The Counsel in The Cave

A playable story by Joshua Fratis

Features

Story

Follow May and Jason, directionless students soon to graduate, as they brave the magical labyrinth hidden beneath their high school in search of their missing guidance counselor.

Gameplay

Take ownership of a cast of characters, each with their own unique struggles that send them on their path through The Layers.
Make dialogue choices that let you interpret, imagine, and perform your character. Take part in creative performances as a collaborative storyteller.
Replay scenes from different perspectives. Explore how the characters’ long and winding paths intersect and unwind with one another in this epic, nonlinear tale.

World

Explore The Layers, the confluence of convoluted worlds. These strange and imaginative lands are home to all sorts of wanderers. Experience the impossible geometry, and learn what it means to be lost.

The Story

The Counsel in The Cave follows May, a high-school senior soon to graduate. She's torn between the promise of an exciting new life at university and her peaceful hometown. Where is she to lead her life, once graduation passes?

In search of answers, May goes looking for her missing guidance counselor. She follows their trail to The Layers, a magical labyrinth hidden beneath her high school.

Meanwhile, May's friend Jason follows in her footsteps, fearing for her safety. By searching for his friend, Jason begins his own journey.

On the winding roads below the surface, the two meet all manner of wandering folk. They're forced to face what it means to be lost. Perhaps they'll learn they never needed their counselor at all...

The Design

The choices in The Counsel in The Cave may seem strange at first. Even meaningless. After all, this story only ever had one ending. But by giving up a branching narrative, The Counsel in The Cave earns something far more meaningful.

When challenge mechanics and fail states are removed from dialogue choices, players are free to consider what’s left: the implications each choice holds for the life of the character themselves.

By making these choices, a player can take ownership of their character and realize the stories they tell themselves. Players develop complex ideas about who their characters are. In deciding how to express their vision, players become creative actors and storytellers within the authored narrative.

The Project

The Counsel in The Cave was written, designed and illustrated by Josh Fratis. This project was made as part of the Creative Arts Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Honors College. It was written in Ink.

The Counsel in The Cave began as a Twine game– an interactive adaptation of a poem I wrote. Since then, it’s grown a lot! The story is imagined to span three acts, each one written in episodic vignettes.

Even with its expanded scope, I wanted The Counsel in The Cave to remain playable in a web browser. This is made possible first by Ink, secondly by my own modifications to Ink’s default web export program, writen in HTML and JavaScript. This is what makes The Counsel in The Cave’s signature stage play style possible.

Three vignettes, one from each of the story's three acts, are were released on July 14th, 2022. These were be presented at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the University Honors College’s Creative Arts Fellowship the following fall semester.