Choose Hamlet's Own Adventure: To Be Or Not To Be
Written by Dinosaur Comics guy
You know the problem with Shakespeare's Hamlet? It doesn't have any dinosaurs, for starters. Or time travel, now that I think about it. Those pirates are barely mentioned. Ophelia doesn't kill anyone (else) either. And only one ending! To Be or Not To Be [official site] rectifies the lot.
Dinosaur Comics writer Ryan North turned Hamlet into a zany adventure-choosing game book with the help of $580,905 in Kickstarter funding in 2013, and now it's become a virtual narrative choose 'em up you can play on your personal computer.
North's take on the classic brought it oodles of endings and odd branches, a choice of three characters - Hamlet, Ophelia, and Hamlet Sr. - with their own abilities and paths, a whole load of all-caps, and art by a huge list of famous webcomic artists. And jokes, I guess. Lots of jokes. Actually, jokes are probably the main feature. Jokes are probably the driving force for this even existing. If he couldn't add jokes, I bet he wouldn't have even bothered.
What does this new digital version bring? Music, sound effects, animation, and achievements in a interactive novel sort of way, and it dresses the choose-your-own-adventure within the choose-your-own-adventure up as ye olde text adventure game too.
To Be or Not To Be is out now on Windows, Mac, and Linux for £7.99 through Humble store, which gives a DRM-free version and a Steam key, or it's £8.99 straight from Steam.
