Dr Jeangille's Letters
Forced to settle in the quiet village of Meaux, the life of Doctor Jeangille falls into turmoils. Exchanging with Olympia, the lover, this recluse person comes to life, entangled in peculiar and mysterious events.
Write letters to the beloved you were forced to leave behind. Re-discover your hometown. Uncover a mystery. Take your fate in your own hands.
Les Lettres du Docteur Jeangille, also known as Doctor Jeangille's Letters is an epistolary interactive game made in Twine for the 2024 Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone, then translated into English for the following SpringThing.
The game played the themes of the Concours, which were Illusion and Venu d'Ailleurs (stranger), as it unravels Jeangille's discoveries (or lack thereof). Part slice-of-life romance and mystery, the story is a love letter to melodramatic 19th century stories and the forbidden fruit.
A richly described series of love letters set in the 1800s, with a mystery. I was surprised when it became clear that [the game] was actually fairly complex.
❧ Brian Rushton
Le fait de lire l'histoire par le biais de lettres est super intéressant, le personnage principal a beaucoup de personnalité, même si elle est un peu lente à la détente parfois, ou distraite par ses soucis personnels, ça fait partie du charme.
❧ Filiaa
C'était avec un plaisir non dissimulé que j'ai pu te lire de nouveau, Manon, et à haute voix en plus. La plume est très belle et l'exécution léchée (vive l'épistolaire !!!!). On en redemande, encore encore encore!
❧ Lilie Bagage
It’s an impressive tour de force on the part of the author to write the letters so consistently in the voice and style of a cultured person from that age, distinguished yet emotional, full of purplish expressions without dropping out of character. The epistolary form the author has chosen lends itself perfectly to a gradual build-up of the mystery at the heart of the story. Very tense and touching. Among the best I’ve read.
❧ Rovarsson
With each curl of that smoke cursives new lines in the fine tradition of George Sand, fiery testaments to eternity that are undone with each tempestuous new whim, where sudden breaks of recrimination revel in the unbridling joy of a bridge burning to replace the yearning to cross it.
❧ Kaemi
I found it unimpeachable in its conceit, almost never cracking to the pressures of info-dump to uninformed third party. Rather, it was deliberate in alluding to events the correspondents clearly understood in a way to slowly and naturally bring us up to speed. The interactiveness of the piece leverages its strengths in a dynamite way - periodically we are given opportunity to shade emotions, events and attitudes by selecting among alternatives. When done well, it has the precise flavor of composing a letter!
❧ JJ McC
2024 - Twine/SugarCube - Slice-of-life, Romance, Mystery - Choice-Based - FR/EN - 1h
Allusion, depiction or mention of: disappearances, particularly of a child - death and corpses, particularly of a child - illnesses, mental and physical - abuses, aggression, violence - homophobia, sexism - alcohol.
SpringThing - 2024
IFDB Awards - 2024