Meanwhile: An Interactive Comic Book
Zarfhome Software · 2018 · Choose Your Own Adventure, Interactive Fiction, Comic Book, 2D, Story Rich
PC
Mostly Positive79% · 14
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About Meanwhile: An Interactive Comic Book
On the way home from the ice cream store, little Jimmy discovers a mad scientist’s wonderland: an experimental mind-reading helmet, a time machine, and a doomsday device that can annihilate the human race. Which one would you like to test out first?
Meanwhile is a comic, but not an ordinary comic. Follow the paths from panel to panel. Where the path divides, you decide where to go next! A thrilling tale of quantum mechanics and self-discovery with 3,856 story possibilities.
This is a faithful adaptation of Jason Shiga’s classic choose-your-path comic book (originally published in hardcover in 2010). Our goal is not to make the comic “more interactive”, but to present the interactivity inherent in the story. We have not attempted to turn the book into an adventure game. There are no puzzles – except for your understanding of the story, which is entirely up to you. Just as in a physical book, you are free to browse around, or even jump straight to the end if you want.
The electronic medium allows us to improve on the book in one way: we can take advantage of Scott McCloud’s “infinite canvas” principle. Jason has reformatted the book’s pages and tabs into a single enormous spread, in which the story flows in every direction at once.
But what did happen to little Jimmy?
Meanwhile is a comic, but not an ordinary comic. Follow the paths from panel to panel. Where the path divides, you decide where to go next! A thrilling tale of quantum mechanics and self-discovery with 3,856 story possibilities.
This is a faithful adaptation of Jason Shiga’s classic choose-your-path comic book (originally published in hardcover in 2010). Our goal is not to make the comic “more interactive”, but to present the interactivity inherent in the story. We have not attempted to turn the book into an adventure game. There are no puzzles – except for your understanding of the story, which is entirely up to you. Just as in a physical book, you are free to browse around, or even jump straight to the end if you want.
The electronic medium allows us to improve on the book in one way: we can take advantage of Scott McCloud’s “infinite canvas” principle. Jason has reformatted the book’s pages and tabs into a single enormous spread, in which the story flows in every direction at once.
But what did happen to little Jimmy?
DLC & expansions
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What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
This comic was a formative experience for me in elementary school. The library had a physical copy and I read through countless times, following the paths and tabs, finding secrets more through brute force than cleverly figuring out how Professor K's inventions fit together. Realizing the truth at the end of it all rocked me to the core. Finding Ultima hit just as hard. For the record, you can still pick up a physical copy of this book for ten bucks. It's exactly the same price as this digital release, which is probably the reason for the steep price tag. This interactive version exists mostly as a matter of preservation. I recommend the book way more - there's a tactile experience you don't get with this version. But whichever way you do it, I recommend experiencing Meanwhile *somehow*, and this is a fine way to do it.4 found this helpful
Jason Shiga's amazing comic in digital form. While the book is still my preferred method of navigating, I'm really glad that more people are able to experience this for the first time. If you liked this, be sure to check out his other work that's available online for free, the math mystery thriller Fleep and his sprawling epic Demon, they're both worth your time.3 found this helpful
Not sure if I'm missing something, but there's seems to be very very little content here. I was pretty disappointed after purchasing it - wish I had requested a refund. The art is adorable and the story quirky enough, but there just wasn't very much to it - I guess I finished it in less than 2 hours? You know how there's a snapshot of a bunch of comic book panels in the storefront slideshow - I think that's the entire experience.2 found this helpful
Definitely not worth $10- Aside from that, it was fun to revisit a childhood book and actually fully understand the story. I do wish there was an option to fully hide panels you hadn't visited yet, as I was spoiled on one of the codes because I looked at a different path. [spoiler]Yeah there's one code that depends on this (it's in a path normally inaccessible), but yeah[/spoiler]
Maybe a little pricey, but I enjoyed the content I got, and I like to occasionally read through it again.
this game is so good. might get more of Jason Shiga's books after this.
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