whoami

I am a sucker for a certain type of terminal computer aesthetic. As a kid I enjoyed watching disk defrags in MS DOS 6.22. Nowadays I can’t help but be a little fascinated by every Docker image build or Linux boot diagnostic cascade. whoami uses this aesthetic to tell a story about a scientist at the end of the world who uses a quantum scanner to save their self digitally – mentally but not physically.

The Twine game is presented like a Linux system, which I’m very comfortable with. You could present the same system with a bespoke graphical interface which would help those not comfortable with Linux, but would miss out on that aesthetic. The actual interface is cut down to just what you need, although there are a bunch of contextual clues that someone unfamiliar with the interface might miss. For example, to unlock a capability you have to remove a bash comment marker.

It’s all done with mouse-clicks, but it straddles a tricky line of using the structure of bash, but interfacing it with dropdowns. I think that might be the best solution for a wider audience, but it can be alienating for the expert and non-expert alike.

The presentation in whoami is really great. It’s not just the terminal aesthetic, but does a very good impression of a Netscape Navigator-esque web browser, and some beautiful sciencey displays when you get into the puzzles. Some of it you could nitpick. For example, mixing a terminal CLI interface with cool, high-resolution mesh diagrams. But I didn’t care. It’s the vibe not the verisimilitude.

The writing is very pruned back, but I liked the occasional detail like finding your body on the cameras after the mind upload. I feel like it could have paid dividends if there was a little more investment into the world-building and exploration of, say, the social simulation used to calibrate the mind. As it is, you get the impression of these things but it is a bit hollow. Which is a shame because the presentation is so lovingly crafted.

Other reviewers have noted with a groan the Towers of Hanoi puzzle, and the Nick Bostrom reference. I appreciated the attempt to frame the Towers of Hanoi as a staging puzzle for a compilation, but yeah… At least it was only 4 rings. I was less worried about the Bostrom reference. It’s an apt thing to mention as texture given the themes of simulating minds.

I think n-n should be lauded for the technical aesthetic feat they pulled off here. I was hoping for something at least as meaty in the story, but acknowledge that would be an extra huge amount of work on top of an already substantial investment.