No, Austen’s hero is not making another appearance in an adaptation for stage, but has entered the world of gaming avatars based on classic literature
It’s been barely sometime now, since we heard that Jane Austen signed up for a Facebook game. Described as a “fun romp” by its makers, Rogues and Romance is a first of its kind online social game based on six novels by the author.
The game requires the players to hunt down the famous couple — Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, who have escaped from the pages of Pride and Prejudice — and convince them back into the book.
Another online game based on Pride and Prejudice, Dating Sim, lets you play Mr Darcy who’s to defeat bullies like Mr Wickham (who’s horning in on Keira — you’ll need to say nice things to be in her good books) and Collins who is a White Mage. In all that you need to navigate the maze of 19th Century mores, relationships and expectations to get to the good stuff.
Also popular amongst the users, is the video game Beat-’em-Up based on the novel Of Mice and Men by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Here, George (the intelligent half of the cookie) has to kill his best friend Lennie (the super-strong giant) after the big man accidentally kills a woman by trying to touch her hair, and a mob comes looking for his head. So George and Lennie have to battle through Curley and his men, the throngs of homeless, and some aliens.
Theatre producer and director, Divya Palat states that turning classics into online games is a good way of getting the youth interested in the literature. “It’s a relevant and a smart way to capture the attention of the youth, and it’d urge them to go ahead and read the real texts too,” says Divya. Moreover, theatre person Deepa Gahlot points out that classics excite people as they’ve heard/read about them already. Actor Neil Bhoopalan seconds the idea. “Classics are always appealing,” he says.
Some other famous online games include ones based on the novels Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger), Animal Farm (George Orwell), Fahrenheit 451 (Rad Bradbury), The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck), All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque), A Separate Peace (John Knowles), Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton) and Moby Dick (Herman Melville).
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