hssgame:

High School Story: Beginnings and Endings

High School Story had its first day of school back in August of 2013. With the story rebooted in Choices, we’ve decided to close the book on this chapter of our Pixelberry story this summer. High School Story will release its finale quest two weeks from now, on June 18th, alongside a final update in the following weeks.

We’ll be sad to say goodbye, but we hope you’ll tune into this last quest with all your friends – Autumn, Julian, Payton, Wes, Mia, and so many more classmates. It’s been almost five years since High School Story first launched, and this feels like a graduation moment for all of us at Pixelberry who’ve worked on High School Story in the past and the present.

Over the years, we’ve poured our hearts into the stories and characters you’ve come to love. We’ve lived the highs and lows of trivia bowls, campus heists, haunted train rides, and school district elections right alongside you. The characters of High School Story will always stick with us, whether that’s Koh and her epic fort, Ezra with his rock-and-roll career, Sakura and her next level gaming, or Mia in all her no-nonsense cheerleader glory. We’re so happy that many of our favorite characters have made the leap to Choices.

At the end of the day, High School Story will always be Pixelberry’s very first game. (You can read more on our history with interactive fiction games here.) We set out to create a game that would speak to the power of friendship, the importance of being true to yourself, and the value of education. Along the way, we partnered with different non-profits and focused on current issues facing teens, such as cyberbullying, sexism in gaming, and body image.

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, and endlessly thankful that players like you made this game possible. For the last few months, we’ve been releasing a storyline that brings the stories of characters like Wes, Payton, and Autumn full circle. To send off High School Story (known as “HSS Prime” around the office) in real life as well, we’ll be posting some blog posts looking back on our journey from High School Story to Choices.

Thank you so much for playing this game that has been in our hearts for so long. Tune in next week for the second-to-last High School Story quest, and the week after that for its finale!

❤️ Love, The Pixelberry Team