Apple Design Awards: ‘The Wreck‘ Explores Memory’s Unreliability Through Innovative Interactive Narrative
Cupertino, California – Interactive storytelling game The Wreck, developed by a team lead by florent Maurin, has been recognized with an Apple Design Award for its poignant exploration of memory, trauma, and unreliable recollection. The game centers on Junon, a writer grappling with the aftermath of a car accident, and utilizes a unique narrative structure to immerse players in the fragmented and often distorted nature of personal experience.
Maurin explained that the game’s core concept stemmed from his own experiences with memory. “I’ll give you an example,” he said. “When my parents brought my baby sister home from the hospital, I remember the exact moment they arrived in the car. It’s incredibly vivid. But the weird part is: This memory is in the third person. I see myself tiptoeing to the window to watch them in the street - which is impossible! I rewrote my own memory for some reason, and only my brain knows why it works like that.But it feels so real.”
The Wreck visually represents this internal process by displaying Junon’s thoughts as floating phrases - such as “impacts the body,” “impaired,” and “long-term” - that appear around her during moments of stress. The game’s developers intentionally moved away from traditional gamification elements during advancement.Early prototypes included interactive mechanics like grabbing floating items, but playtesters found these distractions detracted from the narrative’s emotional impact. “It took them out of the story,” Maurin stated.”It broke the immersion. And that was counterproductive to our goal.”
The game also employs symbolic objects, like a tin of “Sparrow Peppermints” seen in a scene depicting the car accident, to convey deeper meaning. Maurin acknowledged that their approach to game design isn’t universally appealing. “Some players are curious about our games and absolutely love them. Some people think, ‘These don’t fit the perception of what I think I enjoy.’ And maybe the games are for them,and maybe they’re not. But this is what we’ve been doing for 11 years. and I think we’re getting better at it.”
The Wreck is available on Apple platforms. The Apple design Awards recognize outstanding apps and games for innovation, user experience, and technical achievement.
