Accelerate: IFcomp 2020

Accelerate is a choice-based multimedia project credited to The TAV Institute. 

This entry is set in a future dystopia (with many recognizable elements from the present day), and it puts a lot of work into creating a specific atmosphere. Some people might interpret this as attention to detail, and others might dismiss it as trying too hard. 

For me, the interesting question was whether the interactivity in Accelerate supports its story. Early chapters, which put the audience in the role of an addict trying to score drugs from a religiously affiliated medical clinic, set up a conflict that made it difficult to engage with the narrative. 

Open-minded curiosity will help readers explore this story, but that makes it difficult to act like an addict on the prowl. 

Assuming the role of a cynical addict will encourage the audience to remain distant from the religious propaganda, and that could mean rejecting the entire entry by quitting early. 

Indoctrination is difficult to implement in fiction. If you haven't created a bona-fide mind control program (in which case, why are you squandering it on IFcomp?), then it's easy to abuse a reader's patience while trying to show a change in perspective. 

During my time with Accelerate, the narrator completely embraced the cult, which was made apparent through repetition and heavy-handed metaphor. Others may have had different experiences, but this entry is large enough that I’m reluctant to attempt a new outcome.

This story is set in a future world where nations have already been remade by violent conflict, but political and economic actors are still engaging in familiar behavior that divides and controls the public. I’m interested in reading about someone who challenges this status quo — no brainwashing required! 

As interactive fiction, it was difficult for me to identify my place in this work. Accelerate is a story of assimilation with a movement that is led by an entity as controlling and destructive as the authority it seeks to overthrow. It might have functioned better with a more traditional narrative structure. 

You should try Accelerate. It sets a consistent mood, and it's quickly apparent whether this experience will appeal to you. 

I stuck with the story hoping that I would learn whether the religious movement was genuinely transformative or just a charismatic sociopath running a con. I found an ending that was open to interpretation.

Artwork from Donald Conrad: