H O U S T O N

description

HOUSTON is a hidden-object, game-like interactive zine about one person's journey from Houston to Austin on a midnight taxi road trip with 3 complete strangers. Collect the letters that spell out your destination, and read between the lines.

[NEW] Downloading this game is now based on a PWYC model (set at a $1 minimum), which includes access to the educational one-page zine I made when I exhibited this game at the Open World Arcade at the Akron Art Museum in December 2019. "Design Your Own Personal Game" is a one-page zine, written for younger teens/older kids (but can be appreciated by older game design students as well!), that briefly covers what a personal game is and why Twine is a particularly good choice for developing personal games.

content warnings 

crude language and references to sexuality, references to anxiety/panic attacks/depression

how to play

1. download the game, unzip the folder, and run index.html in Google Chrome (may not work as intended in other browsers)
2. hover on areas of the images to see different hidden messages. some areas can be clicked on in order to advance to the next screen
3. collect all the letters you need to advance to your destination! 

music 

"the seas are rising, are we?" by willow

(full-length detailed, some spoilers) description

I made HOUSTON as a nostalgic memoir of the one time my connecting flight from Houston to Austin got cancelled, and I ended up on a magical, unexpected midnight taxi road trip with 3 fellow disgruntled passengers (and complete strangers) from that flight. HOUSTON uses a "hidden-object" game mechanic, via image hotspot maps and tooltips, to document the narrative of an emotional rollercoaster that unfolded before, during, and after this road trip, in the context of the entire trip itself (which was already an emotionally charged experience for different reasons).

Additionally, depending on 1 of 2 possible endings, the game is not allowed to be replayed in the same browser, emphasizing a narrative of being focused in the present moment.