| Photopia | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Adam Cadre |
| Publisher(s) | Self published |
| Designer(s) | Adam Cadre |
| Engine | Z-machine |
| Platform(s) | Z-machine |
| Release date(s) | 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive Fiction, Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Media/distribution | download |
Photopia is a piece of literature by Adam Cadre rendered in the form of interactive fiction, and written in Inform. It is regarded as a pioneer in narrative-driven, rather than puzzle- or challenge-driven, interactive fiction. It won first place in the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition.
Emily Short has described the game as "hugely influential" and "ground-breaking." [1]
Photopia has few puzzles and a linear structure,[2] allowing the player no way to alter the eventual conclusion but maintaining the illusion of non-linearity. This gives weight to some of the story's motifs—questions of free will and determinism.
Adam Cadre has stated that Photopia was heavily influenced by The Sweet Hereafter, a film that prominently features a babysitter and a bus crash.
He submitted Photopia to the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition pseudonymously. He felt that his previous game I-0 would inspire certain expectations in players, since in that game the player character is a young college student who could be instructed to undress. Years later, he dropped the pretense that there was a real "Opal O'Donnell" who had submitted Photopia for him: "it started to bother me that v1.0 of the Phaq had lies in it."[1]