2021-01-31
Global Game Jam always includes a list of "diversifiers," that is, extra constraints or challenges you could attempt. In 2021, one of these diversifiers was "make a game entirely in PowerPoint," and I knew I had to try. The result is Zeitgeist, a, yes, Microsoft Powerpoint presentation that told a story through ARG-style puzzles. To get the full experience, you need to open it inside PowerPoint and read the speaker notes.
The premise is this: back in the 1990s, there was a rising tech genius who went by the name Ai M. Yu. He disappeared on his way to give a keynote address at South by Southwest, but we have the slides he was going to use. We think the slides contain clues to his disappearance... especially since part of it is password-protected, hidden behind an enigmatic smiling payphone.
You can download the presentation from itch, but be warned, you do actually need Microsoft PowerPoint for the full experience. It's not super compatible with Google Sheets.