Past/Present

 

CURRENT STATUS: “1906 Game” Prototype Completed

CNAM and Muzzy Lane have completed a working prototype of part of the first Past/Present Game Era, an exciting adventure set in 1906 in the fictional New England mill town of Eureka Falls. Our avatar is Anna Caruso, a young Italian-American weaver who works at the Boylston Mills and has to decide where she stands when labor conflict comes to town.

Click here to view a short video clip of the 1906 Game being played in middle school classrooms.

Experience what it was like to work ten hours a day in a textile mill a century ago.

In the first Game Era of Past/Present, students play Anna Caruso, an immigrant weaver in a large New England textile mill. They use a mouse to steer Anna through a town populated with a number of NPCs (non-playing characters). By engaging these NPCs in conversation, the player can learn about her avatar’s situation and is tasked with various things to do (read the newspaper, talk to someone else, retrieve a mysterious package, and so forth).

While the player is enjoying undertaking quests and solving mysteries, she is also learning about the era and making important life decisions on behalf of her character. While the richness of the game environment encourages exploration (you can go shopping, for example), each game era has an underlying narrative drive that makes for a fully satisfying experience.