One piece of literature that I think is absolutely fascinating is Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. The novel is based on the story of a young girl, Chiyo, who is forced into the life of a geisha by her father after her mother falling ill. The book follows this young child’s journey through life in pre-World War II Japan, and tells the struggles and joys she finds living as the exotic geisha. The game I would design based on this novel would have the same kind of structure; it would be a hybrid of an adventure/SIMS-type game that portrays the struggles that Chiyo had to overcome, such as forgetting about her family, making a home for herself in the okiya that she was placed in, becoming a successful geisha, and finally overcoming the devastation of World War II.

             My Memoirs of a Geisha game would be a game in which the player would pose as the main character of the novel, Chiyo. There would be different levels, each of which would portray the various obstacles that living as a geisha in Japan would present. While some of the scenes in the game would mirror that of the novel – such as being forced to leave her village and parents – the player would have choices that Chiyo herself did not have in the actual story. For example, after being separated from her sister in Kyoto, Chiyo succeeds in finding her once again and they plan to escape late at night back to their village. While in the novel, Chiyo fails to meet her sister in time for the escape (and is therefore left behind), perhaps in the game by completing a level, Chiyo is able to go away with her sister and they face the next ‘level’ together. Of course, eventually Chiyo would have to return to the city in order to become a geisha later on, possibly because she is unhappy with the less-than-exciting village and fishermen’s duties that she is stuck with after the death of her parents.

            My game would also resemble SIMS in that Chiyo would have to interact with different characters in the game, such as the Mother of the okiya (geisha house), other geisha, her mentor Mameha, and her clients as a geisha as well. She would have to have conversations with these characters to figure out what she should do next in order to continue her quest to becoming a renowned geisha, and once she actually establishes herself as a successful entertainer, she would have to learn how to expand the number of clients and how to keep them satisfied and happy. Chiyo would also be able to pick up certain objects that would give her an edge over other geisha, such as a beautiful jade comb (a symbol that constantly appears throughout the novel) or an expensive kimono that raises her social standing among the geisha in Kyoto.

            The purpose of the game would be to interact with characters, build up Chiyo’s status as a geisha, and complete the set goal in every level in order to move on to the next challenge that Chiyo faces. By moving through Japan and experiencing the same struggles that Chiyo does would portray the same themes and societal problems that Golden portrays in the novel itself. The game would be somewhat difficult, in order to represent just how hard life was for little girls in Japan before WWII, and how they were forced to deal with a life that they did not chose for themselves, but were instead forced into by their families.