For the first official Indie Revolution in which we actually talk about games, I’m going to be like Santa Claus and bring you one of the best indie games that I have ever played. It goes by the name of Masq and can be downloaded for free, here. Now, read on for more information.
Everyone likes to make choices. They add more immersion to whatever it may be you are doing, even reading a book. The “Choose Your Own Adventure” series were very popular because you weren’t bound to the constraints that the writer is putting on the reader. You are, in essence, the writer of the story and you’re making it up as you go along.
Video games seem like a natural progression for this type of thing, but never has it been pulled off to the extent that Masq does. Games such as Fallout or Fable all give you choices that have consequences, but in Masq your choices can change who you are and the entire story in a second. The narratives in games like Fable are very diverse, allowing you to pick a certain path, but overall the goal at the end is the same. You save the world, rescue the princess, whatever. There is no real way, no matter what your decisions were, to “lose the game.” You can’t not save the princess or finish your goal. In Masq though, it is exactly the opposite.
Masq is an interactive drama the allows for a lot of freedom as to how the story pans out. Playing through the game once won’t be enough as you will, undoubtedly, miss many of the scenes in the game. There are a bunch of sub-plots that can be explored alongside the main storyline; one of which allows you to shoot a man’s testicles off! These sub-plots are astonishingly dramatic pieces in amongst themselves, and would still work as a standalone game.
As you can probably tell, Masq is a very mature game. The themes in the game which range from adultery to betrayal all have gruesome twists in them somewhere, although you can play the entire game without even coming across any of these themes in the game.
The plot sounds pretty bland, but this can be ramped up by introducing the above themes through your actions. You are the head of a new fashion range called Masq and you need to somehow get funding for the launch party of the range. Of course, how you get this funding is all up to you.
You will need to play Masq more than once and a hopefully with a fresh approach to the plot, which is why I haven’t revealed much apart from the groin shooting part. Having no idea what is going on in the plot allows you to make different decisions that have even the subtlest consequences. You can have affairs, jump onto a truck, shoot a snake and have sex with your wife. It gives you a lot more freedom than most “open world” games these days.
