Synopsis
An eerie foodie experience.
Warnings: body horror, inflicted pain, food.
About...
The Dinner is a short interactive story, first created for the Single Choice Jam and the Orifice Jam, putting you in the shoes of a diner at a fancy restaurant.
The story focuses on the food and the diner's mouth, particularly on bringing those two together: the act of eating. Between delectable descriptions and the diner's reaction of the different courses, the added restrictive and forceful gameplay creates an uncomfortable atmosphere.
This piece was inspired first and foremost by my deep love for food, displayed in the choice of meals described. The scene in Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001), where the parents transform into pigs, or the characters of Remy and Ego in Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) reacting when eating, were always in the back of my mind while writing. Other works that inspired the writing include the Hannibal movies and series (Jonathan Demme, 1991; Ridley Scott, 2001; Brett Ratner, 2002; Bryan Fuller, 2013-2015), Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro, 1991) and Grave (Julia Ducournau, 2016).
Unfortunately, a large portion of the work was lost during its creation (my writing file was corrupted). Only a few re-written passages with an alternative ending are still playable. As I still have my original notes, which includes the complete course list of meals and planned endings, I do hope to come back to this project soon to update it.
Reviews
I loved the descriptions of the courses, and the sort of clinical accounting of the guest's sensations as they consumed the food. It felt odd in a way that I really liked.
- lavieenmeow
Ooh, what an uncomfortable story. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The juxtaposition of sumptuous descriptions of the food and the revile that our main character responded with was interesting and off-balancing. Amusingly, I misread the TW as "inflicted food", laughed to myself, and then discovered while playing that being given the command to "Eat the Course" was actually a bit upsetting--in a good way!
- PetricakeGames
Being a short one-choice game, it's as linear as one would expect for now, but the immaculate descriptions paint a vivid imagery on the reader's mind, pulling them into the main character's mind/POV. Excellent narrative overall.
- Hyacinthos