c ya laterrrr is an autobiographical hypertext fiction written by Dan Hett about his experiences following his brother dying in the Manchester Arena bombing. It won the New Media Writing Prize in 2020.
| c ya laterrrr | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Dan Hett |
| Engine | Twine |
| Platform(s) | Browser |
| Release | 2017 |
| Genre(s) | Hypertext fiction, Electronic literature, Interactive fiction |
Plot and structure
editc ya laterrrr is a text-only game or hypertext fiction written in Twine. The story is written in the second person, following the convention of interactive fiction. While the game has only one endpoint, the player is faced with many choices along the way and "one of the many possible pathways does reflect [Hett's] actual experience".[1] Unlike many other Twine games, it doesn't feature back/next buttons, forcing the player to stick with the choices they make.[1] Hett has emphasised the importance of these choices in interviews, saying that c ya laterrrr is "as much about what I didn't do as what I did do".[2]
The game begins with the player as a parent in a quiet house, after their children are asleep, who sees social media posts speculating about something happening in the city. When they check their phone the next morning, they have received hundreds of messages overnight from people trying to contact them about their brother, and they learn the event in the city was a bombing at the concent their brother was attending.
Your eyes are starting to get tired, which you take as a signal to put the thing down and get some sleep. You're thinking about it, when you notice a sudden flurry of activity on social media about something going on in the city. A bang, an accident maybe. No details, no actual news, just busybodies speculating. Every time. It was like this during the riots a few years ago, you remember arguing a lot with people about it.
— Dan Hett, c ya laterrrr
Reception
editKeza MacDonald, writing in The Guardian, said c ya laterrrr's "intimacy comes from its interactivity".[3] Gabrielle de la Puente described the writing as "hard and sober and it captured the very strange lucidity that comes with waking grief".[4]
The work won the New Media Writing Prize in 2020[5] and was part of the "Digital Storytelling" exhibition at the British Library in 2023.[6][7] Hett has written two other works about his grief at the loss of his brother, including The Loss Levels.
Publicity around c ya laterrrr resulted in apologies to Hett from some of the reporters that approached him so soon after the tragedy.[8]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "c ya laterrrr by danhett". itch.io. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
- ^ Batchelor, James (2018-09-04). "The video game creator turning his grief into art". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ MacDonald, Keza (2018-04-26). "Games console: Dan Hett, the indie game designer pouring his grief into interactive art". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ de la Puente, Gabrielle (15 November 2020). "c ya laterrrr". The White Pube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Interview with Main Prize winner Dan Hett". New Media Writing Prize. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ "New Interactive Exhibition Showcases How Technology Is Transforming Storytelling". www.finebooksmagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ Nielsen, Holly (2023-06-16). "Check this out: the British Library gets into gaming". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ Pidd, Helen (2022-05-21). "Martyn Hett: Victim's family recall Manchester Arena attack 5 years on". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-25.