In my first draft of this article I criticized Judith as I would have done in a fiction workshop. Don’t obfuscate details. Consider Powell’s gosling rule. With two perspectives, one may lose a permanent, emotional connection to either protagonist. I consider the above as compliments. My natural inclinations were to judge this game as I would have judged a written, static work of fiction. With time to think, I’ve decided this isn’t quite the best path.
Judith caught my eye because of what it does with a narrative. Yes, most all games have stories of some sort. A few original. Many derivative. Most, particularly adventure ones, stem from the monomyth, which seemingly pervades world cultures. Where I credit Judith is with its inversion of what I consider present, accepted developmental paradigm. For AAA games, latest tech drives its development. In a sense, tech is the kernel, leaving story, character development, empathy, things of this sort as peripherals. With Judith I sense story as the core. Its authors have molded the medium of interactivity to fit a narrative they wish to present.
I like Judith’s direction. I like the creative vision. The game is a simple first-person adventure. Cursor keys move your protagonist (who changes periodically). Space bar interacts.
It’s a mystery of sorts, though you don’t really solve much of anything, just experience the story as it unfolds. By no means is that inherently bad. I played through four runs. A single run shouldn’t take more than five or so minutes. One of my favorite short stories is Raymond Carver’s “Why Don’t You Dance.” I’ve read it twenty or so times. If a story is good enough, it warrants a second visit.
By no means is Judith’s story literary. I feel rather silly mentioning it in the same sentence as Carver. But I sense that Terry and Stephen have worked towards something authentic. Something very palpable. Judith leaves its consumer with a distinct, lasting impression. I’ve yet to experience Terry or Stephen’s other projects, but Judith is a warm invite to their portfolios.
I am more impressed with the possibilities of complicated, developed narratives married to player control. I happily sacrifice control when the authorial hand is confident and when that hand delivers a rewarding story. Narrative and interactivity seems to me a balance between the creator delivering his story and the player exercising enough freedom to not simply pick a book for the same level of engagement. Malcolm Ryan lectures on Narrative AI, which is tangent to this article, but interesting nonetheless. Malcolm lists several observations that one intuits from a single line of Peter Rabbit. It’s these complexities that make reading rewarding and allow works to stand on their own merit through time. Remember, folks, narrative is not simply the series of events that unfold in presented order. It’s also the experience of being human and empathizing with a character — regardless of his circumstances — and allowing the reader to do so in an elegant and meaningful manner.
