About the series
"Mysteries in NYC" was created as part of Eko's "Challenge of Diversity" competition supported by Games for Change and Tribeca Film Festival to create interactive media that discusses the opportunities and challenges surrounding the melting pot that is the US.
We wanted to take serious discussion topics like gender role assumptions, cultural identity and importance of community involvement and weave it into a fun, positive gameplay experience.
Upon winning "Runner Up" at the Tribeca Film Festival Premiere, we were able to expand our series to include 2 additional episodes that each have unique interactive experiences, while keeping an open-world feel as you choose where to go and who to talk to next.
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why we love interactive media!
With interactive media there are so many possibilities! Both Samantha & Rose found it opened up new creative options for storytelling and encouraged them to push the expectations of how to use interactive.
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It brings in a new level of engagement with the audience and opens a discussion after playing a few times about, which did you choose first, or why did you choose that option. It makes for a great way to open the door of discussing the real meaning of the episode aside from the sometime silly situations.
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Samantha & Rose are thrilled to be teamed with helloEko.com to use their platform for this series that allows for such freedom to interpreting interactive media.
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about the creators
Director Samantha Pyra and Writer Rose Glaeser first met at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Both Samantha and Rose went on to work in NYC's independent film industry. After working together as crew members on numerous independent features and short films, they decide to collaborate on their first film together to create "Mysteries in NYC".
Samantha was influenced by her childhood experience with Choose Your Own Adventure books, and wanted to create Interactive media that captures the same playfulness of being invovled within the storyline. Being a fan of open world Click & Point games she teamed with Rose Glaeser who brought her enthusiam for classic mystery games and books.
Our purpose of the series is to promote positive interactions and open discussions about different perspectives all while allowing you to explore a surrounding in a unique gameplay experience.
