You are Hamlet, young prince of Denmark. You have returned home from college in Wittenberg to attend the funeral of your father, Hamlet the king, and the quickly-following wedding of your mother, Gertrude, and your uncle, Claudius. While mourning your father, your best friend, Horatio, tells you that the castle night guards have seen the ghost of your father appear in the corridor for the past several nights.
You decide to go see if what Horatio says is true. You stay up that night, waiting with the guards at their station. At the stroke of midnight, a ghostly figure appears. It is your father! He is beckoning you.
What do you do?
[[Approach him.]]
[[Scream in terror and run.]]
Fearfully, you approach the apparition. After a moment, it begins to speak to you. It tells you that it is, indeed, your father, and that he was murdered by Claudius. He demands that you take revenge on the man who killed him and married his wife, your mother. Then, the ghost disappears.
What do you do?
[[Ignore the ghost and keep the family peace.]]
[[Heed the ghost's command and seek vengeance.]]
You run screaming back to your room in complete disbelief. You stay there in fear until it is time for you to return to Wittenberg, which you do quickly.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You choose to ignore the ghost. He's dead, after all, what can he do?
After a few more days, you return to school in Wittenberg, leaving your mother and uncle in peace.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You decide to listen to the ghost and begin concocting a plan for revenge.
What's your plan?
[[Pretend to be crazy, so you can get close to Claudius and kill him.]]
[[Pretend to be happy and hope for the chance to kill Claudius.]]
[[Tell Horatio of your plan and hope he helps.]]
You opt to fake insanity, which works to keep Claudius and your mother home, since they are now concerned for you. The plan seems to be progressing well when two other friends from school, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, show up to the castle. They're acting strangely, and you begin to suspect that they were sent by Claudius and your mother. The only question is, are they here to comfort you? Or to spy?
How do you respond to them?
[[Trust them and let them in on your plan. They're your friends, after all.]]
[[Distrust them and continue acting crazy. They're probably working for Claudius.]]
You fake happiness for your mother and uncle. They go off on their honeymoon, leaving Polonius, a noble, in charge. You have to return to Wittenberg before Claudius and your mother get back, so you never have an opportunity to exact revenge.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
Horatio can't believe what you want to do. He tells you that, while he's your friend, he cannot condone regicide, even if it's for good reason. Thankfully, he doesn't tell Claudius what you desire to do. What do you do now?
[[Try the happiness plan.|Pretend to be happy and hope for the chance to kill Claudius.]]
[[Try the craziness plan.|Pretend to be crazy, so you can get close to Claudius and kill him.]]
You decide to trust your friends and let them in on your plan to kill Claudius out of vengeance. Turns out they are working for the new king, and they tell him of your regicidal plan. You are arrested and ultimately executed for treason.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You decide that you can no longer trust your friends. After all, you don't know what their motivations are, and they //were// sent by your (apparently treacherous) uncle. You decide to continue the insanity act. This works for a while. Eventually, you find yourself alone with Ophelia, Polonius' daughter, whom you used to have some feelings for. She still has a crush on you.
She's acting odd, and not in the "I-have-a-crush-on-you-and-I-don't-know-how-to-act" way. She keeps asking you random, but specific questions regarding your madness. You suspect that she, too, has been sent to spy on you.
What do you do?
[[Brush off the feeling and be nice to her. She's done nothing wrong, after all.]]
[[Trust the feeling and keep acting mad.]]
You decide to ignore your gut instinct and be kind to Ophelia, answering her questions. In doing so, you accidentally reveal that you're just pretending to be crazy in order to get revenge on Claudius.
Turns out Claudius and Polonius were listening in on the conversation. You are arrested and charged with treason.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You go with your gut instinct and keep up your charade. You end up yelling at Ophelia, telling her that you wish to ban marriage and that she should go to a nunnery. She seems upset, so you leave.
Eventually, you find out that there is a troupe of actors coming to the castle. You realize they could be a valuable tool to you.
What do you do?
[[Enlist their help in exposing your uncle's treachery using a play you create.]]
[[Decide they probably wouldn't help you anyway and simply enjoy the play they choose to perform.]]
You decide to ask the actors for help, and they agree. You instruct them to perform a play with a plot similar to the events of your father's murder, with the hopes of making Claudius clearly uncomfortable, thereby revealing his guilt.
It works! Claudius, when he sees the acted murder, flees the room.
How do you respond?
[[You stay where you are and celebrate your victory.]]
[[You follow Claudius.]]
You decide to not ask for their help. Your plan stalls, and you can't get close to Claudius to kill him.
[[Go back.|Trust the feeling and keep acting mad.]]
You decide to stay where you are and gloat in your victory. Claudius escapes, and you lose your chance for revenge.
[[Go back.|Enlist their help in exposing your uncle's treachery using a play you create.]]
You follow Claudius as he flees. When you catch up with him, he is alone, but he's praying. You hesitate to kill him, fearing that he will die a forgiven man if killed while praying. You want him to die with a guilty conscience.
What do you do?
[[Leave him be. You'll think of another way to get him alone later.]]
[[Kill him anyway. This may be your only chance.]]
You decide to leave Claudius alone for the time being. Revenge wouldn't be as sweet if your uncle has confessed his sins to God.
Instead you decide to go confront your mother in her bedchamber. While there, you think you see the ghost of your father again, and you feel yourself starting to panic. Suddenly you hear a noise behind the curtain. You still have your knife.
What do you do?
[[Blindly stab behind the curtain, hoping it's Claudius.]]
[[Run from the chamber.]]
You decide to go ahead and kill Claudius.
Unfortunately, as you raise the dagger over Claudius's head to deliver the killing blow, you are spotted by one of his bodyguards. You are arrested and summarily executed for treason.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You let your anger and fear get the best of you and blindly stab the curtain. You hope it was Claudius who made the noise, and you think this could be your new opportunity for revenge.
It was Polonius. You have fatally wounded him, and he is dead by the time you pull back the curtain. You flee with the body and bury it.
You find out the next morning that Claudius has sentenced you to immediate exile in England as punishment for your deed. You will be accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to ensure you arrive in England.
While on the boat bound for exile, you find a letter from Claudius to the King of England hidden in Rosencrantz's things.
What do you do?
[[Return the letter to where you found it. It's probably just instructions telling the King to not let you return to Denmark.]]
[[Open the letter and read it.]]
You flee the chamber. Your mother now wholeheartedly believes you are mad, due to your insistence that your dead father appeared to you in her bedroom. She insists you be sent to an asylum, thereby preventing any later opportunity for vengeance against Claudius.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You return the letter to Rosencrantz's bag. You decide you'll find some way to escape England and get vengeance on Claudius.
Turns out, the letter contained instructions for the King to kill you on your arrival to England. You are summarily executed.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You open the letter and read it. It contains instructions to the King of England to kill you upon your arrival. You have been betrayed.
What do you do?
[[Reseal and return the letter. You can find a way out of this once you arrive in England.]]
[[Throw the letter into the sea.]]
[[Come up with a new plan to get back at Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Claudius.]]
You quickly reseal the letter and return it to Rosencrantz's things. However, upon arrival in England, you fail to escape and are arrested. You are taken before the King, who is given Claudius' letter. You are summarily killed, as per instructions.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You decide to throw the letter into the sea. If the King never gets it, he won't kill you.
Unfortunately, Rosencrantz discovers the letter is missing and delivers the message to the King himself. You are arrested and executed.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
This betrayal calls for revenge. You develop a plan to get back at all parties involved.
You throw away Claudius' letter and write your own, instructing the King of England to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. You decide to somehow make your way back to Denmark, when your ship is attacked by bandits.
What do you do?
[[Jump ship and join the bandits, bribing them into taking you back to Denmark.]]
[[Hide among the ship's cargo and continue to England. You'll find another way back yourself.]]
Your plan works! You are on your way back to Denmark. You decide to send a letter to Horatio, asking him to meet you upon your arrival. You also send one to Claudius, telling him that his plan failed and you are coming back for revenge.
When you arrive back in Denmark, you walk back to the castle with Horatio. On the journey, you end up in a cemetery and speak with a gravedigger. While there, you see a funeral procession approaching.
You quickly realize the funeral is Ophelia's. You and Horatio hide, listening in on what is happening. You discover that Ophelia has committed suicide, most likely due to the death of her father, Polonius, and your spurning of her. Overcome with emotion, you jump into her grave and cradle her body. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, challenges you to a duel.
How do you respond?
[[Accept the challenge. A true man never backs down from a fight.]]
[[Refuse the challenge. You're at a funeral, after all. This isn't the time or place.]]
You survive the attack and make it to England. However, you are unable to find a way back to Denmark and remain stuck in England.
[[Go back.|Come up with a new plan to get back at Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Claudius.]]
You accept the challenge and return to the castle. The fencing duel is scheduled for later that night.
You sit with Horatio before the duel, preparing to take on Laertes. Finally, the moment comes, and you are escorted to the throne room. It is decided that the first man to get three hits on his opponent will win the match.
The duel begins. You land the first hit, and Claudius offers you a drink of wine from a goblet.
What do you do?
[[Take a sip. You're parched.]]
[[Refuse the wine. You want to get this fight over with.]]
You refuse the challenge, even though you are emotional. You feel that you should grieve instead of fight, especially since Ophelia's death is your fault.
Laertes, however, is still angry. In a rash decision, he kills you on the spot.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You accept the goblet and take a swift swig of wine.
Unfortunately, the wine is poisoned, and you quickly die.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You refuse the wine. It would just be a waste of time, and you want to finish this fight as quickly as possible.
You recall Laertes to the fight, and the duel resumes.
Your mother, however, decides to drink the wine. After a few moments, she collapses, dead.
How do you react?
[[You run to her side. She's your mother after all.]]
[[You keep fighting. If you turn your back, your a goner.]]
You stop fighting and run to your mother's side. You confirm your suspicions: she is indeed dead.
However, Laertes takes advantage of your distraction and stabs you in the back. The blade must be poisoned because your blood feels like it's on fire, and you collapse in mere moments. You die shortly after collapsing.
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
Despite hearing your mother collapse behind you, you decide to keep fighting. You are not going to give Laertes any opportunity to get the upper hand.
As the fight continues, Laertes lands a hit on you, slicing through your shirt and cutting you. As the fight continues, the two of you somehow switch swords. After a few spars, you land another, more violent hit on Laertes.
After a few moments, he, too, collapses. As he lies on the ground in agony, he reveals that Claudius poisoned the wine in an attempt to kill you. Claudius is responsible for your mother's death. Laertes also admits that he poisoned his own blade in order to exact his own vengeance, but he has now succumbed to his own treachery. After revealing this information, he dies.
Wounded, bleeding, and poisoned, you turn on Claudius.
What do you do?
[[Run him through with Laertes' poisoned sword.]]
[[Force him to drink the wine he poisoned.]]
You stab Claudius with the poisoned sword. As he collapses, you tackle him and force him to drink the tainted wine, for good measure.
He quickly dies. Your vengeance is complete.
However, Laertes' poison is working quickly. You collapse and crawl over to Horatio, who embraces you as you die.
"And the rest is silence."
(//Hamlet//, Act 5, Scene 2, Line 358)
"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"
(//Hamlet//, Act 5, Scene 2, Lines 359-60)
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]
You tackle Claudius and force him to drink the poisoned wine meant for you that killed your mother.
For good measure, you also stab him.
He dies. Your vengeance is complete.
However, Laertes' poison is working quickly. You collapse and crawl to Horatio, who embraces you as you die.
"And the rest is silence."
(//Hamlet//, Act 5, Scene 2, Line 358)
"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"
(//Hamlet//, Act 5, Scene 2, Lines 359-60)
[[Start over.|Hamlet.]]