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By Christopher Laett-Babcock November 20, 2014

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Simulator 2014

Illustrated by Vanessa Ierfino

Many North Americans hide a sultry secret: they wish more than anything else to be intercontinental ballistic missiles, powerful and strong. On the outside they are ordinary humans of any race or creed, but on the inside they are gargantuan missiles tearing through the night sky. Today, you can join their glorious ranks and live as an intercontinental ballistic missile by clicking here.

About the author

Christopher Laett-Babcock is a second year Liberal Arts student. He is not an intercontinental ballistic missile, but he has lots of friends who are, so it's okay that he wrote this.

About the illustrator

Vanessa Ierfino is a first year Illustration student.

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Comments

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    rpimienta

    November 24, 2014

    So this was definitely an experience, I’m not really sure how else to put it. But I especially liked the bit where the missile is “howling” towards the earth and the sentence is really long and fluid. It defiantly enhances the effect of falling because the words are so big and it seems like everything is happening so fast and the reader isn’t really sure what’s going on. And I absolutely love the kind of dry humor that’s used throughout; it makes the whole experience a lot more enjoyable and funny. Also, the part with the implied author and reader and narrator (which is what I think you were getting at) was just brilliant. It confused the shit out of me but I still loved inception-y feel. It was awesome, I’m really glad I clicked on this!

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    Johan DeNora

    November 26, 2014

    Love it, live it, laugh it, learn it. These 8 words perfectly describe my feelings towards this “game”. Loved the humour throughout, especially considering the dark places this piece went. The multiple options given throughout and the deception of choice was very nicely done. It had me feeling legitimately anxious to try and stop the missile from detonating. That’s, like, really powerful, man. I take this as not only being a nice commentary on war, but also as a commentary on the illusion of choice in games. Something, something, free will is a lie, etc etc, you know how it goes. At the end of the day though, this piece made me learn a little, laugh a lot, and, you know what, it made me think. Thanks for that, buddy-guy.

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    Nbuenio

    November 30, 2014

    I would say that this is the bomb, but really it’s a missile. This interactive artwork is very entertaining.  The narrative is well written and I love the humour that’s being used throughout. It is just like how I enjoy my coffee, dark.  The way you describe the missile’s journey through the air was awesome. For a second it made me think I was the missile. There is also the fact that you make the player think he has a choice on the outcome of the situation. I really enjoy this medium of telling a story because it invites the reader to interact with the story. In fact the story can’t progress if the reader does nothing. All in all I really enjoyed your simulator.  I would definitely play again. 5/5

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    Katherine Badalone

    November 30, 2014

    I absolutely love the idea of anthropomorphizing a missle. Not only do the commands bring it out, but so do the word choices: screaming, wailing, howling… It really brings out the personality of both the narrator and the missile itself. I liked the modernist bit, too, and the short stream of consciousness was sobering, but not sobering enough to detract from the humour of the piece. All in all, I really enjoyed it, and I’d probably want to play through it again just to see all the work that was put into this thing.

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