''Photopia'' is a piece of literature by Adam Cadre rendered in the form of

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

, and written in Inform. It has received both praise and criticism for its heavy focus on fiction rather than on interactivity. It won first place in the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition. ''Photopia'' has few puzzles and a linear structure, allowing the player no way to alter the eventual conclusion but maintaining the illusion of non-linearity.

Development

Adam Cadre has stated that ''Photopia'' was heavily influenced by '' The Sweet Hereafter'', a film that prominently features a babysitter and a bus crash. He submitted ''Photopia'' to the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition pseudonymously. He felt that his previous game '' I-0'' would inspire certain expectations in players, since in that game the playable character is a young college student who could be instructed to undress. Years later, he dropped the pretense that there was a real "Opal O'Donnell" who had submitted Photopia for him, stating: "it started to bother me that v1.0 of the Phaq had lies in it."

Reception

At the 1998 XYZZY Awards, the game won in the Best Writing and

Best Story Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

categories, and was nominated for Best Game, Best NPCs, Best Individual Puzzle, Best Individual NPC, and Best Use of Medium. In 1999, XYZZYnews gave the game a positive review, calling it an "amazing piece of work". In 2007, Emily Short described the game as "hugely influential" and "ground-breaking." In 2012, while reviewing Winter Lake's ''

Rat Chaos ''Rat Chaos'' is a 2012 stream of consciousness art and browser game created by Winter Lake. Development While learning the software Twine, author Winter Lake made the game "in a couple hours" on July 18, 2012. Originally, the game was availab ...

'', Short

hyperlink In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text wit ...

ed ''Photopia'' as a game that "plays with

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

not in the usual ways ..discovering you have none." In 2015, the game won first place in the Interactive Fiction Database's "Interactive Fiction Top 50 of all time" contest.

References

External links

Author's websitePhotopia's entry in the Interactive Fiction Database
notes awards that the game has won, links to reviews, and provides links to the game itself. *{{moby game, id=/photopia, name=''Photopia'' 1998 video games 1990s interactive fiction Video games developed in the United States