How Times & Galaxy Turns Journalism into a Game Mechanic
Summary
- Times & Galaxy’s unique Build-A-Story feature lets players tell the story how they see it.
- Copychaser Games’ Creative Director shares how his past as a crime reporter shaped the game’s approach to journalism.
- Times & Galaxy is coming to Xbox in mid-2024.
Ever wanted to experience the rush of breaking news? In Times & Galaxy, you’ll chase down scoops as the newest robo-intern of a trusted holopaper. Your assignments might initially seem less than glamorous, like intersolar cat shows and underground dirt fairs—you are an intern, after all. But what, and how, you report is up to you: by picking your way through branching conversations and exploring each level, you’ll discover hidden information, new sources and surprising quotes, allowing you to craft your story your way through the game’s unique Build-A-Story feature.
“Branching conversations are the bread and butter of a lot of larger Western RPGs, and they are, in many ways, what you do as a reporter doing an interview,” Copychaser Games Creative Director Ben Gelinas explains. “You have to decide what to ask, and how to ask it to get the information you need.”
Gelinas knows that from experience: before he began writing for games—with credits on Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect 3, and Control, among other titles—Gelinas was working as a crime reporter for a daily newspaper in Canada. Drawing on his past career offered new opportunities for well-established conversation systems.
