Word Game

In the last few months, a new disease has emerged that is transmitted not by water, by air, by contact – but by speech. Language. Via text messaging and email, telephone or video.

This disease attacks thought itself, undermining our ability to think critically and resist other people’s influence. This is an epidemic of harmful ideas and broken logic. And it’s spreading. Whole communities of people, highly contagious, wandering about, unable to talk, unable to take care of themselves, looking for things to believe in.

In a few short months, the epidemic has hit a critical mass and gone global. The population of entire countries have been infected and gone under, and all international communications have collapsed entirely. In Australia, the last remaining survivors have been quarantined in bunkers, isolated from any potentially infected communications from the world outside.

Now, as food and medical supplies are running short, a group of scientists from a medical research laboratory are about to embark on a last-ditch attempt to release a cure.

Don’t believe everything you hear.

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In 2013, Australian interactive theatre company Boho worked in residence at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory CSIRO to develop Word Play, exploring epidemics and antibiotic resistance in an interactive live action disaster movie.

Seven years later, the script and performance videos have been remastered in glorious HTML, remixed into an ASCII text adventure.