14 DAY TRIAL // 
Dyscourse is an indie choose-your-own-adventure game about a group of people trying to survive on a remote island, after having suffered a plane crash.
The game came after a modest Kickstarter campaign, so as usual with these types of products, I had little expectations from it. However, it managed to win me over through its tense decision making, personality, and vivid art style.
You play the role of Rita, a barista heading to the world latte art championships, finding herself stranded on a desert island in the middle of nowhere. She quickly stumbles upon an unlikely group of survivors trying to find their way back home or at least survive to the best of their abilities until they are rescued, and you get to lead the group throughout the adventure.
As there is no set storyline to follow, aside from the scripted events, you pretty much write your own story in Dyscourse, as you try to make the best of the situation at hand and struggle to keep everyone alive.
Gameplay
I don’t want to get into the details of the group and the things you’ll go up against, as discovering everything for yourself is a pretty big part of the experience, and since it’s quite short, it would diminish the impact of the various situations you find yourself in.
The gameplay consists mainly of dialogue and choice, and some wandering around the island in search of food, supplies and hope. As you talk to the other characters before going to sleep, you start to get to know them better, and relationships develop.
There are always branching paths to take, with various dramatic situations inevitably arising from being stuck on an island without any resources or plans. Sometimes, the lack of supplies is not your biggest enemy, as human nature has some pretty big surprises in store.
The interpersonal drama that dynamically evolves as the game progresses is one of the strong points of Dyscourse, as although everybody wants to work together for the common goal of survival in theory, some are less prone to cooperation, and the unpredictable nature of life can always turn your plans on their head.
And it will happen. I don’t know how you usually play your video games, but I always save up my consumables up until the very end, and I always make sure to save everyone. Basically, the sort of character Bruce Willis plays in movies, only lurking behind the scenes and pulling everyone’s strings.
In spite of the colorful outlook of Dyscourse, things get serious fast, and if you’re not careful, you will actually lose some of the members of your group. You can lose them even if you are careful, due to the constant danger the group is in, and the difficult decisions you have to make, without knowing the impact of each choice.
One of the best things about the game is the branching narrative, influenced by your every decision, putting the lives of the characters in your hands. Some battles you will win, others you will lose.
Depending on the choices you make, you may end up with different members of the group surviving the adventure, and going through a different series of events each time. In addition to this, the choices you make have an influence on how subsequent events unfold, introducing various slight twists into the overall narrative.
This also makes Dyscourse replayable, which is fortunate, due to its rather short duration. There are also a lot of things to uncover during your playthroughs, such as characters’ backstories and the many ways things can pan out, and how seemingly irrelevant decisions can alter the course of your adventure.
There are deadly crabs and pumas to face, as well as the forces of nature, the antagonism of the group, and the unpredictable whims of destiny. Overall, there is a pretty varied menu of gnarly stuff happening, with enough whimsy interspersed among the seriousness of the experience to make it entertaining and not entirely grim.
The colorful and highly stylized art direction offers the game a surreal and lighthearted overall sheen. Dyscourse’s visuals were the first thing to grab my attention, a great way to offset the events of the narrative and to offer the game an extra serving of personality.
The Good
- Tons of personality
- Great aesthetic direction
- Replayable
- Light-hearted
The Bad
- Very short
- No voice acting
- Simplistic
Conclusion
On the cons side of things, there is no voice acting, only text and mumbling, the game is very short, and the puzzles and mechanics are very simplistic. This is, however, made up for through flair and personality, through tension and variety, and through the funky characters you interact with.
Overall, for a game that was only made possible through a Kickstarter campaign, I’d say Dyscourse ended up as a pretty swell experience. I would have liked it to be a little longer and a tad more complex, but it’s enjoyable enough as is, and has enough personality to put a smile on your face, even though it deals with some pretty serious issues.
