In a day and age when it is rare that any one game captures my short attention span long enough to be played to completion even once, I have now experienced (‘play’ does not really convey the proper feeling) Masq fifteen times – yes, fifteen times – and it’s as though the cast of characters are as familiar as those in any long-running soap opera or adventure game series.  Granted, that by my final game it was only a seven-minute jaunt from beginning to end, but with Masq the joy resides not in the completion or length of the game but in the journey itself.

Masq is a 5-episode online interactive/drama, whereby the user becomes the main character and the storyline unfolds through his own eyes much like any first-person game.  The adventure is driven based on the user’s choices, much like the popular Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, and while we have all been disappointed by numerous titles with empty promises of interactivity, Masq more than meets the challenge as almost every one of your decisions will immediately influence the branching storyline and, eventually, outcome of the game.

Masq is presented through a series of noir style black-and-white comic-style illustrations – with the occasional touch of blood red dropped in at key moments – with options listed below the main picture.  As the main character – though you never appear onscreen, you may sometimes see your hands or other parts of your body – you own a fashion design firm that is about to launch a sexy collection named Masq, designed by your friend and employee Peter.  You need to solicit a loan to broadcast the rollout show on the Fashion Network (if all of this sound ‘less than manly’ to some of you, or like a ‘girl’s game’, believe me it is neither).  But should you wait until you hear from Rogers at the bank or approach Williams, your wife Susan’s supervisor, for the money?  And your sexy, new intern Nikki, is there something strangely familiar about her?

There are certain situations in the game that will occur regardless of the choices you make as they are integral to the story, but there are also integral situations that you can change by your decisions.  As you will quickly discover though, how you play this story is up to you.  You can be an adulterer, a blackmailer or just an all around good guy.  At times, even your choice to be non-decisive can be pivotal.  If you hesitate for too long, life goes on and characters will act on their own without waiting for your decision just as they would in real life.

There are approximately seven times more scenes than what you will see your first time through (which should take between 15-20 minutes) and at the conclusion of your first game, you will be treated to a sneak preview of additional scenes so you can get a taste of what you haven’t experienced and according to the Alteraction website Masq contains more than 3,000 different scenes, hundreds of different paths and numerous different endings, so even playing through fifteen times as I did doesn’t guarantee that you will have seen or experienced most of the options.  Additionally, if you want to explore different paths without starting from the beginning every time, you can use the save button – acquired after you have completed the game the first time – as a tool to explore different scenarios.

Word of warning though, due to the subject matter, Masq is recommended for adults only and as such does have some strong sexual elements.  There are some mildly explicit sexual scenes that some may find offensive, but then again, maybe there are not, it all depends on your choices.  You can have sex with Nikki or with your wife or, after you have played through a few times, may even figure out how to make love to both Nikki and Susan in the same day, but then again it is entirely possible that neither may happen.  But, as a nod to player sensibilities and as a smart marketing move to get as many players as possible involved, there will soon be an option to download a censored version of Masq.

So as it’s not available in stores, where can you find Masq? Episodes 1 & 2 are available at the AlterAction website and can be played on the web using only your browse.  Once the Masq file has been downloaded, you can then activate episodes 3-5 by clicking the link in the email you will receive.  You can then play Masq from your hard drive, but you will need to be online.  And the price for all of this?  Nada, zilch, free of charge! 

My burning question though is what is the purpose behind Masq?  Sure it is loads of fun, but what is AlterAction attempting to achieve by offering this game for free?  So I put this question to Writer/Programmer Javier Maldonado:

We’re still working in defining the next steps for AlterAction, but in a broad sense we’re looking for funding and strategic alliances to make Interactive Drama a mainstream form of entertainment. We’re just starting to talk with those who may help us to achieve this.

We’re going to take the necessary steps to commercialize Masq; from improving it, to exploring the possibility of porting it to other platforms such as mobile devices and/or consoles. And we’d like to start development of another couple of Interactive Dramas, as well as evolve better authoring tools. And ultimately, we want to invite authors out there to join the party.

The AlterAction website contains some interesting information and blogs on the difficulties of creating an interactive drama like Masq.  What seems simplistic on the surface is in reality a complicated morass of design principles and what-if alternative scenarios.  Once you have experienced the full game, you will be hooked and want to replay and modify your previous decisions.  Remember that Lay’s potato chip commercial with the tagline, ‘Betcha can’t eat just one,’ well Masq is just as addictive and should adopt the motto, ‘Masq – Nobody can play just once!’

System Requirements:

• Internet Connection