Download


Competition Version
Play this game in your Web browser.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to downloadable files
All updates to this page

Black Rock City

by Jim Munroe

choose-your-own-burnventure
2016

(based on 16 ratings)
3 reviews

About the Story

You're at Burning Man, with six choices to make before the world goes white. Choose wisely. Or wildly. The dust storm won't care.

Zero puzzles, sixty-four endings.

Cover: Trish Lamanna


Game Details

Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: October 1, 2016
Current Version: Unknown
Development System: Texture
IFID: Unknown
TUID: f3ul2uztjrprp63t

Awards

30th Place - 22nd Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2016)

Editorial Reviews

The Breakfast Review
The structure is a branching CYOA, with completely unrelated branches, so stories might differ wildly. While the very first ending I hit seemed a little ominous, all the others on subsequent playthroughs have been bright and cheery; so I get the sense that this is about portraying the event's positivity, about describing the delight of an afternoon at Burning Man.
See the full review

Narrativium
Its well-written, filled with evocative turns of phrase, neatly capturing the hazy, drug-addled Mad Max vibe. Get the full Burning Man Festival experience, without the $400 ticket cost plus travel to the Nevada Desert. There are no real objectives, but lots and lots of branching.
See the full review

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)

Member Reviews

5 star:
(0)
4 star:
(3)
3 star:
(8)
2 star:
(5)
1 star:
(2)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 3
Write a review


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Make beautiful art and set it on fire., October 26, 2016
by Owlor (Sweden)

One of my favorite things about this game is reading reviews from people who either don't know about Burning Man or didn't connect this game to it. Absent this context, it kinda sounds like this strange magical realist story as opposed to a pretty accurate depiction of Burning Man, by all accounts.

Because it's such a celebration of Burning man, I think you reaction to this will depend on your feelings about the festival. Personally, I just like the fact that something that strange exist in the world and I'm fascinated by the contradictions surrounding it. Since I am scandinavian, on the wrong continent, and would die in a desert, this is prolly the closest I'll ever get to experiencing it.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Weird in a good way, October 6, 2016
by Sobol (Russia)

Black Rock City gave me the same relaxed feeling as did Beautiful Dreamer by S. Woodson.

The PC doesn't have any clear goals, they just have some time to spend at Burning Man festival before a dust storm hits. There are no right or wrong choices, no pressure; you explore different branches of the game, learn things about the bizarre city and its inhabitants, feel free to try even ill-advised actions like (Spoiler - click to show)jumping from a flying carpet.

The game has 2^6=64 endings and a considerable variety of possible actions across the branches; in addition to standard adventure verbs like "examine", "talk to" and "kiss", sometimes you can choose "believe", "sass", "admire", etc.


1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A Texture game with pure binary branching, May 10, 2017

I've played this game 3 times since IFComp, each time trying several endings.

It uses Texture, which is a mobile-friendly app which seems like it could work well with screen readers.

Each page, though, is just two choices, which split into 2 choices, about 8 times. Or 6, actually.

The writing is good, but pure branching just isn't my style. I did enjoy it more on my 3rd playthrough, though.


If you enjoyed Black Rock City...

Related Games

People who like Black Rock City also gave high ratings to these games:

Hunger Daemon, by Sean M. Shore
Average member rating: (63 ratings)
It's not the end of the world, and you're to blame. Better get on that. But man, it sure would be nice to get a bite to eat first.

The Mouse, by Naomi Z (as Norbez)
Average member rating: (8 ratings)
Better get home quick if you don't want to get hurt, Evelyn Grey. **This game contains mature language, alcohol, abuse, and a brief scene of violence. Player discretion is advised.**

Staying Put, by verityvirtue
Average member rating: (4 ratings)
After hell went down over the Grémillet thing, Subramaniam helped you find this place. You'll have to lay low for a while, so that means not getting out of this room — or at least downstairs — until all this blows over. Subra said he'd...

Suggest a game

Polls

The following polls include votes for Black Rock City:

For your consideration: XYZZY-eligible Writing of 2016 by MathBrush
This is for suggesting games released in 2016 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. The category will still be text-entry, and games not mentioned here...

For your consideration: XYZZY-eligible Settings of 2016 by MathBrush
This is for suggesting games released in 2016 which you think might be worth considering for Best setting in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. The category will still be text-entry, and games not mentioned here...

Games with high replay value by Wendymoon
What games do you find yourself returning to again and again? Maybe to get every last lousy point, to do some amusing things, to try for different endings or just for the enjoyment of replaying?




This is version 8 of this page, edited by jakomo on 17 June 2022 at 7:53am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item