the game was left to the imagination and creativity of the author. This resulted in 8 different text adventures which were evaluated by a jury. The decision was very close. The difference between first place and second place was only a tenth of a point.
The House at the End of Rosewood Street is a game which has raised quite a few eyebrows with its players. It includes an interesting plot, it is stylistically well written, but it does not work as a game at all. I guess we agree this far?
Well, unless you have a very lose definition of what constitutes a 'game' and what is rather cumbersome work, I can fully agree with this. As with every work, something can come to fruition from it. However, the question to ask is, whether it is really worth it.
