Nowadays, AI responding to your speech is nothing more than a function on your phone. You can get Siri or Cortana to communicate with you, and make some funny or shockingly grave responses. You’re able to ask the weather, make a call, play a specific song, or hear a joke by simply asking your phone a question. With power and intelligence like that, the possibilities for the future are endless. But what if somebody decided to make a game with that power? It turns out that in 2005, somebody did just that, and it’s more intense than you could imagine.
“Façade” is an interactive one act play, created by Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern. It follows a married couple, Trip and Grace, who invited over an old friend for drinks and accidentally let their entire relationship unravel in an explosive and dramatic manner. The play revolves around you, the guest, with a name and gender that you choose. You’ll be trying your hardest to diffuse the situation, listen to both sides reveal astounding secrets and insecurities, and seeing if you can save their marriage. You can steer the conversation by asking questions, taking sides, or making comments that may accidentally reveal secrets.
The gameplay is simple: you play in a first-person perspective, interact with the props and characters, and vocalize your own dialogue by typing them out on your keyboard. If it’s a statement or question that makes sense to the AI, they’ll respond in an appropriate manner – whether that’s being offended, thanking you, or being slightly terrified of you. The game has multiple endings, but can be aborted by being too offensive and having Trip swiftly remove you from the house.
I love this game. I love it with all my heart. I’ll play it repeatedly for hours at a time, just to see what new story arcs or secrets I can reveal through dialogue. Seriously, I’ve been playing this game since 2011, and there are still little bits of dialogue that I haven’t seen. I’ll watch let’s players play it, just to see if they’ll unlock something new or bring up an idea that I never thought of. Sometimes, I watch them just to see them mess with the characters and offend them to unbelievable measures. It’s such a versatile game, and so advanced for a computer program from 2005. The characters are three-dimensional and dynamic, and the subtleties of Trip and Grace make them feel like real people. It’s one of the most emotionally involving games I’ve played. The dialogue and characters are portrayed so well that I honestly forget that I’m playing a game, and simply let the drama unfold before me.
I’m trying not to go too into depth with what you can do, because I think it’s more important that you experience the game for yourself and figure out why you love it. Let yourself get immersed. Figure out why Grace is so cold and distant, and why Trip is a little too lovey-dovey and overbearing. It’s a worthwhile experience. If you play your cards right, you can watch every little element coalesce to a satisfactory ending, or get kicked out because you said the word “melon.” That’s a real thing: don’t say “melon” in front of Trip. But that’s all the information I’ll give you. If you want to find more ways to offend them, give it a play.
