Description:

In Dinner Date you take control of the subconscious of Julian Luxemburg, a man dealing with the psychological distress that comes with being stood-up. The game allows the player to influence, but not assert total control over, the way in which the story plays out. As this happens, the actions of the player appear to make little difference to the end result, but allows for choice in what to occupy the time while his increasingly pessimistic inner-monologue plays out, as well as vaguely directing his course of thought. As the story progresses we begin to understand more about the character, as his thoughts drift from the immediate problem towards the other things troubling him in his life. Through replaying the different chapters, the player is able to uncover more about the character and gain a better understanding of the main character. The story attempts to take a more personal look at the cultural and gender constructs facing the modern man.

Critical Commentary:

Though the work is classified as a game by the developer, opinions have been split on the legitimacy the claim. The reviews that have come out for it thus far have generally come to the conclusion that as an experience it’s thought provoking, yet fails to hold much substance as a game. Because of this it seems more appropriate to classify the work as interactive fiction rather than a video game. The key aspects of this being that there is no end goal presented, and that there is no ‘wrong’ way of playing it (besides not playing it at all). In Hayles’ introduction to interactive fiction in, “Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary,” she states that, “with games the user interprets in order to configure, whereas in works whose primary interest is narrative, the user configures in order to interpret”(Hayles, 8). The claim fits the nature of this game quite nicely, and gives a good basis for the claim that this falls out of the realm of what we call video games.

The choice of medium, as well as the perspective of the camera, helps to create a sense of immersion in the head of the main character. A similar effect has been used within video games in the past to create a scenario in which hearing the thoughts of the character doesn’t come off as strange to the audience, yet there hasn’t been anything made which based the entire concept around the effect.

The repeatable nature of the work is quite similar to Twelve Blue, but with some key differences in mechanics and outcomes. The way in which “Twelve Blue” allows for the reader to experiences can create an incoherent experience at first, while “Dinner Date” still maintains a sense of coherence (no matter the choices made). The decisions that the audience make while experiencing the works do not offer any hint as to where they’ll take the story next, which is an interesting way of creating an increased incentive for multiple play-throughs.

About the Author:

Jeroen D. Stout is known mainly for the success of the indie game, “Dinner Date.” Though relatively unknown, he received his Masters or Arts in Game Design & Development at the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands. He founded the development company Stout Games, which has since grown with the success of the first title, as well as receiving a nomination for the Independent Game Festival’s Nuovo award. The idea behind the company’s drive forward is, “the express purpose of creating high-quality innovative games.” He’s currently working on the release of his second game.