Original Description:
- click the Black Spot beside the title to begin playing-
Black Spot was created in 7 days for the Public Domain Jam.
It is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic work, Treasure Island.
The Black Spot is a round scrap of paper, black on one side, used as a warning or message among pirates. In a powerful scene, the mutineers present Long John Silver with a Black Spot to remove him from command, but the pirates lack any paper except for a Bible. Silver recognizes the paper as a page from Revelations ("...Without are murderers and dogs..."), and calls them all fools for cutting a Bible and bringing a curse upon themselves.
The game is an effort to illustrate both the power and fragility of a single scrap of paper with a few written words (or in the case of the treasure map, three X's).
Rather than controlling a protagonist, the player takes on the role of minor characters who are charged with delivering the Black Spot, like Blind Pew. The two Black Spots in the novel are included, as well as two others which could have taken place beyond notice of the narrators (Jim Hawkins and Dr. Livesey).
Only two of the written passages in the game are from the actual text of Treasure Island; the rest are imaginings of behind-the-scenes events, emulating Stevenson's poetic style of writing.
Enjoy the game, and thanks for playing!