Pay Day Fervour

CYCLE GAME

I chose my cycle of getting paid, feeling rich, overspending, and then subsequently feeling broke until the next payday. For this game, I wanted to explore themes of temptation and desire. My character pulls a bit from my own experience regarding queer identity, chronic illness, and disabilities. The character is able to resist temptation until their own fears/desires are reflected back on them; they want to be able to inhabit a version of themselves that doesn't have flaws. However, they were sold a snake oil solution, and when they look in the mirror they only see themselves. This is supposed to be a sort of commentary that encapsulates modern consumerist culture that preys on insecurities to conjure a profit. During my playtests, I was given lots of feedback regarding the narrative that I took to heart, and thus the story went through many drafts before landing on the one seen here. I coded it in Harlowe, as I have experience in it from first year, and I'm glad that I chose to test it out for this game first, as I struggled quite a bit with the coding aspects and was grateful to switch to Chapbook for the larger game.