31 Plays in 31 Days 2025, #4 - “New Game”
Aug. 4th, 2025 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11This is the opening scene of an idea for a new piece, that came out of a conversation about doing something that could be shot fairly easily, rather than our typical elaborate period piece works. It’s a horror piece called Lacuna, about two friends who get into a strange new video game that brings out parts of them they’re not ready to confront. I’m interested in horror but haven’t written much of it, so that would be an interesting direction to attempt. And I’ve never written anything about technology particularly, which makes for a real stretch for me.
I haven’t thought this story out very deeply— right now I’m just kind of making up shit as I go along —but it’s the perfect sort of project for 31P31D, since I just need to draft and am specifically choosing not to figure it out in a structured outline beforehand. We’ll see where it goes.
Day #4 - “New Game”
From Lacuna
By Phoebe Roberts
AMY WEI, a game journalist
TWIST, real name Davis Allister-Dolan, game designer and creator of Lacuna
CHEMICAL GOTHIC, real name Joan Kirby, a gamer
PASCALESBUST, real name Michael Lister, a gamer and her friend
On the Internet, the present day
~~~
(A live Youtube video begins to play. Interviewer AMY WEI appears looking into the camera beside her interviewee TWIST.)
AMY: Hey, gamers, welcome back to Motherboard, your source for tech and gaming news! I’m Amy Wei, and I’m here with the man of the hour, Davis Allister-Dolan, lead designer at Twist Media and the creator of Lacuna, the newest interactive experience that everyone is buzzing about. Davis, thanks so much for chatting with us.
TWIST: Happy to be here! And please, call me Twist.
AMY: Okay— Twist! How does it feel to break the record for preorders for an indie game?
TWIST: Like the triple-A titles better watch their backs.
AMY: Well, with the numbers still climbing, you might just get there! So, everybody knows you got famous for the Bone Collector series, which is known for its combination of action and puzzle solving. But word is that Lacuna goes in a really different direction.
TWIST: That’s for sure. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever really been a game like it.
AMY: Really! What makes it so unique?
TWIST: Well, I don’t know if I can accurately describe it. Really it’s all about the experience.
AMY: You can’t even give us a hint?
TWIST: Well… what the game’s like for you isn’t going to be the same for the guy sitting next to you. I wanted it to really respond to each player individually, so… you get out what you put into it.
AMY: Wow! Sound intriguing.
TWIST: Guess you’re going to have to get your preorder in!
(He spikes the camera lens, as if challenging the viewer. The video minimizes to reveal two friends, CHEMICAL GOTHIC and PASCALESBUST, video chatting on Discord.)
CHEM: Oh, damn. He dropped it. He finally dropped it.
PASCALE: Who’s dropped what?
CHEM: Twist. He’s back with something new.
PASCALE: Aw, screw that guy. He hasn’t been relevant in years.
CHEM: I thought you played all the Bone Collectors.
PASCALE: Yeah, that’s how I know the last few were garbage. It devolved into fetch quests and time wasting because he didn’t have anything left to say.
CHEM: Well, looks like this time he’s gone in a really different direction.
PASCALE: Bone Collector 12: Electric Boogaloo?
CHEM: No, it’s not even the same genre. He calls it… “a dynamic exploration of extraordinary circumstance...”
PASCALE: …so, every game in existence…
CHEM: “…that will challenge the player in ways that will introduce them to their true selves.”
PASCALE: Damn, does it come with ayahuasca, or do you have to supply that yourself?
CHEM: I would have thought you’d be happy he was trying something a little more substantial.
PASCALE: Just more pretentious shit. Dude is just trying to reinvent himself as an artiste to get his legitimacy back after disappearing for a few years.
CHEM: Yeah, what happened to him, anyway?
PASCALE: Don’t know. After the last Bone Collector bombed, seems like he flamed out and dropped off the map. Probably went on some vision quest to off to find himself— he definitely had the money for it.
CHEM: And you aren’t the least bit curious after all that?
PASCALE: Nah, I don’t care. I got a backlog that’ll last me until next year.
CHEM: Well, I’m going to check it out.
PASCALE: Okay, have fun.
CHEM: If it’s good, maybe I’ll send you a copy for your birthday.
PASCALE: Yeah, like I need more walking simulators cluttering up my Steam library.
CHEM: It doesn’t sound like a walking simulator.
PASCALE: It sounds like bullshit. But you don’t seem to think that’s what it is either.
CHEM: For now, I’m keeping an open mind. I’ll let you know what I think.
PASCALE: I shall wait with bated breath. Catch you later, I’ve got some debugging to do and I’m on deadline.
CHEM: Bye for now.
(PASCALE signs off.)
I haven’t thought this story out very deeply— right now I’m just kind of making up shit as I go along —but it’s the perfect sort of project for 31P31D, since I just need to draft and am specifically choosing not to figure it out in a structured outline beforehand. We’ll see where it goes.
Day #4 - “New Game”
From Lacuna
By Phoebe Roberts
AMY WEI, a game journalist
TWIST, real name Davis Allister-Dolan, game designer and creator of Lacuna
CHEMICAL GOTHIC, real name Joan Kirby, a gamer
PASCALESBUST, real name Michael Lister, a gamer and her friend
On the Internet, the present day
~~~
(A live Youtube video begins to play. Interviewer AMY WEI appears looking into the camera beside her interviewee TWIST.)
AMY: Hey, gamers, welcome back to Motherboard, your source for tech and gaming news! I’m Amy Wei, and I’m here with the man of the hour, Davis Allister-Dolan, lead designer at Twist Media and the creator of Lacuna, the newest interactive experience that everyone is buzzing about. Davis, thanks so much for chatting with us.
TWIST: Happy to be here! And please, call me Twist.
AMY: Okay— Twist! How does it feel to break the record for preorders for an indie game?
TWIST: Like the triple-A titles better watch their backs.
AMY: Well, with the numbers still climbing, you might just get there! So, everybody knows you got famous for the Bone Collector series, which is known for its combination of action and puzzle solving. But word is that Lacuna goes in a really different direction.
TWIST: That’s for sure. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever really been a game like it.
AMY: Really! What makes it so unique?
TWIST: Well, I don’t know if I can accurately describe it. Really it’s all about the experience.
AMY: You can’t even give us a hint?
TWIST: Well… what the game’s like for you isn’t going to be the same for the guy sitting next to you. I wanted it to really respond to each player individually, so… you get out what you put into it.
AMY: Wow! Sound intriguing.
TWIST: Guess you’re going to have to get your preorder in!
(He spikes the camera lens, as if challenging the viewer. The video minimizes to reveal two friends, CHEMICAL GOTHIC and PASCALESBUST, video chatting on Discord.)
CHEM: Oh, damn. He dropped it. He finally dropped it.
PASCALE: Who’s dropped what?
CHEM: Twist. He’s back with something new.
PASCALE: Aw, screw that guy. He hasn’t been relevant in years.
CHEM: I thought you played all the Bone Collectors.
PASCALE: Yeah, that’s how I know the last few were garbage. It devolved into fetch quests and time wasting because he didn’t have anything left to say.
CHEM: Well, looks like this time he’s gone in a really different direction.
PASCALE: Bone Collector 12: Electric Boogaloo?
CHEM: No, it’s not even the same genre. He calls it… “a dynamic exploration of extraordinary circumstance...”
PASCALE: …so, every game in existence…
CHEM: “…that will challenge the player in ways that will introduce them to their true selves.”
PASCALE: Damn, does it come with ayahuasca, or do you have to supply that yourself?
CHEM: I would have thought you’d be happy he was trying something a little more substantial.
PASCALE: Just more pretentious shit. Dude is just trying to reinvent himself as an artiste to get his legitimacy back after disappearing for a few years.
CHEM: Yeah, what happened to him, anyway?
PASCALE: Don’t know. After the last Bone Collector bombed, seems like he flamed out and dropped off the map. Probably went on some vision quest to off to find himself— he definitely had the money for it.
CHEM: And you aren’t the least bit curious after all that?
PASCALE: Nah, I don’t care. I got a backlog that’ll last me until next year.
CHEM: Well, I’m going to check it out.
PASCALE: Okay, have fun.
CHEM: If it’s good, maybe I’ll send you a copy for your birthday.
PASCALE: Yeah, like I need more walking simulators cluttering up my Steam library.
CHEM: It doesn’t sound like a walking simulator.
PASCALE: It sounds like bullshit. But you don’t seem to think that’s what it is either.
CHEM: For now, I’m keeping an open mind. I’ll let you know what I think.
PASCALE: I shall wait with bated breath. Catch you later, I’ve got some debugging to do and I’m on deadline.
CHEM: Bye for now.
(PASCALE signs off.)
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