There's a great game called HelloRun that you can go play right now. It's entirely in HTML5, which is impressive enough, meaning your web browser is all that's running the game's code, with no 3rd-party plug-ins like Flash to help it along. Considering that web browsers were originally invented to display text, links and maybe some images, that's kind of amazing. But I'm also interested in how it's able to evoke a mood, a tone, a feeling, in absence of any plot at all, with nothing more than some nice graphics and a song. Okay, there's a little nominal plot; a desire (keep moving without crashing into walls) and obstacles (walls). But that's pretty negligible considering how easily the game grips you and compels you forward. And there's no characters to speak of, unless you count yourself.

Of course, graphics and music are exactly the things prose fiction doesn't have at its disposal. But it's interesting to think about how things like style, tone and description can evoke emotion and be compelling all on their own.

Much like this wonderful little game.