Exit Through the Gift Shop (WIP)

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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What is your earliest memory of visiting a museum? Who did you go with and what did you see? And how much of it was captured in photographs that now sit in a family album, waiting like a book of matches to reignite memories?

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 you choose to remember your life? And what sort of legacy will those choices grant to the ones you leave behind?

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 Chapter 1’s first family trip to the Museum. I plan on updating every month or so. 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
  • A reader journey in Chapter 1 from start to end of first family visit to the Museum and the creation of the family photo album. Only the 1st floor (3 of 4 halls) are currently available.
  • Options coming but not yet available are unselectable.
  • There are no skill checks (coming soon)
  • The core game mechanics are still being developed. There are currently six Experience Preferences, a player’s level of Energy and caregiver’s level of Attention, exhibit Nostalgia scores, 7 areas of science topics of interest, and maps for 4 floors for the 1930s.

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.

11.30.24

  • Second chapter (draft) posted.
  • 20946 words
  • Feedback request: helpful feedback for a first :20-:30 read through for a first-time CoG writer.

To play the demo, go here: CoGDemos

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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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Damn, I really love this. I always love when someone posts a slice-of-life IF in here.
Really excited to see where this goes.
I also love the fact that I can choose the family structure.

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Thank you @FabulousBlasphemer I hope you like the next chapter.

@jhin I am so glad to hear. It is taking me multipleX-longer working in all the family permutations but I am hoping it will be worth it for the reader.

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Man I can’t believe we’re getting fan fiction of the 2006 family hit Night At The Museum! This is the greatest day of my life since May 22nd 2009 when it’s only sequel was released. Those movies were absolutely great, and the best part is that the third one featuring Amy Shumar doesn’t exist!

In all seriousness though this WIP shows promise. I am curious how the pictures technology will update past the 1930s sepia tone? If so how? Do you have the images from museum archives or something? Will the original photographers be credited?

The other is would you be able to work at the museum? I remember going to the zoo a lot as a kid for example, seeing the old zoo pictures, and then eventually working there as a highschooler. The adults around me said I should do that when I get older since I enjoyed it so much. Eventually, I followed their advice and became a criminology major. Which did come from the same place but with significantly less sunshine and rainbows, though it’s to protect those things so it’s worth it. I also wrote a couple of stories on this, but linking them here would be tacky. Especially since my point was that would be interesting.

Either way I definitely like your idea, and all I can ask for is the rest of it.

Edit: I didn’t see the answer to the photo crediting problem until after I posted this, whoops. Though I still would like to know if the pictures will be from later years.

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I will be unable to quote individual photographers but I will cite the museum publications that carried them.

I am going back and forth about that. My goal is to tell a story about how a family (seen from the point-of-view of one member) intersects with a cultural institution, over time. If they merge - a member works at the museum - then it becomes a different story. So while I am tempting I am currently planning to draw a hard line (although perhaps the player can work at a different museum). That said, once it’s finished, I can see writing that thread as special DLC.

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i really love this so far!! the writing style is great and fits with the theme of the story really well

i am really loving this premise idea of a reflection on our character’s life through memories of visiting this one cultural institution, and the the place in question being this particular museum makes it all the more likeable because i’m very fond of the AMNH (because of the Night at the Museum series lol, i did get the chance to visit it just once a few years ago though, it was definitely an amazing experience)

looking forward to following this story’s updates!

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