Cinema as a game

Let’s talk about interactive cinema as a gaming genre. Yes, you heard us right — a gaming genre. When the viewer stops watching the movie and starts pressing the buttons thus becoming an active participant in the game. With its unique rules, methods and feedback. Just press a button — and get a result. This, of course, is the main difference between enjoying an interactive cinematic experience and a contemporary one.

The second feature highlights our genre against the backdrop of other «FMV» (Full Motion Video) games. In these games, shooting material is used in a variety of ways: from individual storylines backdrops to intricate attempts to make a video, for example, a point-and-click quest or even a shooter. Sometimes it turns out interesting, sometimes strange, and sometimes the results are downright bad. We believe that it is better to introduce interactivity in cinema in small doses, harmoniously, thus avoiding a global mass change. And that is why, in our opinion, we are different from our FMV-neighbors — we offer storyline continuity.

Absence of breaks, separation of the game and the film material - these are important conditions, without which the rhythm is lost, and the magic of the movie dies away.

The third item on the list of the features that we offer will likely be a short duration. And indeed — how long can you keep the viewer and player focused on the screen without any addictive technological features, and how long can you maintain the pace of the story while at it? Yes, we also love games and know about the strange tradition of «purchasing hours of gameplay». And it is frustrating when it turns out that you are running out of a great game. However, movies are another matter all together. We think you would agree that it is much better to tell the story in brief, but in an upbeat and focused manner, rather than tediously drawing it out it for long hours with the same budget.

Thus, our game should consist of an interesting film of small (by game standards) duration, where the player presses the buttons without interrupting the narration. Dry transmission doesn’t sound that great, right? In fact, there are three cool things here: the way the movie is shot; the quality of the story and its presentation; and what you press the buttons for.

But this is a topic for another discussion. For now, just imagine a movie with your (and our) favorite type of nonlinearity, extra scenes and endings. Imagine that the next viewing was not optional, but obligatory, and it was very different from the previous one and had a completely different main storyline. Interesting, right? Stay tuned for future updates!