Prompt 5: Describe the mechanic of clicking.
The mechanic of clicking in this game is probably the most subtle yet most important aspect of this game. It’s very easy to get lost in the soothing, calming introduction the game gives you, with sweet sounds and some more alarming ones like ambulance sirens. The visuals in this game grab the player’s attention far more effectively than the link does. Given all these different sensory aspects of the game, it’s not hard to overlook the clicking mechanic. But why does it work so well?
Amidst all of the sensory stimuli, the link to the next passage isn’t obvious right away. The player is incentivized to “sit and stay a while” (to use a turn-of-phrase) at each passage, and absorb everything that each passage has to offer. None of this would be possible if the mechanic of clicking wasn’t so hidden in the background; the impact that the game has on the player would be unfairly cut short. And when I say ‘hidden in the background,’ I don’t mean that the links were hard to find. They were mostly short words or phrases and certainly stuck out well enough once the player wanted to advance to the next passage. But the fact that the player doesn’t notice the passage link immediately upon opening a new page is what makes this game so enjoyable. The mechanic of clicking is really the last thing the player wants to do, making each passage stick out in the player’s mind and making the narrative as a whole a lot more impactful.
(WC: 257)