Alter Ego is a text-based Role-Playing Game where you can live out the mundane life of a person in an alternate reality, be they male or female, and play out the many branches of possibilities in their lives.

There are seven phases of life, according to Alter Ego. 1. Infancy, 2. Childhood, 3. Adolescence, 4. Young Adulthood, 5. Adulthood, 6. Middle Adulthood, 7. Old Age, and each section of the game represents one of those stages. You can start at birth, and carry on, or you can jump into an individual stage and just play that.

There are screens with icons, from where you have to choose different life events, but the majority of the game is descriptive text, and – quite frankly – it is fascinating.

The game was created by an American psychologist, Dr. Peter J. Favaro, and playing it is like reading a book, but having the book psychologically profile you, and make comments to you, as you read.

Of course, you don’t have to be truthful with your answers – you can play the game as you wish. Good or bad. Alter Ego is a serious attempt at creating an atmospheric, interactive “life simulator”, and it works. To a degree anyway.

And while it is a pity that there are no major graphics in Alter Ego, don’t let that put you off playing it. Especially if you are interested in psychology or the human condition.

Note to Dr. Favaro: “I did receive your message and responded, but heard nothing back, so I’m assuming my reply didn’t reach you for some reason. Please email me at paul (at) mallo (dot) co (dot) uk. Thanks.” 🙂

More: Alter Ego on Wikipedia