Cibele
Storytelling Reinvention:
employs the act of exploring various multimedia elements via a computer interface in order to create an immersive narrative experience
Game Information
Release Date: November 2nd, 2015
Developer: Star Maid Games
Rating: Mature
Genres: Database, Exploratory
Price: $8.99
Website: http://ninasays.so/cibele
Individually, love and the internet are quite spontaneous and interpersonal, hosting a piece of the foundation of communication and interaction between people. Cibele, released during the November of 2015, merges the aspects of both, bringing the player into the role of a 19 year old girl who has become close with a young man she met in an online video game. The game builds upon their relationship as the player navigates the girl’s desktop and virtual worlds. Valtameri, the online game within Cibele, includes enemies that do not harm the player yet are defeated in a single click. Compelling the player to disregard the mindless action of clicking on enemies within the world of Valtameri, Cibele acts as an interactive narrative that emphasizes the importance of an intimate, personal experience. It explores the ambiguous emotions and excitement behind love in a virtual space.
Cibele occurs in three acts over a time period of six months. As the player progresses through the game, romance between the characters begins to escalate, leading to ideas of meeting in person. Displacements in their relationship begin to appear as Blake, the young man, shows a lack of confidence about an encounter in reality, despite his powerful stature within the game. A question hovers over the mind of the player: Is the game just a mediator for an ultimately impossible relationship? Cibele was created by Nina Freeman and her creative team, Star Maid Games (based in Portland, Oregon), comprised of Emmett Butler, Decky Coss, Rebekka Dunlap, and Samantha Corey, and includes voice acting by Justin Briner. Nina Freeman and her team transformed a part of her life into this piece of art. The game is entirely based around the true story of how she fell in love for the first time in and around an online fantasy world, using old files and chat logs that Freeman found on her hard drive. In real life, the game Freeman played seven years ago was Final Fantasy XI, acting as her original character, Cibele. Her romantic chats and interaction with the man she met online eventually led him to fly across the country to meet her, eventually leaving and never seeing her in person again.
References:
1. "Cibele." ninasays. n.p., n.d.. Web. 7 March. 2016. <http://ninasays.so/cibele/>
2. Hudson, Laura. "Cibele Is a Crazy-Real Game About Falling In Love Online." Wired. Conde Nast, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 7 March. 2016. <http://www.wired.com/2015/11/cibele-game-nina-freeman/>
Researcher: Austin DeClerk
