Assessment: Horse Master
Q: What is your reaction to the text you just read/viewed?
A: It seems buckwild! The set up is made to make you seem like you're trying to raise a horse in Horse Master, but as soon as you get the little orb your "horse" comes in, you know something is up. I feel like it plays games with you; it offers a way to get max stats for the horse every day at a certain point, and it feels like cheating, or like you're doing something wrong. There's a sense of building repercussions and guilt as you play that are enforced by the writing in the actual game; are you doing this right? Are you worthy to be a horse master? What is this "horse" if not an actual horse, and what world are you living in when subdued by all the drugs... It does a good job with revealing incremental information as well. You slowly learn that this horse is most certainly not an actual normal horse that we're used to, and that this world is dystopian even if it's something you recognized at the beginning.
Q: What connections did you make with the story; discuss the elements with which you were able to connect.
A: One of the most important connections you make when starting is that you're caring for an animal, what you initially think is a horse. That right there already gives you incentive to be invested in a very personal way; YOU are responsible for this creature! You want to be a horse master, but I honestly just wanted my horse to survive while I was playing. It functions very much like you getting a similar responsibility in real life in how you would do anything to protect something you care about, even if the odds eventually end up against you, as per the narrative of the story.
I found myself unable to connect with the part of the extended drug abuse from our character, though; I could understand it, but it didn't feel close enough to me to understand and connect beyond the surface level thoughts. I've played in sports competitions, but I've had many more friends who would more likely relate to the idea that something like doping would be accepted in becoming a Horse Master. I found it an interesting mechanic, though, to measure the character's commitment to the horse.
I also gravitated towards Horse Master initially because it seemed like a goofy name, but it wound up being a much more complex story, which surprised me. It's easier to connect when there's a build of information, and thus more reason for us as an audience/player to become invested in the storyline.
Q: What changes would you make to adapt this story to another medium? What changes would you make?
A: I feel like it'd be an interesting story to translate into some sort of tabletop RPG; it banks on user input, so as a game I think it'd be difficult to get the variety of choices in the form of a movie or tv show, etc. As an RPG, you would still allow for players to exist as their own horse masters, attempting to raise their horses and progress through the game like we do on the digital version. A change I might make in that respect, though, is allowing more character archetypes; I know there are Horse Masters, and a Horse Seller is involved as well as a Landlord, but what about Horse Thieves? Revolutionaries? I think there's a lot of opportunity to build the world around the Horse Master, and elaborate on it so there's more chances for people's own choice into their lives if it were a tabletop RPG.
A: It seems buckwild! The set up is made to make you seem like you're trying to raise a horse in Horse Master, but as soon as you get the little orb your "horse" comes in, you know something is up. I feel like it plays games with you; it offers a way to get max stats for the horse every day at a certain point, and it feels like cheating, or like you're doing something wrong. There's a sense of building repercussions and guilt as you play that are enforced by the writing in the actual game; are you doing this right? Are you worthy to be a horse master? What is this "horse" if not an actual horse, and what world are you living in when subdued by all the drugs... It does a good job with revealing incremental information as well. You slowly learn that this horse is most certainly not an actual normal horse that we're used to, and that this world is dystopian even if it's something you recognized at the beginning.
Q: What connections did you make with the story; discuss the elements with which you were able to connect.
A: One of the most important connections you make when starting is that you're caring for an animal, what you initially think is a horse. That right there already gives you incentive to be invested in a very personal way; YOU are responsible for this creature! You want to be a horse master, but I honestly just wanted my horse to survive while I was playing. It functions very much like you getting a similar responsibility in real life in how you would do anything to protect something you care about, even if the odds eventually end up against you, as per the narrative of the story.
I found myself unable to connect with the part of the extended drug abuse from our character, though; I could understand it, but it didn't feel close enough to me to understand and connect beyond the surface level thoughts. I've played in sports competitions, but I've had many more friends who would more likely relate to the idea that something like doping would be accepted in becoming a Horse Master. I found it an interesting mechanic, though, to measure the character's commitment to the horse.
I also gravitated towards Horse Master initially because it seemed like a goofy name, but it wound up being a much more complex story, which surprised me. It's easier to connect when there's a build of information, and thus more reason for us as an audience/player to become invested in the storyline.
Q: What changes would you make to adapt this story to another medium? What changes would you make?
A: I feel like it'd be an interesting story to translate into some sort of tabletop RPG; it banks on user input, so as a game I think it'd be difficult to get the variety of choices in the form of a movie or tv show, etc. As an RPG, you would still allow for players to exist as their own horse masters, attempting to raise their horses and progress through the game like we do on the digital version. A change I might make in that respect, though, is allowing more character archetypes; I know there are Horse Masters, and a Horse Seller is involved as well as a Landlord, but what about Horse Thieves? Revolutionaries? I think there's a lot of opportunity to build the world around the Horse Master, and elaborate on it so there's more chances for people's own choice into their lives if it were a tabletop RPG.
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