The Pickle Index app for iPhone and iPad
Developer: Sudden Oak
First release : 02 Nov 2015
App size: 88.87 Mb
Zloty Kornblatt — clown, instigator, revolutionary — has been arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced to death. Ten days from now he will be executed in some gruesome fashion — unless his dysfunctional gang of circus performers can break him free. You can help!
An innovative new novel from the creators of The Silent History, one of Apple’s Best Apps of the Year. The Pickle Index is the story of an incompetent circus troupe attempting an unlikely prison break. Thrills, chills, spills, & dills!
"The Pickle Index is full of life and everything else--its rowdy and sweaty and heartbreaking, and by heartbreaking I mean funny, and by funny I mean laugh-until-youre-exhausted-and-leaking-and-hungry."
--Miranda July
A hapless circus troupe tours the countryside of a downtrodden nation, trying to earn a living the best way they know — even though their best isnt very good at all: a morose contortionist, a strongman whod rather be miming, a lion tamer paired with an elderly dog, etc. Toward the end of a typically glum performance, Zloty Kornblatt, the troupes ringmaster, accidentally blunders into a mockery of the nations glorious leader. He doesnt even know why the sparse crowd is laughing, but they are — and so he continues with the inadvertent satire, ending the show on a rare triumphant note.
The confused ringmaster is quickly captured, thrown into prison, and sentenced to death. The troupe must design an intricate prison-break built around their unique (and possibly useless) skills. Hijinks ensue, recounted with deadpan humor and flickering hope by Flora Bialy, Zloty’s understudy and our shy narrator.
Along the way, the app plays with serialization, mini-games, reader participation, upvoting, and even network overloads — all in service of the storytelling, a caper through ominous fortresses, angry mimes, and festivals of snacking. The result is an immersive, exploratory ten-day experience, a groundbreaking interplay of form and content.
Latest reviews of The Pickle Index app for iPhone and iPad
Once again the minds behind “The Silent History” have pushed the bounds of storytelling. Its serialized. Its interactive. It makes you a part of the imagined world. There are pickles. Its hard to describe and so it begs to be experienced.
Once again the minds behind “The Silent History” have pushed the bounds of storytelling. Its serialized. Its interactive. It makes you a part of the imagined world. There are pickles. Its hard to describe and so it begs to be experienced.
Seriously, pick up this unique experience if only for the Pickle recipes contained therein. 5 Stars!
Only a significant Pinkwater name drop could overcome my boredom with digital fiction experiments, so Im glad indeed that I noticed the name "Yevgeny Pinkwater" in one of the screen shots and bought the app. Though only a few "pages" in, I feel myself falling under the strange spell of The Pickle Index; even as I write this review, I yearn for the embrace of its briny, garlicky undertow.
So much love and attention has gone into producing a ridiculous story app! You just get swept up by it all and leave wondering when the movie version will appear.