The Counsel in The Cave

The Counsel in The Cave is a magical realist playable story about graduating, being lost, and imagining what's possible.

The narrative focuses on imaginative character building through unique dialogue choices. Experience interactive fiction with a license to interpret, imagine, and perform.

Press "Start" to start. 

Recommended to play on desktop / laptop in full screen.

See the website for more!

Features

Story

• Follow Jason, a directionless student soon to graduate, as he braves the magical labyrinth hidden beneath his high school in search of his 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 choices that let you interpret, imagine, and perform your character. Take part in creative performances as a collaborative storyteller. 
• Explore how the characters’ long and winding paths intersect and unwind with one another in this epic, nonlinear tale. Replay scenes from different perspectives to play every character in the cast.

World

• Explore The Layers, a magical labyrinthine land made from the confluence of convoluted worlds. Meet the wanderers who call this world their home and learn what it means to be lost.
• Visit The Lighthouse of the Subterranean Sea! Become lost in a forest that climbs petrified titans! Wander the purple fields of the whisper-willows and the ruins of the empire they echo.
• Experience the imagination of a hidden existence beyond the mundane.

Art

• Interact with hand-drawn, abstract illustrations that bring the topography of The Layers to life.

The Story

The Counsel in The Cave is a story that follows Jason, a directionless student soon to graduate, as he delves into the magical multi-layered labyrinth hidden beneath his high school in search of his missing guidance counselor. These Layers sit at the confluence of strange, imaginative worlds travelled by all manner of wanderers. In their impossible geometry, characters confront what it means to be lost. Jason braves The Layers believing he requires The Counselor’s wisdom to move forward in life. But on his journey through the unknowable lands, Jason will meet all manner of wanderers. Perhaps from them he may learn the value of being lost.

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 all mechanical consequence is removed from the 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 Joshua Fratis. The project was made as part of the Creative Arts Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh’s David C. Frederick Honors College. It is written in Ink, a narrative scripting language for games.

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 spans three acts, each one written in episodic vignettes. Three vignettes were released on July 14th, 2022. 

Even with its expanded scope, The Counsel in The Cave remains playable in a web browser. This is made possible by Ink. My own modifications to Ink’s default web export program, written in HTML and JavaScript, makes The Counsel in The Cave’s signature stage play style possible.