Katharine Haché is a graduate student at East Tennessee State University that has developed interactive fiction using TWINE. We started our discussion talking about classic arcade games Burger Time and Mario Bros. Not unlike many of us who grew up in the 80’s, Katharine played those games with her parents. She pointed out how those early experiences helped generate fond family memories and affected her current interests in storytelling. Other points that were made in the interview pertained to the nature of video games, the publishing industry around them, and the tropes and clichés their stories often rely on. Here’s my talk with Katharine:
During the interview Katharine and I spoke about the narrative power of games and how the medium can help us examine the choices we make. By creating a game called Transitory using TWINE, Katharine was able to explore the consequences of actions that took place over a couple days. We also discussed Misogyny Island, a game she developed which is a satirical view of the “gamer bro” community.
Ahead of the interview I checked out Katharine’s personal blog. I read about her transgender experiences and wanted to hear her thoughts on what it means to be human. Our examination of that question led to thoughts on immortality. I asked if she would choose to live forever. Katharine said, “Good narratives typically do have an end, a conclusion of some kind…there is something to say about closure.”
Like the piece above? Katharine also creates pixel art and maintains a portfolio of her work.
Know someone that is creating their own stories using video games? We’d love to hear about them, contact us or let us know in the comments below.
