Interaction - Bachelor

Impermanence

Impermanence is an online tabletop roleplay game that uses storytelling to foster connection. It's a game where the Past, Present and Future are alive and throw you from one time period to the next. In each era, the role of storyteller (aka Timekeeper) gets passed on to the next player. Can you survive the tales thrown your way, or will you find yourself lost in history?

Robin Sadeesh

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A book cover with a moody red and black background. A clock is just below the center of the picture and three hands come out of the black darkness and seem to be reaching towards the clock. Both the hands and the clock seem like they are being erased away, as if someone had lightly smudged the edges. At the top of the screen there is text reading "You are now in a state of Impermanence" with "Impermanence" being written in large font across the top. At the bottom of the image, in smaller text, reads "Time is the one thing you can never run from".
Time is alive.

The Past, Present and Future are each conscious Aspects of Time who crave and hunger and search.

Their food is what we call ‘stories’ and ‘history’, and so they hunt for people to play roles in the stories they desire to see // the meals they desire to eat. You have become one of these people; ensnared in Time’s insatiable hunger, you are now but a mere marionette forced to accept each time period you are thrown into and play out each story you are faced with. Appease these Aspects of Time. Follow the whims of their stories. Else be faced with the consequences of your defiance.

How To Play

An image showing the opening screen of the design prototype. There is a clock covering the left portion of the screen, and on the right there is text. The text reads: "You are now in a state of Impermanence. You have been picked up from your timeline and thrown into another by Time itself.The Past, Present and Future are sentient beings who feed on history and stories and they have chosen you to curate their enxt meal. Entertain them with a good story to appease their hunger, else suffer the consequences." Then there is text below saying START and an hourglass where the letter A should be.

This prototype of Impermenance is to be played by two people. Both users will take turns being the player and the Timekeeper (aka storyteller). You must choose who amongst you two will be the Timekeeper first. The Timekeeper is then able to narrate your adventure and spin a tale until Time runs out (…Quite literally. Keep your eye on the timer if you’d like).

This is also an image showing one of the screens of Impermenance that users will come across once they have started playing. It features a foggy background, a white rectangle (with rounded corners) taking up most of the screen, and the rest of the content lies ontop of this rectangle. On a corner of the rectangle, there is writing saying "The Whiteboard" showing that that is the purpose of the rectangle. There is a side menu with options such as: Images, Drawing, Sound Effects, Microphone (Mute/Unmute), Headphone (Deafen), togglign video off and on and a button to let users leave the room / end the call. It shows that there are currently two players on call, but the empty spaces show that the game accomodates up to eight people. On the right bottom corner, there is a card stating that it is the player's turn. The card says they have to act out a scene where they are accusing someone of something (it is not clear yet from this picture what that could be) and that they have to talk about why they are accusing the person. On the whiteboard there are already some meemes that have been places. There is a pirate ship, a 'sneak 100' meme, a meme of a man staring (originating from the tv show Dexter), Patrick from spongebob looking silly, a silly drawn hamster wearing detective clothes and a few other memes. The biggest meme is one from Ace Attorey where Phoenix Wright is pointing. It looks like he i saccusing someone of something which fits in with the prompt on the card.

The game takes place on a digital whiteboard where players are theoretically able to drag GIFs and reaction images onto the whiteboard while they play. This version of the prototype allows users to scroll through the available GIFS but does not support dragging and adding them onto the whiteboard itself. Instead, it simulates that experience by adding the reaction images automatically. Players are also able to open the soundboard and play out the sound effects at almost anypoint during their playthrough.

These memes and sound effects are apart of the game experience itself, showing how storytelling can be done in a matter of ways that are not just textual.

Three different pages that seem to have come from a book. Two of the pages have art of a knight with ginger hair. On the first page we see him standing facing away, a black cape behind him, and ginger hair tied up in a low ponytail. On the second page he holds a sword and is now wearing a helmet so the viewer cannot see his face. The third page shows a completely different character who is wearing a fully face mask that also looks like a type of gas mask. Their outfit seems to be made out of cheaper materials, they have bandages on one of their feet, and they hold a set of keys in one of their hands. The title for their page calls them a thief.

Impermenance encourages people to partake in storytelling more, not just by themselves but with their friends and in communal settings.

It’s interesting to see how people are shaped by stories, and how stories are shaped by the people who tell them. You could ask three different people to narrate the same story, but each person’s narration would differ. Because no one person is the same, and so the way we tell stories and what we find important in stories changes depending on the person. Truly, storytelling allows for people to take a sneak peak into the minds of others. It fosters connection and community, and betters our emotional wellbeing.

At times where things feel all too overwhelming, it is nice to take a break from it all, sit with some friends, recount stories and talk about nonsensical things.

And that is what Impermanence opens up the floor for.

Concept Video

Try out impermanence

Best played in fullscreen.

An illustrated drawing of an hourglass that has a crack on its bottom portion. Out of the crack, a red substance seems to be leaking, which at first glance may seem to be deep red sand, however upon further inspection it is actually realized to be in the shape of a person crawling out of the hourglass (or limply falling out). The shadow of the hourglass is also a red colour, making it seem like it is being cast by some sort fo light behind the hourglass that we cannot yet see.

Robin Sadeesh

Robin is an interaction designer and at heart, a storyteller, a creative and someone who wants what they make to impact the world around them. He sees value in design because design calls for change.

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