machina caerulea

machina caerulea is an entry in a number of jams, among them the Neo-Twiny Jam (sub-500 words) and the Bluebeard Jam. And those are the particular “constraints” that make this game really stand out.

First, the word count: The story is told from the POV of a cyborg–Bluebeard’s latest wife–waking up for the first time. Much of the narration omits articles and other parts of speech in favor of terse constructions consisting mostly of nouns, verbs, and the occasional preposition. This is so effective at creating tension and conveying a sense of urgency. The rhythm of the sentences feels like breath or like heartbeats. I appreciated, too, that clicking links functioned in different ways in this game: sometimes links worked like the parser commands “take” and “examine”; other links underscored the PC’s distressed state by making normally unconscious actions (“inhale” “exhale”) into “choices” the player must deliberately make. And of course there are also the standard “choice” links, like “stab him,” “stab body,” or “drop iron.” I loved this variety; it was even more impressive because the author was able to make all these different modes work with so few words.

Second, the Bluebeard story: machina caerulea presents a terrifying and exciting twist on the tale. In the more canonical versions, the slain wives are all different women. In Machina Caerulea, it seems as though (Spoiler - click to show)the dead wives are all versions of the protagonist, who is herself a cyborg possibly created from the consciousness/body of Bluebeard’s human wife, who may have died from a terminal illness or accident? Maybe I am reading too far into things or perhaps misreading some of the text. But if the dead wives are indeed all the same woman, then wow! It opens up all kinds of potential interpretations. For instance, does being married to a tyrant necessitate disassociating and essentially fragmenting yourself into seven different individuals in order to cope? Is marriage to a tyrant akin to being killed by him over and over again? Or is this a story about Bluebeard making something rather than destroying it (or doing both), which would make it more like a Pygmalion story? Future Pygmalion jam, anyone? There are certainly other notable IF games that already fit that brief!

Anyway, I thought this game was really a standout for styling, language, and its take on the Bluebeard story. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to take a closer look, and I’m really happy it got more eyes on it during the thon.