Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
What If Plays Were More Like Adventure Games?
For as much as some people make fun of adventure games for their lack of interactivity, I've always found great satisfaction in simple, narrative-heavy, point-and-click puzzlers where my brainpower is awarded with lengthy cutscenes. What if a live play operated in the same way? That's a question that Minneapolis' Walking Shadow Theater Company answered for me with its performance of an interactive play titled Saboteur.
Saboteur takes place in a nondescript warehouse going under the name "Universal Hydro Solutions." Upon entering, I was greeted by a secretary and offered a bottle of water. Since the audience/participants in the show must move from room to room to access different puzzles and scenes, a limited number of tickets are sold for each performance -- there were around 10 to 15 people who joined in for the one I was at.
What began as a tour of an unassuming bottled water factory quickly turned into a tale of international espionage in which the audience took on the role of sleeper agents tasked with solving various brain-teasers. For example, in the first room, we had to flip a series of light switches to illuminate a code in order to unlock the door to the next scene. Other puzzles included reflecting a laser with mirrors to hit a target, getting a ball through a giant maze using ropes and pulleys, and my favorite, digging through an agent's office to find clues and figure out the password to his computer.
The actual play portion of Saboteur was a simple, goofy love story between two secret agents. Neither the acting nor writing were particularly mind-blowing, but as with old adventure games, they didn't have to be to draw me in. Solving these brain-teasers with a group of strangers was the real fun; the story sequences were more of a short mental break that set the tone between abstract puzzles rather than the reason to attend.
I'd highly recommend that other people check out Saboteur, but it's only playing in Minneapolis and actually has its final performance tomorrow, August 3. Walking Shadow Theater Company has done other interactive plays before, though, and may again in the future, so I recommend keeping an eye on its website. If you're a fan of old-school adventure games and get a chance to attend an interactive play in the future, I highly recommend it. It's a very strange experience that I know I'll jump at if I ever encounter it again.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
