The Corsham Witch Trial: IFcomp 2021

The Corsham Witch Trial is a choice-based story by JC Blair that was entered into IFcomp 2021.

The thing about The Corsham Witch Trial is that it contains no actual witches — and that’s fine, there weren’t any at the Salem Witch Trials, either. However, the blurb’s mention of a “worryingly urgent and irritatingly cryptic” request gets a bit confusing alongside IFcomp’s other stories of magic and supernatural horror.

The Corsham Witch Trial is a cleverly written courtroom drama. The author describes it as “a transparent attempt to enliven a disjointed and gimmick-laden manuscript with a few distracting interactive elements,” but I really enjoyed how this story was framed. Court transcripts and other documents are presented as .PDF files, and a workplace colleague asks questions about the evidence after it has been reviewed.

Every step of the Corsham Witch Trial works very hard to maintain an atmosphere of uncertainty. When the player analyzes the evidence to support a specific interpretation, their colleague explains how it can also support a different outcome.

Unfortunately, after a skillful buildup of tension and ambivalence, the entire exercise proves to be futile.

It doesn’t really matter what the player thinks, because the case was closed, the truth was discovered, and the newspapers reported the results. After such rigorously enforced neutrality, I was expecting a Broadchurch-style twist that might suggest alternative sequences of events. Instead, I got moralizing about doing the right thing even when it’s pointless.

The Corsham Witch Trial is well-executed fiction, but doesn't end up being very interactive. Other reviewers have made some good suggestions for improvements.