80 Days

The plot of 80 Days is loosely based on Jules Verne's book "Around the World in 80 Days," published in 1873, roughly the same year the game takes place in. The protagonist is Phileas Fogg, who (as in the novel) places a bet that he can circumnavigate the world in--you guessed it--80 days. Players play as Fogg's manservant, Passepartout.

In the game you must choose a route to travel, with each city offering unique narrative content. This gives the game wonderful re-playability, as one single route contains only about 3% of the overall content. Meanwhile, Passepartout must manage Fogg's health, finances--including purchasing decisions--and of course, time. Choices made at each step may impact the story in the future.

Players can race against one another to complete the 80-day circumnavigation.

• What type of choices did you make? How did they affect the gameplay? Were you ever forced to make a decision that made you uncomfortable, or that had unforeseen problems later on?
• Can you think of any issues there might be with telling stories about other cultures from the perspective of someone who isn't a part of those cultures? (Notably, Meg Jayanth, who wrote this game, is British-Indian and has discussed how she felt alienated by Jules Verne's depictions of Indians in the original novel.)
• Do you think a game like this could be a good way to learn history? What are some things you wanted to know more about while playing?