Once again the StoryFusion podcast team has a look at an award-winning game, one with a peculiar heritage: Inkle Studios’ “80 Days”

“80 Days” is an adaption of Jules Verne’s classic novel “Around the world in 80 days”, in itself a work which delves deep into the technology and the socio-cultural makeup of its time, giving the world the excentric traveller Phileas Fogg and his manservant Passepartout. 

In the game, the player takes control of Passepartout and is charged with organizing the journey around the world, told through a stylishly minimalistic interface and with a strong focus on storytelling. It greatly expands on Verne’s novel, creating a nonlinear experience with many different routes and options. 

We talk about the motives and what the novel tells about its time and how the game treats these elements. In passing we are also having a look at two other adaptions of the source material: The film from 1956 and the TV series from 1989, starring Pierce Brosnan.

Erratum: Of course, Philipp got the name of 80 Days’ writer wrong. The writer of the game was Meg Jayanth. 

The game is much more free-form, you can take very, very different routes depending upon where you are. Therefore they had to invent new adventures…

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Introduction

1:05 The game “80 days”

5:50 An overview of the original novel’s journey

9:10 Differences between the game and the novel

Points of reference

13:20 References within the game

15:30 Peculiarities of the source material

18:55 Adaptions of the novel: The TV series from 1989 and the film from 1956

20:30 Jules Verne and “science-fiction”

Context

24:20 The times of the original book and its influence

26:35 Historical and geographical settings

29:10 The relationship of Passepartout and Phileas Fogg in the game

Mechanics

31:20 Critique of the game’s mechanics and procedural generation

36:20 Associations as a narrative tool and adventures in the TV series

39:50 Other works by Inkle Studios

Recommendations

42:10 Doro’s recommendation: “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi

43:05 Philipp’s recommendation: “King of Dragon Pass”

Further Reading

 

Our title song is “Witchcraft” from “Go fly a kite” (General Electric)

All pictures from “80 Days” are copyright of Inkle Studios