In OneShot, the main character knows about you, the player, and the two of you form a bond that’s really friggin’ sweet. It’s a very meta game, full of puzzles that sometimes escape the bounds of the game world entirely. Case in point: a puzzle that was, for months, the one thing players couldn’t figure out.
First, the short version: OneShot just got a new update. It contains an entire new path through the game that results in a new ending. It’s meta and weird and awesome. This update, though, has a story behind it, a tale that’s weaved its way into the fiber of the game as well as the game’s community. But in order to tell it, I’ve gotta spoil a couple things. So!
Warning: OneShot spoilers ahead.
Previously, when you finished OneShot once, you received a note from somebody known as “The Author” saying you could repeat the game as much as you want, because he believed he could change something with your help, but it would take a while. On subsequent playthroughs, you would then come across a large countdown clock over a locked door.
Players couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Just for good measure, they datamined the crap out of the game, but they couldn’t find anything. That, said a developer named Gir, was by design. “The only real defense against datamining is to have no data to mine,” they explained, executing a sublime dunk on every person who’s ever tried to open their metaphorical Christmas presents early.
Eventually fans settled on the idea that some kind of update was coming. Months later, it turns out they were right. After a small patch last week that changed some dialogue and paved the way, the big Solstice update finally dropped. If you download the patch, a written note from The Author appears in your IRL computer’s documents folder. In it, he claims he can change the ending if you go through the door and start a new playthrough. You can then find an entire new plot line and ending to the game. It’s pretty nuts, much like the rest of OneShot.
Thanks to Dominic Tarason for filling me in on some of the particulars of OneShot’s countdown clock.
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