Posted March 26, 2021 by Haley Price
Over Spring Break, I was able to finish the first draft for Level 5, which centers directly on the Pazzi Conspiracy. In some way this was the easiest chapter to write. After writing four levels, I had an easier time mapping out the structure in Twine then filling in the story beat by beat. The event of the murder/coup is very complicated, but I have spent more time studying it than patronage of arts or humanism, so this made it easier as well. I was able to focus on the conspiracy as the sole learning objective, so the level feels especially focused to me.
I always knew this level would be very heavy with the illusion of choice. I never wanted the player to be able to change or prevent the conspiracy, but they are lead on the entire game as if they do have this power. I decided to give them lots of options I warn the Medici. They would fail each time, but I hoped the sheer number of options and opportunities would give them false hope.
The game is almost entirely dependent on the narrative as the gameplay, but I try in most levels to insert one element of real gameplay. For level one, it's a basic fetch mission for Giuliano de' Medici, Angelo Poliziano, and Marsilio Ficino. For level 2, it's the scavenger hunt for the Medici inside the Gozzoli fresco. Level 3 has the humanist competition where the player gets to judge, which is a little less engaging I think, but it's better than level 4 where the narrative completely butts out any opportunity for gameplay. Level 5 is a bit of a reclamation of the fact that this is a video game. Video games need to give players goals and stakes. A very common way to do that in narrative-driven point and click adventures like this one is to limit their number of actions, and therefore give them a time limit. This still allows players time to think of how best to use their time (which is great for students because we always want to encourage critical thinking!), but it also lets them know they could very likely fail to reach their objective of saving the Medici before time runs out. None of my other levels let the player fail.