Themes of Death Depicted in Electronic Literature

Everybody Dies

Everybody Dies is an interactive fiction by Jim Munroe, constructed using Java. The work was originally published and won bronze at IFComp 2008, the 14th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. The overall theme of the work is that death is an inevitability. All living creatures may try to escape death, but mortality is a concept everyone must eventually face and accept. This chapter relates to the overall theme, of Themes of Death Depicted in Electronic Literature, because Jim Munroe presents his own distinct depiction of death in Everybody Dies and is explored within this chapter.

A player may interact with the work by inputting simple commands, through typing in actions. The character will then follow that command given that it is possible and follows the personality of the character. Some examples include "Take (X)," "Go (cardinal direction)," or in the case you want a specific character to do something "Graham, examine (X)." All actions are intended to continuously and inevitably lead all characters to their death, as the title of the game foreshadows. Although the work features save and restore commands, as stated in the instructions: "dying is a part of life, and for most of the game unavoidable." The work is separated by each individual character's death. The player cannot continue to the next character until their current one dies.

Contents of this path: