RetroCON 2021 is a choice-based work by Sir Slice that was entered into IFcomp 2021.
The blurb for this entry encapsulates its entire story: the player
is at a retro gaming convention in Las Vegas. Although the convention lasts for
2 “days,” you have as much time as you want to explore everything.
This entry has pulled off some feats of programming
that are far beyond my own Twine capabilities. You can play 3 different games
at the convention and gamble on 4 different games in the casino. Each of the 7
options presents a mini-game in its own right, including one that is a functional parser
experience.
RetroCON 2021 was a little disorienting — the
over-arching message of IFcomp is “come and enjoy this group of games,” so it
gets weird and recursive to find the same message inside an IFcomp entry.
It reminds me of Jeff Goldblum’s line from Jurassic Park.
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should. pic.twitter.com/Wo51vZTMgb
— Tom Campbell (@TomCampbell) February 22, 2020
RetroCon 2021 works as a proof of concept, but I would have enjoyed a narrative arc that offered more than arriving at a location and leaving when I got bored.
To be fair, engaging narratives are difficult to implement! Especially when you’re making a game about playing other games. It took a lot of work to build RetroCon2021, and that deserves to be recognized.
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