Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! for Windows and Macintosh. It heralds a new generation of interactive narrative accessible to casual gamers. It also heralds content that respects their maturity. Puberty has arrived to the casual market.
Casual gamers have had their second childhoods pampered long enough. They are tiring of primary colors, goggle-eyed cartoon characters, and 'mysteries' kids could figure out. DHSGiT roils with literary satire. Its sophisticated narrative pokes fun at a landscape of sexuality, society, superstition, and politics. It lampoons the perils perpetuated by small minds.
Previously, casual games tucked stories between a single mechanic. The mechanic was played repeatedly until the last level, and then the story ended. Their stories relied on winning to continue. Mousechief has created a world of story players explore. Talk with the characters and/or play games against them. Each confrontation advances the story, win or lose. Loses rarely cause players to repeat encounters.
Although core games do this regularly, reaching casual gamers with rich, interactive narratives is a challenge. DHSGiT combines the level structure of casual games with the open world structure core gamers enjoy. But it presents this in a context familiar to casual gamers with a boardgame metaphor similar to ClueTM and the original Arkham HorrorTM.
DHSGiT is already on track to be a sizable hit. Conversion rates are in the highest percentages for a casual game. Critical acclaim from early previews (such as in Wired Magazine) have transferred to the final version with added enthusiasm. Jay is Games says:
"...highly, highly recommend this game. ...you won't have played anything like it. It is extraordinarily entertaining, and long enough to contain a really meaty storyline. In many ways DHSGiT exemplifies much of what I love about casual gameplay and independent designers: unrestrained creativity, out-of-the-box conceptual thinking and the quirkiness that comes from freedom of expression."Last year, Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble won the Casual Games Association's $3k prize for 'Most Innovative Game'.
DHSGiT is not a story for children and has been rated TEEN using the T.I.G.R.S. rating system.
With this game, indie challenges the mainstream. It is the game where good girls get better by being BAD!
"Well-behaved women seldom make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich