What is your reaction to the text you've just read or reviewed?
When I played the game Horse Master, I was a little confused from the opening on what the premise was going to revolve around. Although the more I played it, the more I began to understand the logic behind it. Basically, it tells about the first time buying and tending a horse. The premise is that when you buy the horse, you need to make sure it grows up healthy and increase its status over the course of the game. It would feel more personal, if the player was able to see the horse, and how it changes over time. But as far as the game goes it only shows pixelated artwork once in a while to show the progression over the game, and even then it's still hard to see and understand what it's about.
What connections did you make of the story? Discuss the elements of work that you were able to connect with.
The connections I made with the story weren't as personal as expected. It could be that I didn't play the entire game from start to finish, or that I could see the pictures of progression over the game, but I didn't see, nor understand what the purpose of the game was for. However, that's not to say that I didn't see any diamonds in the rough. I did like how choosing a prompt for the twine selection showed me my previous status on where my horse is growing with me the more I take care of it. I also personally liked the art style when there was something to see. It may be pixelated 8-bit, but it still looked great, even when simplified to that degree.
What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
I personally do like it as a game that you can download for free on the internet, but I would want to change the style of game. The changes to the game that I would make would be to have more visuals in, that way it can show to new players what kind of horse they can choose, they can click on where to groom it at, and the player can customize the horse to be more relatable to their choosing. It may not have been what the developer was intending to do, or he may not have known how to do it, but it will help make the horse feel more like the player's horse, rather than a horse you happen to have. Another change to make the game better would be to begin the game by choosing stats for the horse, and how it will be affected over the course of the game. RPG (Role Playing Game) systems allow for more open-ended customization with characters, and their stats, therefore allowing you more freedom in how you want to play the game. If Horse Master had a system that allowed you to, say help change the horses' strength or agility, then it would affect its relationship with you. But if you focused on building your relationship with the horse through caring, and nurturing, then it wouldn't have the best racing stats. And so on. There is big potential to create a follow up to the game, and allow for more freedom for both the player, and the game.
