Welcome to the virtual world of Euphoria-- a game where you will make all of Rue's decisions and ultimately decide her fate.
Rue is a teenage drug addict who is trying to find her place after leaving rehab. She meets Jules, and they immediately become best friends, sharing every secret.
On the night of the dance, Jules leaves Rue at the train station, heartbroken and confused.
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Rue returns home and is afraid to be alone with her thoughts.
She contemplates doing the one thing she promised not to.
[[Continue]]Rue sits on her bed, struggling with what to do next.
She knows that drugs are a temporary solution, but she doesn't want to think right now.
She looks down at her phone and the bag of drugs next to it.
She tells herself that if she took the drugs, it would only be this one time. She is desparately looking for an escape, and she is terrified of what might happen if she doesn't find one.
Her hands shakily dial the number for her sponsor. She feels numb when it immediately goes to voicemail. She tries to do the right thing, and it still doesn't work out for her.
Tears fall down her cheeks, and Rue feels so defeated and so angry. She wants to be different, but she can't help but crave what is in the pill bottle. One time won't ruin everything, right?
What does she decide?
[[Take the drugs.]]
[[Pick up her phone and redial her sponsor.]]Rue takes the drugs, and begins to fall into the abyss. Her pain begins to slowey (text-style:"blur")[fade] and (text-style:"blurrier")[fade away].
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She is not proud that she relapsed, especially due to the pain she has put her family and friends through.
She truly did not think there was another option.
She is guilty that she made the decision behind Jules' back, but Rue is scared of Jules' reaction.
Rue finally feels a bit of happiness everytime she is with Jules, and she is terrified of messing it up.
Rue knows there is only one thing to do.
[[Tell Jules about the relapse]]
[[Do not tell Jules about the relapse]]Rue dials the number for her sponsor, Ali, and agrees to meet him for pancakes.
There they talk about her future and what it will look like if she stays sober or if she goes back to drugs.
"There is still hope for you, Rue."
She explains how Jules leaving triggered her wanting to relapse, and Ali reminds her that Jules can not be the sole reason for her sobreity; she needs to do it for herself.
He thinks she should reach out to Jules, but Rue is unsure.
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[[Call Jules]]
[[Wait for Jules to come home]]Rue stares aimlessly at her phone while it rings. She does not know where to begin this conversation.
"Rue?"
Rue takes a deep breath and explains to Jules that she needs to talk to her about something. Then, she explains what she felt the night of the dance.
"I just want you to come home, Jules."
"Rue, I think you need some serious help."
Jules explains to Rue that she thinks Rue should go back to rehab to work on her sobriety.
Rue would do anything to not have to step a foot in rehab again. She tries convincing Jules there are other options.
Eventually, Jules allows Rue to make her own decision: either go back to rehab or allow Jules to help her.
[[Go back to rehab]]
[[Allow Jules to help|Ask Jules to help]]Weeks pass until Rue sees Jules again.
She has been meeting with her sponsor every week, and finally can imagine a life without addiction.
Rue journals every day to document her progress, and let out all of her temptations.
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One night, while Rue is at a party, she makes eye contact with Jules from across the room. She freezes.
She wants to avoid Jules at all costs in order to protect herself from getting hurt again.
She runs into a random room and slams the door.
"Rue!! We were just smoking, wanna join?"
Rue looks around the room, and wishes she could just melt into the floor.
She knows Jules is waiting for her outside. She knows she should not relapse. Not here. Not now.
She feels as though she is being pulled in two directions, and neither seem like the right one.
She looks down at the joint in her hand.
[[Smoke it]]
[[Turn around & leave]]Every day feels the same to Rue.
Wake up, do drugs, go to school, go home, do drugs, sleep, repeat.
Only today, something is different. As Rue leaves her second period class, she spots Jules for the first time in two weeks.
Jules runs up to her and gives her the biggest hug.
Rue stares at Jules in disbelief. One because Jules is back, and two because Rue is so high right now she can't comprehend anything Jules is saying.
"Rue, are you listening to anything I am saying?"
"Yeah, yeah, I am. I am happy you are back. I need to talk to you about something." Rue looks down at her feet avoiding eye contact.
...
Later that day, Rue explains her relapse.
Jules is shocked and scared. Jules loves Rue and wants her to be safe. Rue doesn't feel like she is worthy of the love that Jules wants to provide.
Rue does feel a weight lifted off of her shoulders because there is no need to hide from Jules anymore. Their relationship is strong because of the trust they share.
...
Weeks later, Rue explains how she is struggling with her sobreity again.
"I want you to value your life, Rue."
"You don't know what I want anymore."
This erupts into a fight. They continue to scream and cry for hours, as Jules attempts to talk Rue off of a ledge.
Jules packs up her things and begins to walk out.
"I just want to be able to help you, Rue. Why won't you let me?"
Rue looks up at Jules as she walks further and further away.
[[Ask Jules to help]]
[[Let Jules walk away|Two months later...]]Every day feels the same to Rue.
Wake up, do drugs, go to school, go home, do drugs, sleep, repeat.
Only today, something is different. As Rue leaves her second period class, she spots Jules for the first time in two weeks.
Jules runs up to her and gives her the biggest hug.
Rue stares at Jules in disbelief. One because Jules is back, and two because Rue is so high right now she can't comprehend anything Jules is saying.
"Rue, are you listening to anything I am saying?"
"Yeah, yeah, I am. I am happy you are back. We should talk soon" Rue turns around and tries to get away as fast as possible.
Soon, she feels the safety of her room and allows the drugs to let her escape.
[[Two months later...]]Rue spends her days trying to avoid Jules and to continue using drugs.
She starts to show up late to class, and eventually she rarely makes it there at all.
It takes one day to change everything.
Rue is called to the principal's office as she sits in her History class. As she walks in she spots her mom sitting in the corner looking both concerned and angry. She found out about Rue skipping class.
Rue immediately knows that her mom will assume she is doing drugs. She looks down and plays with her hands, trying to buy herself more time.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Rue."
Rue looks up at her mom, and realizes she has a chance to decide her fate.
[[Explain everything to her mom]]
[[Turn around and run out of the office]]As Rue sits across from her mom, she contemplates where to even begin.
She knows she has no choice, but to tell the truth to her mom.
"How long have you been doing drugs, Rue?"
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Rue contemplates her answer to the question. She doesn't want to be sent back to rehab.
"Just once or twice, I promise. I really am trying to get better..."
Rue doesn't try to argue or fight her mom because she knows one wrong move will be the end.
...
It seems like hours pass before Rue and her mom come to an agreement.
Therapy, meetings with her sponsor, NA, weekly drugs tests...
Even with all of this, Rue's mom still doesn't feel good about the choices she is making for her daughter.
Rue tells her that she will keep a daily journal where she can express her pain and temptations on paper instead of turning to opiates.
[[Promise to share with mom one day]]
[[Keep the journal private]]Rue feels her feet moving, but has no idea where she is going.
She couldn't breath in that office, and needed to escape.
She runs until her feet can't physically go further.
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Rue reaches into her pockets, and pulls out all of the cash she has with her.
The only thing Rue needs right now is a quick escape, and the easiest way for her to find that is with drugs.
She finds opiates and an empty alley, and takes the pills.
She feels her responsibilities and impending doom slip away as her eyes shut.
[[To be continued...]] "I want you to help me, Jules."
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Rue promises Jules' honesty throughout this. Jules refuses to help if she thinks Rue will do drugs behind her back.
Something about placing the pressure of her sobriety onto Jules feels wrong to Rue, but she is happy to have Jules back and to be escaping rehab.
[[A few weeks later...]]Rue never thought she would get back to this point.
It feels like every time she takes one step forward, she gets shoved three steps back.
She looks around the white walls of the room, and feels a sense of unbelonging.
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Coming back to rehab was the stupidest thing she ever agreed to.
She wants to resent Jules for sending her here. But more importantly, she wants to see her again.
Rue journals every day at rehab. At first, she thought it was pointless, but as more days have passed, Rue realizes that journaling can be her new escape.
The counselors tell Rue that, when she is ready, she should share her journals with her family and friends. They explain that it helps foster empathy between the addict and the loved ones.
...
As the weeks slowly drag on, Rue feels the light at the end of the tunnel begin to get (text-style:"blur")[dimmer] and (text-style:"blurrier")[dimmer].
She doesn't know how much longer she can last in rehab.
The only thing keeping her sanity is her journal.
One day, Rue craves the outside world more than she ever has before.
She wants to leave, she wants to see Jules, she wants to get high.
[[Run away from rehab|Turn around and run out of the office]]
[[Stay in rehab]]<img src="https://data.whicdn.com/images/334192606/original.jpg" class="responsive">
As the smoke leaves Rue's mouth, she knows she messed up.
She tries convincing herself that smoking a little weed won't lead to her taking opiates again, but deep down, she knows the reality.
She is addicted to the escape drugs give her, and she constantly looks for it.
She feels like she is stuck on a ferry-go-round of addiction, and can never get off.
As Rue lays in bed later that night, she feels defeated. She is angry at herself for craving more, and she is angry at Jules for having so much control on her emotions.
Rue wants to call Ali, but doesn't even know what to say to him.
[[Call Ali]]
[[Keep this a secret|Two months later...]]Rue rushes out of the door before she ruins everything she has been working for.
She turns a corner, and bumps into Jules.
"Rue, I've been looking for you everywhere. I think we need to talk."
Rue looks at Jules blankly, not knowing how to respond. She pushes past Jules, and heads home. She can't let Jules hold the power of her sobriety again.
Once she is home, Rue journals about her night and how she felt when she was presented with drugs.
Everytime she journals, she feels a sense of relief wash over her.
Ali tells Rue that, when she is ready, she should share parts of her journal with her loved ones. To give them more understanding of how she deals with her addiction.
One day, Rue's mom asks her to read an entry from the journal.
This scares Rue because she is so vulnerable in the journal- a side her mom rarely sees.
[[Allow Rue's mom to read the journal]]
[[Wait a little longer|Keep the journal private]]Rue can barely dial Ali's number because her hands are shaking so much.
"I messed up, Ali. I really, really messed up."
Ali and Rue talk for hours trying to rationalize why she just relapsed.
Ali wants to tell Rue to confess to her mom and to go back to rehab, but he has been in her position before and knows that will make her pull away from him.
Instead, he decides to tell her to start journaling.
Every time she wants to pick up a pill, she should pick up the pen.
The journal should be unfiltered and should contain all of Rue's thoughts- the good and the bad.
...
Rue starts to write ever day, and it becomes a part of her new normal- a part of the clean version of herself.
Some days she writes a few sentences and others she writes several pages. Some entries are smudged with ink from her tears and others are filled with anger and temptation.
She writes a lot about her family, but she writes the most about Jules.
How she felt when she was with Jules, but more importantly, how she felt when Jules left.
...
Weeks later, Rue walks into her room to find Jules sitting on her bed holding the most sacred thing.
Jules is reading Rue's journal.
[[Rip the journal out of Jules' hands|To be continued...]]As weeks pass, Rue finds herself falling back into her hole, and the worst part is, she is blaming Jules.
Rue believes that her pain will leave the moment she gives in and takes a pill.
She starts to resent Jules for making her stay clean, and one night, she is overcome with temptation.
Before she knows it, Rue is grabbing all of her cash and trading it in for any pill she can find.
Her mind doesn't process what she is doing or the consequences of her action before she swallows the pill.
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Moments later, Rue looks up from her haze to see Jules standing at the end of bed.
[[To be continued...]] Rue continues to write ever day, and it has become a part of her new normal- a part of the clean version of herself.
Some days she writes a few sentences and others she writes several pages. Some entries are smudged with ink from her tears and others are filled with anger and temptation.
She writes a lot about her family, but she writes the most about Jules.
How she felt when she was with Jules, but more importantly, how she felt when Jules left.
...
Weeks later, Rue reads her mom a journal entry, and for the first time, Rue feels like her mom understands what it is like inside of Rue's head.
They laugh. They cry. They connect.
Rue's mom starts her own journal where she documents her feelings about raising a teenage drug addict. She shares some entries with Rue, and it only strengthens their relationship more.
[[Read an entry of her journal|To be continued...]]Although Rue refuses to let anyone read her journal, she keeps her promise to write in it everyday.
Some days she writes a few sentences and others she writes several pages. Some entries are smudged with ink from her tears and others are filled with anger and temptation.
She writes a lot about her family and her addiction, but she writes the most about Jules.
How she felt when she was with Jules, but more importantly, how she felt when Jules left.
...
Months later, Rue realizes that her journal has been her saving grace. She no longer depends on Jules' love to keep her clean. She has found her coping method and it has worked for her.
She hasn't spoken to Jules since she left that day, and it still breaks her heart to think about it. To think about how she chose her addiction over Jules' love.
One night, she wakes up to her phone ringing. She picks it up and looks at the caller.
It's Jules.
[[Pick up the phone|To be continued...]]Rue continues to write everday, and it has become a part of her new normal- a part of the clean version of herself.
Some days she writes a few sentences and others she writes several pages. Some entres are smudged with ink from her tears and others are filled with anger and temptation.
She writes a lot about her family, but she writes the most about Jules.
How she felt when she was with Jules, but more importantly, how she felt when Jules left.
...
Weeks later, Rue reads her mom a journal entry, and for the first time, Rue feels like her mom understands what it is like inside of Rue's head.
They laugh. They cry. They connect.
Rue's mom starts her own journal where she documents she feelings of raising a teenage drug addict. She shares some entries with Rue, and it only strengthens there relationship more.
[[Read an entry of her journal|To be continued...]]Rue doesn't like her decision, but she knows the it will help her in the long run. It will increase her chances of surviving her battle with addiction.
She writes in her journals. All. The. Time.
Some days she writes a few sentences and others she writes several pages. Some entres are smudged with ink from her tears and others are filled with anger and temptation.
She writes a lot about her family, but she writes the most about Jules.
How she felt when she was with Jules, but more importantly, how she felt when Jules left.
...
Months later, Rue realizes that her journal has been her saving grace. She no longer depends on Jules' love to keep her clean. She has found her coping method and it has worked for her.
She hasn't spoken to Jules since she left that day, and it still breaks her heart to think about it. To think about how she chose her addiction over Jules' love.
Rue hears her phone ring across the room.
Its Jules.
[[Pick up the phone|To be continued...]]To be continued...
Thank you for playing the Euphoria Game and helping Rue figure out teenage life while battling addiction.
[[Reflection.]]Euphoria Game Reflection.
1. Which narrative design strategies did you use?
I used //character development/relatable struggles// and //empathy// as my two narrative choices. Examples of the //character development/relatable struggles// would be Rue and Jules fighting, temptations at a high school, Rue rebelling against her mom, and more. Examples of //empathy// in the game would be the player wanting Rue to stay sober and wanting Rue to allow her sponsor, Ali, and her mom to help.
2. What did you struggle with while creating your game?
When creating my game, I struggled with how to get my narrative clean and simple. I tend to overcomplicate things in my head, so I had to map out the storyline and the decisions very meticulously. Also, I am not very creative, so I struggled coming up with unique ideas which is ultimately why I decided to base my game off of a pre-existing TV show.
3. What did you enjoy?
I really enjoyed pushing my boundaries and exploring my creative side more. I had never previously used Twine or any other similar software, so it was really fun to try something new and to have another addition to my resume!
4. What do you hope players will get out of your game?
I hope that the players gather a sense of escapism in my game, and have fun exploring the world of Euphoria in a different setting. I hope that understand the effects of drug addiction on not only the addict, but also those around them a little better. Overall, I really enjoy my game, so I hope others do as well!