view . spring2016
17
BYJENNIFERAMMOSCATO
THEMEDIUM ISTHE
TERRIFYINGMESSAGE
UWINDSOR AUTHOR
Thedigital agehas transformed thepublishing industry
inaway that goes far beyond thedevices onwhich
people enjoy their reading. It’s rewritten thedefinitionof
storytelling itself.
While some authors still consider a book their preferredmedium,
others have embraced video games as theway to reach their
audience.
KaitlinTremblayBA ’10whomajored in creativewriting, is such
a proponent, andhas launchedher own “interactive fiction” video
game in2014,
LightsOut, Please.
“At their core,” she says, “fiction and games are doing the
same thing, just like films andfiction are doing the same thing:
telling a story.”
“Interactive fiction” is the termused for digital stories that
involve some element of user (i.e. reader or player) interaction.
Think of “choose your own adventure” books, where the reader
selects the choice theywant to see happen in the book.
“For digital interactive fiction,” saysTremblay, “the possibilities
for player choice are endless since they’re not confined towhat can
be printed in a naturally comprehensivemanner.”
LightsOut, Please
is text-based, focusedonwords rather than
graphics as the basis of the players’ experience. This requires far
more of the storyteller tomaintain the gamer’s attention. Careful
attentionmust not onlybe paid to the qualityof thosewords, but
the speedof their appearance, their font, colour, style andposition
on the screen.
“All of these aspects contribute to the overall atmosphere,”
saysTremblay.
LightsOut, Please
is an anthologyof short horror stories,
all retellings of traditional urban legends or ghost stories by
12diverse contributors. It touches on the themes of feminism and
mental health.
Tremblay explains that, “It’s focusedon retellingurban
legends and ghost stories to illustrate how the fear found inhorror
is a daily—almostmundane—fear formanywomen and
marginalized folks.”
Each author that contributeddiscussedhow they felt fear in their
own lives, whether this fearwas related to sexism, transmisogyny,
racism, or from suffering frommental illness.
She adds that, “Forme, horror has always been awayof talking
about really intense feelings and experiences in a distancedmanner.
Talking about hurt, and trauma, and eatingdisorders becomes easier
formewhen I put it at a distance andfilter it throughhorror. It lets
me control theway I experience pain and fear.”
LightsOut,Please
waswritten/built inanopen-sourceprogramcalled
Twine,which let creatorsbasicallybuilddistinct “passages”of text
connected throughhyperlinks.Theplayerscan“sew” thegame together
through the links theychoose.
Twine—asa tool andmedium—ispopularamongmarginalized
communities, saysTremblay, “because it’sanaccessibleway forpeople to
writeanddistributestories theywant to tell about theirownexperiences.
So, rather thanwait foramajorvideogamepublisher to tell stories from
marginalizedpeople, theycancreate itand tell it theirownway.”
LightsOut,Please
wasnominated forfiveawardsat the2014Canadian
VideoGameAwards, includingBestWritingandGameof theYear.
“The responsewaswonderful andoverwhelminglypositive,”shesays.
“Fromwhat Iheardandsawonline, a lotof indieand ‘alt’ (alternative)
gamemakersandplayersenjoyed
LightsOut,Please
.
Aftergraduating fromUWindsor,Tremblayaugmentedhereducation
withamaster’sdegree inEnglishandfilm, andapostgrad inpublishing.
Subsequently, sheworkedpart-time foramulti-mediaproduction
company, doingmarketingandpublic relations for thecompany’sfirst-
evervideogame,
PipeTrouble
.
Shebecame involvedwithaToronto-basedorganizationcalled
DamesMakingGames, a feminist collective forwomen interested in
making, playing, or talkingaboutgames.
Tremblay’sday job isasasenioreditorat InhabitMedia, achildren’s
publishinghouse inToronto. “It’saNunavut-ownedpublisherand focuses
onproducingbeautiful children’spicturebooks that focuson Inuit
traditionsandstories, aswell as life in theNorth.”
Shealsoworksasa freelanceeditorandhasabookof literary
speculativefictioncomingout in fall 2016,
ThoseWhoMakeUs:Canadian
Creature,Myth,andMonsterStories
, that she isco-editingwithKelsiMorris.
Shewritescritical featuresonvideogamesand feminism.
Tremblayplans tocreatemoregames. “Asof rightnow, I’ma tad
burntout.
LightsOut,Please
wasmy fourthmajorgame I’veputout.But
allmygames followasimilarvein: trying tocommunicatemyexperience
withcertain things thathavebeen toodifficult forme toprocess
otherwise.”
n
v
LightsOut, Please
canbe downloaded from
io/lights-out-please
. And, you canname your price.
Opposite: KaitlinTremblayBA ’10: “At their core, fictionand games are doing the same thing.”
