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A Dark Room

November 28, 2023

This article is about the 2013 video game. For other uses, see darkroom (disambiguation).

A Dark Room is an open-source text-based role-playing game. It was originally published for web browsers by Canadian indie studio Doublespeak Games on June 10, 2013. Later that year, it was released in the App Store for iOS devices. In 2014, a prequel, The Ensign, was released for iOS and provided more insight into the world and its characters. An Android version was released in 2016. A Nintendo Switch version was released on April 12, 2019, but was temporarily removed from the Nintendo eShop shortly afterwards.

A Dark Room
Developer(s)Doublespeak Games, Amir Rajan (iOS)
Publisher(s)Doublespeak Games, Circle Entertainment (Switch)
Designer(s)Michael Townsend
Platform(s)
Release2013
Genre(s)Online text-based role-playing game
Incremental game[1]
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay edit

The game begins with the player awakening in a cold, dark room after a mysterious event.[1] Initially, the player can only light and tend a fire in the room. As the game progresses, the player gains the abilities to collect resources, interact with strangers, start a village, and explore the world. As the game progresses, the type and quantity of resources and exploration available increases.[2] According to The New Yorker, "What follows is a strange hybrid, part mystery story and part smartphone productivity software...the game evokes the simplest text-based computer games of the nineteen-seventies while stimulating a very modern impulse to constantly check and recheck one's phone. It's like a puzzle composed of deconstructed to-do lists."[1] The site added, "You can begin to see a structure emerge from the fragments, but where that structure will lead you remains impossible to predict, and so the compulsion to keep pressing little word buttons grows stronger."[1]

Plot edit

The game begins with the player character lighting a fire in a dark room. Shortly afterward, a woman stumbles into the room and collapses. Struggling to sleep and beset by "voices", the player character starts to collect resources from a nearby forest to calm down. Eventually, the woman comes to her senses and reveals that she is a builder who can aid the player character. The builder helps the player character establish a village for wanderers to settle in. The villagers help gather resources, but the player character overworks them until they essentially become slaves. At some point, the player character's intense wanderlust causes them to acquire a compass and explore the area outside of the village. The player character emerges into a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of decrepit ruins and hostile enemies. If the player character dies while exploring, they awaken in the village, seemingly revived by the builder with the aid of a glowing locket around her neck. While exploring the wasteland, the player character discovers an abandoned "wanderer" spaceship and brings it back to the village. Eventually, the builder, disgusted by the player character's mistreatment of the villagers and violent actions in the wasteland, suddenly vanishes, leaving her locket behind. In the wasteland, the player character can encounter an old wanderer, who discusses his past as an admiral in a space fleet that devastated numerous planets. Ultimately, it is revealed to the player through numerous clues that "wanderers" are actually a race of extraterrestrial beings who invade planets and leave them in ruins. The player character, who is a wanderer, uses the spaceship to head into outer space, looking for the builder.

Development edit

A Dark Room was created by Michael Townsend, the founder and lead developer of Doublespeak Games. It was released as a browser game on June 10, 2013.[3] According to Townsend, the game was designed to tell its story entirely through environmental cues, rather than relying on exposition and dialogue.[1] In July 2013, Townsend released the source code of the game on GitHub under the open-source license MPL 2.0.[4] Soon, Townsend was contacted by developer Amir Rajan, who asked for permission to adapt the game for iOS.[1][5] Amir ported the game to iOS using the RubyMotion mobile toolchain,[6] and released it on the App Store in late 2013.[1] An Android port of A Dark Room was released in 2016.[7][8] A Nintendo Switch version of the game was released on April 12, 2019.[9] On April 26, the game was removed from the Nintendo eShop because Rajan included a Ruby editor in the game as "a last second 'spark of inspiration.'" Rajan apologized for the incident, stating that he simply wanted to introduce people to coding.[10] It was released in Japan on May 7, 2020,[11] and has since been restored on the North American eShop.[12]

On October 12, 2020, an open-source contributor Jonathon Orsi added audio capabilities to the browser game and created various lo-fi sound effects and ambient background music.[13]

Critical reception edit

TouchArcade gave the game a rating of 4 out of 5, writing, "It's a strange little thing, to be sure, but I'd definitely recommend A Dark Room to people who appreciate off-beat RPGs, fans of experience-driven games, or really anyone looking for something a little bit different from usual."[14] Slide to Play rated it 3 out of 4, commenting, "It may not seem like much at first, but if you stick around long enough, it's easy to fall under A Dark Room's spell."[15] 148Apps gave the game 3 out of 5, writing, "A Dark Room may have plenty of longevity and may be genuinely intriguing, but its interface feels undeveloped in its iOS iteration."[16]

The New Yorker explained, "When A Dark Room was first released on iPhone, at the end of 2013, the game was listed in a number of Best of the Year lists, including those published by Forbes, Paste, and the gaming site, Giant Bomb."[1] The app "rocketed to the most-downloaded spot in the App Store's games section in April and stayed there throughout the month".[1]

Engadget praised the game's surprise ending, writing that "...it's definitely worth the time it takes to find it."[17]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thomsen, Michael (11 June 2014). "A Dark Room: The Best-Selling Game That No One Can Explain". The New Yorker. from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-14. Townsend was happy to share his work with Rajan. "I want to kindle the creative spirit in others," Townsend told me over e-mail. "My games are open-source because I want people to learn from them, or use them to build their own things."
  2. ^ Alexander, Leigh (6 March 2014). "A Dark Room's unique journey from the web to iOS". Gamasutra. from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  3. ^ . Doublespeak Games. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  4. ^ . Doublespeak Games. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  5. ^ . Doublespeak Games. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  6. ^ "RubyMotion Success Story: A Dark Room". RubyMotion Blog. from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  7. ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
  8. ^ . Blog.doublespeakgames.com. 2016-07-11. Archived from the original on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  9. ^ Craddock, Ryan (April 2, 2019). "A Dark Room Brings "Unique" Text-Based Adventure To Switch Next Week". Nintendo Life. from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (April 29, 2019). "A Dark Room pulled from Switch eShop for including code editor". GamesIndustry. from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  11. ^ "A Dark Room". Nintendo Japan. from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "A Dark Room". Nintendo. from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  13. ^ "Major optimization of audio size and safari audio fix by orsi · Pull Request #667 · doublespeakgames/adarkroom". GitHub. from the original on 2021-12-29. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  14. ^ a b Musgrave, Shaun (3 June 2014). "'A Dark Room' Review – Surprising Things Can Be Found In The Dark". TouchArcade. from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  15. ^ "A Dark Room Review". Slide to Play. 2016-04-15. from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  16. ^ Hamlet, Lee (31 March 2014). "A Dark Room Review". 148Apps. from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  17. ^ Wehner, Mike (28 April 2014). "You should spend some serious time in A Dark Room". Engadget. from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • "A Dark Room". doublespeak games. 8 October 2022.

November 28, 2023
dark, room, this, article, about, 2013, video, game, other, uses, darkroom, disambiguation, open, source, text, based, role, playing, game, originally, published, browsers, canadian, indie, studio, doublespeak, games, june, 2013, later, that, year, released, s. This article is about the 2013 video game For other uses see darkroom disambiguation A Dark Room is an open source text based role playing game It was originally published for web browsers by Canadian indie studio Doublespeak Games on June 10 2013 Later that year it was released in the App Store for iOS devices In 2014 a prequel The Ensign was released for iOS and provided more insight into the world and its characters An Android version was released in 2016 A Nintendo Switch version was released on April 12 2019 but was temporarily removed from the Nintendo eShop shortly afterwards A Dark RoomDeveloper s Doublespeak Games Amir Rajan iOS Publisher s Doublespeak Games Circle Entertainment Switch Designer s Michael TownsendPlatform s Internet browser Android iOS Nintendo SwitchRelease2013Genre s Online text based role playing gameIncremental game 1 Mode s Single player Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 3 Development 4 Critical reception 5 References 6 External linksGameplay editThe game begins with the player awakening in a cold dark room after a mysterious event 1 Initially the player can only light and tend a fire in the room As the game progresses the player gains the abilities to collect resources interact with strangers start a village and explore the world As the game progresses the type and quantity of resources and exploration available increases 2 According to The New Yorker What follows is a strange hybrid part mystery story and part smartphone productivity software the game evokes the simplest text based computer games of the nineteen seventies while stimulating a very modern impulse to constantly check and recheck one s phone It s like a puzzle composed of deconstructed to do lists 1 The site added You can begin to see a structure emerge from the fragments but where that structure will lead you remains impossible to predict and so the compulsion to keep pressing little word buttons grows stronger 1 Plot editThe game begins with the player character lighting a fire in a dark room Shortly afterward a woman stumbles into the room and collapses Struggling to sleep and beset by voices the player character starts to collect resources from a nearby forest to calm down Eventually the woman comes to her senses and reveals that she is a builder who can aid the player character The builder helps the player character establish a village for wanderers to settle in The villagers help gather resources but the player character overworks them until they essentially become slaves At some point the player character s intense wanderlust causes them to acquire a compass and explore the area outside of the village The player character emerges into a post apocalyptic wasteland full of decrepit ruins and hostile enemies If the player character dies while exploring they awaken in the village seemingly revived by the builder with the aid of a glowing locket around her neck While exploring the wasteland the player character discovers an abandoned wanderer spaceship and brings it back to the village Eventually the builder disgusted by the player character s mistreatment of the villagers and violent actions in the wasteland suddenly vanishes leaving her locket behind In the wasteland the player character can encounter an old wanderer who discusses his past as an admiral in a space fleet that devastated numerous planets Ultimately it is revealed to the player through numerous clues that wanderers are actually a race of extraterrestrial beings who invade planets and leave them in ruins The player character who is a wanderer uses the spaceship to head into outer space looking for the builder Development editA Dark Room was created by Michael Townsend the founder and lead developer of Doublespeak Games It was released as a browser game on June 10 2013 3 According to Townsend the game was designed to tell its story entirely through environmental cues rather than relying on exposition and dialogue 1 In July 2013 Townsend released the source code of the game on GitHub under the open source license MPL 2 0 4 Soon Townsend was contacted by developer Amir Rajan who asked for permission to adapt the game for iOS 1 5 Amir ported the game to iOS using the RubyMotion mobile toolchain 6 and released it on the App Store in late 2013 1 An Android port of A Dark Room was released in 2016 7 8 A Nintendo Switch version of the game was released on April 12 2019 9 On April 26 the game was removed from the Nintendo eShop because Rajan included a Ruby editor in the game as a last second spark of inspiration Rajan apologized for the incident stating that he simply wanted to introduce people to coding 10 It was released in Japan on May 7 2020 11 and has since been restored on the North American eShop 12 On October 12 2020 an open source contributor Jonathon Orsi added audio capabilities to the browser game and created various lo fi sound effects and ambient background music 13 Critical reception editReceptionReview scorePublicationScoreTouchArcade nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 14 TouchArcade gave the game a rating of 4 out of 5 writing It s a strange little thing to be sure but I d definitely recommend A Dark Room to people who appreciate off beat RPGs fans of experience driven games or really anyone looking for something a little bit different from usual 14 Slide to Play rated it 3 out of 4 commenting It may not seem like much at first but if you stick around long enough it s easy to fall under A Dark Room s spell 15 148Apps gave the game 3 out of 5 writing A Dark Room may have plenty of longevity and may be genuinely intriguing but its interface feels undeveloped in its iOS iteration 16 The New Yorker explained When A Dark Room was first released on iPhone at the end of 2013 the game was listed in a number of Best of the Year lists including those published by Forbes Paste and the gaming site Giant Bomb 1 The app rocketed to the most downloaded spot in the App Store s games section in April and stayed there throughout the month 1 Engadget praised the game s surprise ending writing that it s definitely worth the time it takes to find it 17 References edit a b c d e f g h i Thomsen Michael 11 June 2014 A Dark Room The Best Selling Game That No One Can Explain The New Yorker Archived from the original on 15 June 2014 Retrieved 2014 07 14 Townsend was happy to share his work with Rajan I want to kindle the creative spirit in others Townsend told me over e mail My games are open source because I want people to learn from them or use them to build their own things Alexander Leigh 6 March 2014 A Dark Room s unique journey from the web to iOS Gamasutra Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 19 October 2015 A Dark Room released Doublespeak Games Archived from the original on 9 July 2014 Retrieved 19 October 2015 A Dark Room goes open source Doublespeak Games Archived from the original on 7 September 2015 Retrieved 19 October 2015 A Dark Room on iOS Doublespeak Games Archived from the original on 14 November 2015 Retrieved 19 October 2015 RubyMotion Success Story A Dark Room RubyMotion Blog Archived from the original on 2014 12 13 Retrieved 2014 04 08 a dark room android entering private beta Archived from the original on 2015 07 22 Retrieved 2015 07 20 A Dark Room is now on Android Blog doublespeakgames com 2016 07 11 Archived from the original on 2016 09 28 Retrieved 2016 09 20 Craddock Ryan April 2 2019 A Dark Room Brings Unique Text Based Adventure To Switch Next Week Nintendo Life Archived from the original on June 1 2019 Retrieved May 18 2019 Valentine Rebekah April 29 2019 A Dark Room pulled from Switch eShop for including code editor GamesIndustry Archived from the original on April 30 2019 Retrieved May 18 2019 A Dark Room Nintendo Japan Archived from the original on May 6 2020 Retrieved May 1 2020 A Dark Room Nintendo Archived from the original on April 16 2019 Retrieved June 3 2021 Major optimization of audio size and safari audio fix by orsi Pull Request 667 doublespeakgames adarkroom GitHub Archived from the original on 2021 12 29 Retrieved 2021 12 29 a b Musgrave Shaun 3 June 2014 A Dark Room Review Surprising Things Can Be Found In The Dark TouchArcade Archived from the original on 18 June 2018 Retrieved 8 June 2018 A Dark Room Review Slide to Play 2016 04 15 Archived from the original on 2014 10 24 Retrieved 2016 09 20 Hamlet Lee 31 March 2014 A Dark Room Review 148Apps Archived from the original on 2016 06 20 Retrieved 2016 09 20 Wehner Mike 28 April 2014 You should spend some serious time in A Dark Room Engadget Archived from the original on 21 September 2015 Retrieved 19 October 2015 External links editOfficial website A Dark Room doublespeak games 8 October 2022 Portal nbsp video games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Dark Room amp oldid 1176774613, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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