As the glut of “best of 2013” content begins (guilty as charged), The Atlantic makes a bold statement by calling a video game the “most exciting literary innovation of the year.”
Created by Swedish studio Simogo, Device 6 is a word-based “metaphysical thriller” that can be played on the iPad and iPhone. The interactive novella, about a woman who wakes up on a desert island without a clue as to how she arrived there, mixes text with cartography, 3-D photographs, and Saul Bass”“inspired graphics. Available for $3.99 U.S., the game has sold well, despite the fact that a Simogo spokesperson says, “It’s got a pretty slow pace. It doesn’t have the instant gratification that many games have. This is something that you play and take your time to digest.”
Although The Atlantic interviews several publishing insiders excited about the potential of literary games, they’re still considered a “niche interest” in a market dominated by shoot-’em-up titles. Earlier this month, Q&Q interviewed Jim Munroe, board member of the game-arts organization the Hand Eye Society and organizer of Wordplay, a free “writerly” video-game festival, who says that text-based titles are “are rarely commercial and often distributed for free.”