Exit Through the Gift Shop (WIP)

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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In Exit Through the Gift Shop, you start as a child in the 1930s with your family making your first visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The story is about the arc of your life, from beginning to end, as experienced through the lens of trips to the museum, with each chapter moving forward one decade. It’s about how families use cultural institutions for family bonding and to create landmarks in time. It will draw in part from my time working at the Museum and from over a century of publicly-accessible guide books. It will highlight the idea that as families change so do the institutions in our lives.

What type of experiences will you choose? Will you seek awe or knowledge, attention or impact? How will you leave a legacy defined not by wealth or property but, rather, one measured in moments of awe, in knowledge inspired, in relationships deepened? How will you respond to change over time, within your family and within the Museum? Over a lifetime of family trips to the American Museum of Natural History, how will the photos collected document the impact of your decisions through the memories made and the nostalgia that echoes in its absence?

The story is a work of fiction but based on the real history of the Museum (where I worked for six years).

  • Play as male, female or non-binary; gay, straight or bi.
  • Choose your family structure.
  • Nurture sibling rivalries or become besties with your siblings.
  • Visit a wide range of museum exhibits.
  • Meet a variety of NPCs connected to the Museum and trace their story over time.
  • Decide both the scientific topics you want to explore and the type of experiences you want to have within the Museum.
  • Explore how the decisions you make during your visits affect your family.

I just finished a very rough draft of the Prologue and I plan on updating every week or two. It is currently planned to be around a dozen chapters.

Warnings: The story will contain topics related to change, loss, and death.

Currently, the demo includes:

  • A draft of the Prologue

Changelog:

Summary

10.21.24

  • First chapter (draft) posted.
  • 3352 words
  • Feedback request: helpful feedback for a first chapter for a first-time CoG writer.

To play the demo, go here: https://cogdemos.ink/go/3192

46 Likes
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I like it. It is very cute so far. :face_holding_back_tears:

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Thank you Harley. I appreciate your taking a look. Anything specific that you can share that you like about it?

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I love it! As someone who loves Natural History and also works at a museum (nothing as impressive as this one I suppose, though I haven’t been to the New York one, just London’s with good old Dippy and Mr Darwin) this is a great opening and I like the idea of exploring family via the day out aspect. Great start!

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I alwaya like to play during childhood parts. They are always cute and make me relive my childhood. :face_holding_back_tears:

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If I may ask, where did you get the pictures? Did you find them online, or did you take them yourself when you worked at the museum?

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Thanks Harley!

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@derekmetaltron Thank you James. It’s great to hear that.

@ChanceOfFire Vance, the images I am currently using are just placeholders I grabbed online. I will later use a combination of non-copywrite images from previous Museum publications (e.g. old catalogs) or images I request permission to use from the Museum’s digital database.

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I really like the start and that you can make your own family (precious :heart: ) especially to have siblings :grinning: very lovely :sparkling_heart: I’m looking forward to more :heart: :blush: :grinning:

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Thank you @Queen_Zelda That’s helpful to hear. I was not sure if building your family (and choosing your rivalries) would be fun or tedious. I hope it will also add to the repeatability factor.

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Will the player get to have partners and kids of their own btw? I noticed a lack of that being mentioned in the blurb.,.

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Thanks @derekmetaltron Yes, they will. Is it better to highlight all that is too come in the story, or to leave it as a mystery to be revealed?

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I leave that up to your discretion. :grin:

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I would like it all to be a mystery. Like everything so far. :blush:

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Nice start! I am looking forward to seein where this one goes, especially as a person who loves NYC and the Nat History Museum!

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