The Act

The Act is an interactive movie arcade video game originally produced by American studio Cecropia in the United States in 2007. The game is an interactive cartoon featuring the hand-drawn art of a number of former Disney animators. It was test marketed in selected locations throughout North America in 2006, and it received generally favorable press coverage. The game was cancelled in late 2007, and Cecropia shut its doors in early 2008. The game was later ported to iOS and OSX by React Entertainment and published by Chillingo in June 2012.

The objective of The Act is to guide Edgar through a series of interactive scenes, each of which has a specific goal. The scenes vary in length, style and goal, but the player controls Edgar in each scene by way of a single control knob (or by swiping the touch screen in the iOS versions). In some scenes, the knob controls Edgar's level of boldness as he attempts to flirt with Sylvia or tries to fit in with a crowd, while other scenes control him more directly as he attempts to perform the Heimlich maneuver on his boss or run down a series of narrow hallways while dodging obstacles. In order to succeed, the player must observe the situation and carefully manipulate the knob in order to successfully pull off an act. For example, if Edgar acts too boldly or too shy at the wrong times during the flirting scene, Sylvia will walk off. If the player fails the scene's objective, the scene ends, then quickly rewinds back to the beginning to be played again. The player is given three attempts per credit. The game ends when the player either runs out of attempts or successfully completes the last scene.