80 Days at the British Library

One of the most exciting connections we've made since the release of 80 Days is with the British Library in London, who - despite being busy archiving every published book in the UK ever - have found the time to run the occasional workshop exploring interactive fiction.

The most recent event for us was Off the Page; a day of talks on the subject. As part of that, Meg Jayanth and I sat down to chat about our experiences writing the game. The conversation wheels around, from mechanical camels to hidden secrets, to diversity and avoiding misplaced nostalgia - much as the game does.

They've also just finished a week long course for writers, which hopefully will be repeated.

And on into the future...

We've even had a few serious discussions on how to archive 80 Days for posterity. The British Library already routinely archives all published books, but archiving digital material - especially for transient, ever-changing platforms like the iPad - is particularly difficult.

It's unlikely any version of the game locked in a cupboard now will work in 300 years time. But - and we've been asked this - would a researcher be able to rebuild the game from its script and data files?