The Archivist and the Revolution

The Archivist and the Revolution is a interactive fiction set in a dystopian future.

You play a trans person who is working as an "Archivist", extracting historical information that were decoded into the DNA of bacteria strains by preceding societies. Recently, you were fired from your job, and turned into a contract worker - getting much less money for the same thing, you can't pay for your bills anymore, and might soon be evicted from your room.

The world is described as shattered and dirty - fascists have overtaken the rule, and erected a authoritarian regime; the protagonist missed the uprising against them, and is now one of the last remainders of a suppressed minority, substantially isolated in a hostile society. You can decide how you want to try to deal with the situation, and have different options at hand - the player can even decide how to interpret the circumstances and happenings, or sometimes even how other people react to you - the traditional POV-Character is dissolved in these moments (which is fitting, since the whole story is told in a posthumanist context). At the very end, you and your actions might be judged - it remains unclear if these are the inner thoughts of the protagonist or another, omniscient narrator.

The game and its world are well created - not only in the sense that it contains many creative ideas that go beyond the (also present) science-fiction cliches, but also since it does a really good job to depict the struggles and predicaments of the protagonist - the descriptions and structures feel inherent logical and very natural, and even though many of today's many pressing matters are thematised, it never feels tokenistic doing so - a common pitfall for political art. Gameplay elements are not set arbitrarily, but used to amplify the narration - various options exist, and you can only see a tiny bit of them in a single play through - not only they exclude each other, but also because the protagonists resources (including time and impetus) are all strictly limited - choices have to be made. Compared to other hypertext fictions, the gameplay elements are rather weighty - and some things (especially when it comes to the endings) that wouldn't fly in a linear text do work thanks to this. The whole structure is very skillfully crafted, and helps to create a dense and striking atmosphere. The language, on the other hand, is simple, clear, and direct - personally I'd have preferred it a bit more poetical, but this is a matter of personal taste.

The narration is supported by carefully used and tastefully placed sound- and graphic effects - they wouldn't be needed, but are welcome anyway. While I found the game to be rather harmless, there are optional trigger warnings available for those who are more sensitive in these terms. The games source code was released under a MIT-license, making it FLOSS.

"The Archivist and the Revolution" is a well realized, highly political piece of hyperlink fiction that doesn't need to hide behind most of the contemporary commercial science fiction stories I've read in the past few years; its direct language, its naturalist approach, the - rather pronounced - gameplay elements, and its clear political agenda make it enjoyable to underground gaming enthusiasts and a larger audience alike.

The developer, Autumn Chen, developed various other games surely worth to check out.

Worked well on OpenSuse using Firefox.

Review first published on the arcane cache

“The Archivist watched. The Archivist listened.”

And no matter what happens as the game progresses, this is how you always feel.

Every choice, every decision, weighing the responsibility to keep the protagonist surviving, a
tension never dispelled, a distrust of every outcome. Maybe there’s no one to trust. Even those who seem like they’re on your side?

It’s an eerie world the Archivist inhabits. A tiny functional apartment. An uncertain atmosphere with the threat of disease and the need to wear safety gear to go out beyond the apartment. Nothing seems natural, all is (bio) engineered or constructed.

The Archivist can’t remember why it is like it is, but slowly some idea of the history of this place and their place in history comes into view by decoding fragments of data stored in bacteria.

Your daily work is to decode and file documents to earn money for food and medicine and rent. Costs that constantly increase through the game. Even though it’s the future, it feels like life today.

Slowly you figure out the network of friendships and romantic connections, and the shape of the society in which you live. Not too fast though. You get tired and need to eat and sleep.

And you never quite get to know much about the mysterious archive and why it’s there. It’s another threat in your day, especially if you record the decoded information in the wrong way.

So against this bleak backdrop of daily life, it’s surprising to find that the story feels actually optimistic. Sure there are different paths to take, a range of endings, challenges, surprises and disappointments. Yet it never gives up on the hope that connections between people are necessary and sustaining.

In the breakdown analysis of the game, Autumn states “the numerical design of the mechanics makes the game fundamentally unwinnable. There is no ending where everything is just peachy.”

I disagree. At the level of pure numbers, perhaps you can’t win. Yet at the end of nearly every storyline there is a continuing future that offers possibilities to wonder what might happen next.

And also to wonder what else is hidden in the archives…

This is a Post-Comp Version review. Also maybe biased because I really like Autumn's work.

In a far future, after centuries of conflict, the Earth's population has been reduced to small communities stuck inside arcologies (city domes). In one of them, lives Em, an Archivist (sorta), trying to survive the best she can (sorta), and maybe (re)form relationships to better her situation. Throughout the game, you must ensure Em is on top of her duties and health.

As with her other Dendy games, A&R works in layers. On the surface, it is a resource management game, where your savings, energy level (hidden), mental and physical health (hidden) must be minded when organising one's day or spending.
While you have agency in this, how far you can go with the different actions will depend on whether you've unlocked certain storylets, or Em's current health at the time. Since she has chronic issues, you won't be allowed to churn through hundreds of files for your job, or even do anything at times.

Underneath, two other mechanics come to play: the relationship/storylet aspect with Em's old acquaintances, and the archiving loop, Em's job. Both will affect Em's survival (savings/health) and the ending of the game.
The first is relatively similar to Autumn's previous Dendry games, in which a side-story will be parsed throughout the game, requiring the player to meet specific characters multiple times to uncover the story at large. In this game, clearing more than one path in a playthrough is quite doable.
The latter is a mechanic I had not really seen before in an IF game, but one I enjoyed greatly. Your job entails decrypting and archiving files, each with a specific code (hint hint), requiring to be either placed in a specific slot or discarded (or you can keep it for yourself). Combing through the documents were quite fun.

The first time I played the game, I thought I could survive all on my own, leaving past relationships where they were, focusing only on my job and keeping myself afloat. I remember it being incredibly stressful (I almost cried when Em was on the brink of eviction). Everything felt hopeless, and the almost-clinical-at-times prose, as well as the UI, accentuated that feeling.

This time around, I followed Autumn's advice and shamelessly begged my acquaintances for money. I didn't want to recreate that very anxious feeling I had the last time - and wanted to see what else I had missed. Indeed, it was much less stressful to go through. I didn't really have to worry about money (thanks A-), I didn't have to exhaust myself with work, and I could explore more different facets of Em's life (her past relationships, herself, how she had to navigate the world). The world is still wretched, but there is more hope. You almost believe that surviving through it is... doable.

The storylets manages to offer a bit of levity in this wretched world, in which Em can find a community helping others, rekindle her relationship with a (re)closeted trans person, rekindle her relationship with her ex who you had a child with. In (re)making connections, you can learn more about your past and how you (don't) fit in this world. You can go on a date, cook with someone, spend time with your child... have a "normal" life.
I quite enjoyed how grounded and raw these storylets felt. They, at times, seemed like a commentary on our present, with the tribalism of social media, the lack of trust in the news, the grueling life under capitalism, and the treatment of transfolks. Strip away the sci-fi/post-apocalyptic future, and they could could be right at home with our current time.
I still hated the news part... its description changing the 'a form of self harm' was on point considering the comments...

Even if you don't interact with anyone, you can still learn about the world and your place in it through the notes (essentially a Codex page) or DNA files you decode. From old recovered chats between yourself and other characters, science articles, old journal entries, and documents regarding the Arcology's founder - Liana -, you can build together a bleak image about the world, the state of the environment and human condition, filled with disenchantment and conflict.
Depending on what you do with your day, you may find some Easter Eggs, like the TV Series you can watch or the Games you can play, little winks to Autumn's other games. Some characters of the game, made obvious by their names, share a resemblance to ones from the Pageantverse.

With the implementation of the Autosave, I was able to reach a lot more endings than the first time around, especially less bleak ones, without having to replay the game. Those endings are highly dependent on the actions you took during the game, some being sweet (especially with K-), some being maybe critical (imo A-'s, Alone), and one specifically blew my mind (Ending 1 - didn't find before).
Ending 1 is by far the most interesting one in my book. While it might seem a bit like a Deux Ex Machina or coming from out of nowhere (depending on your playthrough it may feel like a whiplash), it is the one that has not left my brain since I've replayed the game - maybe because of how strikingly different it is from the others. I think this ending might work best if connections with other characters were not made. It also made me wonder whether Em's life would have been that different if her arcology was still in contact with the others, or whether contact was severed between all arcologies. Honestly, it brought a lot of questions about the world after reading through (sequel of Ending 1, when?).

I don't know if there is a point or a moral to the game. If I were to give one to it, it would be that communities are important for people to thrive, maybe even necessary, and that the world can be a very difficult place when you keep to yourself, worse when your situation is dire in the first place. Even if it seems bleak, there is a glimmer of hope and goodness there...