Pay what you like schemes have been getting quite a bit of press of late, and now the two-player storytelling PC game Sleep is Death is available the same way.
There’s a minimum of $1.75 USD to cover bandwidth and processing costs, but beyond that the price is up to you. Anybody who makes a purchase actually gets two copies – which makes a great deal of sense because the game only works with two people.
We contacted Sleep is Death creator Jason Rohrer for a little more information about this fascinating title.”Mostly, [Sleep is Death] was just aimed at solving the “storytelling problem” that plagues the world of video games,” Rohrer told IncGamers. “What happens when the player breaks the story? How can the AI react? You can make it work if you remove the AI and replace it with another person.”
And that’s exactly what happens in the game. One player takes the ‘traditional’ role of an in-game character, and the other uses the Sleep is Death interface to control … well … pretty much everything else.
Rohrer’s site has a handy explanation, but you can also get the idea by looking at some of the (often hilarious) player-created stories.
“There’s no restriction [in the game] at all. The Player can say whatever she can type and execute any verb she can type as well,” Rohrer told us. “[It’s] only limited by what the Controller can accomplish, in reaction to the Player’s move, in 30 seconds.”
“The game allows you to edit everything, and even allows real-time editing for handling the unexpected.”
If you’ve ever felt restricted by linear game narrative and have at least $1.75 USD in the bank, now is a fine time to let your imagination run riot.
