An Interactive Mystery Movie for the iPhone


As much as I enjoyed Higgins' list of great iPhone apps for the holidays, I feel obliged to point out one omission: Alternate Endings, an engrossing, interactive Choose Your Own Adventure-style murder-mystery cinema experience -- now available for the iPhone! Conceived and directed by my buddy Greg Townsend, it's not quite like anything else I've experienced; it's a movie, a game and a puzzle all in one tidy package. There are sixteen different storylines, five separate endings, and the film can run anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes. Check out this short trailer:
It's great fun to see (or "play") the film with an audience, but Greg's concept adapts perfectly to the iPhone, as well. I'll let him explain why in his own words: "There's a whole spectrum between movies and video games. If people are going to experience some sort of media, do they want to just sit and watch it, or do they want to interact with it? And game is on one end of that, and movie is on the other end of that. So we're playing in the middle of the spectrum." (And if the iPhone isn't all about interactivity, I don't know what is.)
You can download Alternate Endings from the iPhone app store and start watching/playing here. Have fun -- and tell us what you think! If you have any questions for Greg, I'm sure he'd be happy to answer them in the comments.