''Rat Chaos'' is a

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 available via Winter Lake's website ''monster killers''. The game disappeared for a number of years with copies only available on saved hard drives. ''

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

'' contributor Robert Yang made it available again on his personal website.

Plot

A spaceship captain chooses between going about their daily routine or "unleashing rat chaos."

Reception

In 2012, '' IndieGames.com''s Konstantinos Dimopoulos described ''Rat Chaos'' as "weird, sports a really odd use of the English language, will make you both laugh and wonder, features some interesting drawings and was created with Twine." ''Free Indie Games''s Porpentine said it was "the funniest Twine game I’ve ever played, and the most human."

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 ...

(IF) writer

Emily Short Emily Short is an interactive fiction (IF) writer. She is perhaps best known for her debut game ''Galatea'' and her use of psychologically complex non-player characters (NPCs). Short has been called "a visionary in the world of text-based game ...

critiqued it as "a very short Twine piece" 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 ..explores the idea of surface agency as a distraction." In 2013, ''Rat Chaos'' character New Rat City won the XYZZY Award for Best Individual NPC in

. Jenni Polodna reviewed the character: "New Rat City is a personal statement. New Rat City is a tuning fork for all of our weird-kid mitochondria, which, if you squint, might or might not be covered in little rat faces trying to look normal. This might or might not be how you were able to unleash all that rat chaos." ''Comics & Gaming Magazine''s Reid McCarter called it "a surrealist adventure." In 2015, '' Gamasutra'' published a preview excerpt chapter, "''Rat Chaos'' by Winter Lake", from the

Merritt k merritt k, formerly Merritt Kopas, is a Canadian video game designer and video game developer, developer, as well as an author and a zine creator. k is best known for her games ''LIM'', ''HUGPUNX'', and ''Consensual Torture Simulator''. She sai ...

-edited book ''Videogames for Humans''. In ''Videogames for Humans'', ''Rat Chaos'' was praised by one contributor: "I couldn’t have asked for a better or more meaningful or more personally resonant piece to introduce me to Twine than Winter Lake’s ''Rat Chaos''." In 2016, ''

'' staff ranked it 47th on their list "The 50 Best Free Games On PC" saying " t'sas odd as a Twine game can get and just as funny, playing with language and mistyping in a way that evokes the weirdest of Weird Twitter."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rat Chaos 2010s interactive fiction 2012 video games Art games Browser games Internet properties established in 2012 Metafictional video games Science fiction video games Twine games Video games about mice and rats Video games developed in the United States Video games set in outer space Video games set on fictional planets