Set Me Free
I am Dalrath. High demon from the noble house of Seraxod. Lord of death.
Conqueror of the flames and prince of brimstone.
Set me free is an interactive fiction game made in Twine where the player embodies an evil demon who is trapped inside a notebook. Through the selection of dialogue options, the player must convince an annoying teenager, who is in possession of the notebook, to set him free.
Fact sheet:
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Genre: comedy
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Platform: PC
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Team: 1
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Development: 3 months
Synopsis:
A thousand years is a long time to be locked away inside a notebook. Even more so for an impatient demon with a superiority complex who was cursed for all eternity.
But maybe forever is not on your cards.
A teenage girl could be your salvation.
If only you can convince her to set you free.
Characters:
The only two characters in the game are Dalrath and Megan. Dalrath is a powerful demon lord who once ruled over humanity, but got too greedy and was betrayed by a witch. His existence is bound to a notebook now. He has been trapped for the last 1000 years and dreams of vengeance and returning to his former role of conqueror.
Megan is a 13 year old girl from Florida who found the notebook on sale and like most things in her life, decided to get in on a whim. She is now holding humanity’s fate in her hands.
Download:
https://victoria-grunberg.itch.io/set-me-free
Goal: Creating a simple and funny game with three different endings based on the player’s choices, where I could display my skills in narrative design and game writing, while also working on improving on a previously unexplored area for me, which is art.
Narrative and design process:
In preparation for making this game, I explored many different types of interactive fiction games that were made using Twine, and I found that most involve a lot of descriptive text and little interaction from the player.
For my project, my intention was to try to find ways where the player would feel more involved in the story, while keeping the design simple but original. For this reason I chose to create the game around the idea of a magical notebook that allows conversations between two characters. This led me to make a very simple background that looks like a notebook page with funny doodles that speak of the silly personality of the owner. Each line of dialogue from Dalrath cannot be revealed unless the player clicks on an arrow, while the dialogues from Megan appear in consequence to the choices taken.
One aspect that was challenging during the development was the fact that I decided not to use descriptive text to explain situations, and the game’s progression relies almost completely on dialogue. Since I needed the player to be able to easily identify which character is speaking, this led me to focus on working out the specific character voices, such as words they would use or the tone they would speak in.
I also decided to use two different fonts to specify who is speaking. These were carefully chosen to display different handwritings that go with the character’s unique personalities. Megan’s font is a bit more delicate and childish, while Dalrath's looks more messy, and hurried which speaks to his impatience.
I have been trapped in this prison made of paper for thousands of years. I merely wish to be freed.