Someone should make a game based on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope

When Alfred Hitchcock made Rope, it was impossible for him to let the bad guys win.

How the Hays Code killed tension and how Hitchcock got around it

The 1948 thriller – about two former schoolmates who kill their friend because they believe they are superhumans to whom the normal rules prohibiting murder do not apply – was released at the height of the Motion Picture Production (or Hays) Code rotated. These industry-imposed moral constraints were Hollywood’s way of avoiding government censorship by cracking down on it. The code required that “no image shall be produced which lowers the moral standards of those who see it. Therefore, the audience’s sympathy should never be cast on the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or sin.”

These were the boundaries within which Hitchcock’s films had to operate, which meant that the endings of his thrillers tended toward foregone conclusions. They knew that good had to win and evil had to lose, no matter how dire things were along the way. In Rope, the main killer, Brandon, played by John Dall, is so sure that they will get away with the crime that he has invited the deceased’s family and friends to a dinner party, served from the trunk in which the body was found saved. But we know that the Code requires that they be caught. So the tension lies not in the question of whether they will be discovered, but rather how and when. That works well for Rope as a film, but a great video game version could use the looser moral requirements of modern media to create a compelling interactive crime story that you might be able to get away with.

Rope’s great conceit was that the film was shot in “ons” – long takes in which there are no obvious cuts. The film isn’t just a single shot – there are some crucial cuts, such as a reaction shot of James Stewart as he realizes something is wrong at the party – but otherwise the film is a series of long takes. Hitchcock uses this pace in real time to build (and keep building) the tension until it feels like it’s about to explode. At some point, Brandon’s housekeeper begins putting away the plates and decorations on the chest where David lies dead. We watch and watch and watch, waiting for the release and relieved when Stewart’s character finally unknowingly intervenes to prevent discovery.

12 minutes lay the foundation

Since it’s a movie, we have no control over what happens. All we can do is watch and wait for the body to be discovered. But a game where you take on the role of the murderer could create a different kind of tension. Given the small apartment situation and murderous plot, the game that comes to mind is Luís Antonío’s 12 Minutes, a divisive (but effective) point-and-click thriller that spans 12 real-time minutes. 12 Minutes stuck its protagonist in a time loop, moving toward the moment when a mysterious stranger would inevitably break down the door and murder the player character and/or his pregnant wife. As you play, you have to figure out who the man is, why he wants to break into your apartment, and various other information that will help you break the loop.

12 Minutes was very small in scope. There were only three main characters and the game had a very short time frame. But a game based on Rope could Hm Add more characters and ask the player to manage ten participants, all of whom have different desires, motivations and quirks that could lead to them discovering the body. You’d have to juggle everyone, walk around the apartment and have lots of branching conversations as you try to figure out which decisions give away your secret. It could play more like a social RTS than a point-and-click adventure game.

I’m going to wrap this up here because I don’t want to read this article another second. Now I just want to play this game. If you are a game developer and you are reading this, please create this game asap.

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