Passage

The game "Passage" focuses on a few key issues: life, death and the costs/benefits of marriage, all of which are packed into a banner-sized screen with very simple graphics and a time frame of only 5 minutes. When we began playing this in class, no instructions were given and we started fresh. With the landscape format, it seemed the player was only given the option to move forward. It was later discovered that the player could move up and down as well, however, the dimensions of the video screen speak to the argument the game is making to the story. Life moves on no matter how the player gets there - i.e. how far up and down the map they travel. As the player begins its journey it can be seen that the far right and left of the screen are blurry. The left being the compilation of the character's journey (past) which goes to show all of the memories the player has accumulated over the course of the game. The right to explain how the future is uncertain and constantly unfolding before us as we move on in life. Not long after beginning the game, although unknown to first time players, the character is given the choice of having a mate or continuing solo for the rest of the game. The mate gives our character a companion, but also hinders him from unlocking some of the treasures to be found because the two together are not capable of making it past certain obstacle patterns. If the player were to continue solo it would have the capability of accumulating more points and treasures, but would also be alone, drastically changing the emotional impact of the ending to the game. This is the issue of marriage brought forth in the game. Marriage may be a financial hindrance, but it brings along benefits as well. Either one the player chooses changes the story structure, an example of emergent narrative. All in all, life is the game, the decision of marriage is a means to move forward (changing the story itself), and death is the end.