IndieSider #18: To Be or Not To Be by Tin Man Games

To Be or Not To Be is a choose-your-own-path book by Ryan North, adapted from William Shakespeare's Hamlet and further adapted to interactive fiction by Tin Man Games, developer of numerous gamebooks. Choose to play as Hamlet, his father the king, or Ophelia. Make choices never before available to the Prince of Denmark. You may avenge your father's murder — explore outer space — or become the Incredible Hulk!

In this interview, Ben Kosmina and Kamina Vincent of Tin Man Games explore whether the book is aimed at Shakespeare enthusiasts or critics; the challenges in adapting a dead tree book into a digital interactive work; what assets from the book's Kickstarter project were able to be repurposed for the game; the challenge of pricing a game at what it's actually worth; and how mobile gaming and crowdfunding have created a viable market for once-dead genres.

Watch the video above, or download the audio edition from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive.