Although Dylan and Axel are students from different courses, they have found each other in their mutual interest for telling interactive stories. Early September, they both started the minor Interactive Narrative Design, where they teamed up with two other students and created the interactive game Bezmarisk.
Axel: ‘What I find interesting about interactive stories, is that they can truly immerse someone in an experience or a world. The character’s actions become your actions. You decide how the story will progress and you are the one who discovers what’s going on. The story becomes a personal experience.’
Dylan explains how they approached this concept in their minor: “We got the task of making people more aware about big data. How exactly, was up to us. We created the fictional world of Bezmarisk, an old communist country. The player is put in the role of head of security and is tasked with securing the country and ensuring that all protests remain orderly. On the basis of multiple scenarios, you decide how to use big data for this. Will you act on the importance of personal privacy, or is security your main priority? In this way, players become part of the story and become more involved with this this kind of complex issues.”
About the minor itself, the designers are enthusiastic. Dylan: “I enjoyed working with students from various other professions. For instance, Axel is an illustrator and Tip more of a programmer. Therefore, we can learn a lot from each other.” Axel adds: “I found the minor very inspiring. It even changed my perspective on the future. For a long time, I was unsure about what I wanted to do after my studies. Become an animator? A cartoonist? After the minor I knew for sure: I wanted to work on games! It really was a eureka moment for me. This is what makes me happy and joyful!”
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