Alter Ego (video game)

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Alter Ego
Developer(s)	Peter J. Favaro
Release date(s)	1986
Genre(s)	Life simulation game Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single Player
Platform(s)	Commodore 64, Apple II, DOS, Mac OS

Alter Ego is a personality computer game released by Activision in 1986. It was created by Peter J. Favaro, Ph.D., for the Commodore 64, PC (under DOS), Apple II, and the Macintosh. The game allows the user to make decisions for an imaginary person (being therefore the player's alter ego) and shows what possible consequences these decisions could have on that person. Alter Ego was available in both male and female versions, each using a different set of experiences.

The player's alter ego begins the game as an infant; the game presents the user with a tree diagram with nodes, each labeled with an icon. The player chooses an icon representing an "experience" or situation to explore. Each icons bears a symbol showing what kind of experience it represents (e.g., a heart denotes a romantic event). After making a choice in each node, the user is moved back to the tree with that node marked as completed. In this manner, the user can progress to the next experience, thus living through his or her alter ego's entire life and examining what impact their decisions had.

As with other role-playing games, Alter Ego keeps track of character statistics throughout the game, which in turn affect the alter ego's ability to succeed at certain choices. For example, in the high school segment, the player might be given the choice of trying out for the school baseball team, or deciding instead to crack down and study harder to improve in math. This decision might change the alter ego's "Physical", "Confidence", and "Intellectual" statistics, which in future experiences might influence the alter ego's ability to get into college or succeed in social situations.

The game was advertised as being based on actual psychological knowledge and experience. It was a novel concept, to some degree similar to The Sims (but while Alter Ego let the player experience his or her own personality, or the consequences of changing it, The Sims allows the player to observe and explore others'—hidden—personalities and interactions).