Several months ago,I was fortunate enough to be one of the beta testers for a most diverting Facebook game(thanks to a heads-up from Austenprose's Laurel Ann Nattress) which has now made it's official debut into good society.
Jane Austen's Rogues & Romance is brought to us via the BBC and Legacy Games and even if you only know the works of Our Dear Jane from various film and TV adaptations or not at all,you can still indulge yourself in the many delights that this game has to offer.
The main object of this entertainment is to help Elizabeth and Darcy find their way back to their book,Pride and Prejudice,with the assistance of Miss Austen and other characters from her six novels. To do that,you must enter each book and find hidden objects in certain rooms,gardens and other essential locations from each story.
Along the way,you are able to collect gold,diamonds and keys that will unlock rooms in your very own manor house that you will be master or mistress of,to decorate as you please(in the proper Regency style,of course). Even now,newer elements are being added on and it would be a great pity for any Austen fan not to attend such an amusing outing as this:
Playing games,after all,is an essential part of enjoying Austen's world. Most social occasions in her day revolved around card games as well as dancing and became prime opportunities for certain folk in her novels to reveal more than a good hand.
The classic example is from Emma,where several hints regarding the true nature of the connection between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax are dropped during a seemingly innocent spelling game. It was rather bold to do that in front of so many people but then again,not everyone present was privy to the real meaning behind the particular puzzles laid out there:
Outdoor activities were also encouraged back then,although by the time a young girl was considered to be ready to receive suitors,she was discouraged from romping around with a ball and bat.
The heroine of Northanger Abbey,Catherine Morland,did enjoy a rowdy game of baseball(which was probably more like the English game of cricket)in her carefree youth before getting wrapped up in the gothic tales of Anne Radcliffe and I suspect that even Jane herself couldn't bear to stay on the sidelines of a spirited round or two of any sporting event for too long:
Naturally,the real game that any Austen heroine wishes to master is the game of love and while Rogues & Romance does have it's intrigues,the best place to obtain useful advice on that subject is from Austen's novels.
Granted,not all of the scenarios facing her leading ladies directly apply to our modern age but some bits of sense can be gleamed from them that could work for a present day Bennet sister or two. Plus,it wouldn't hurt to upgrade your video game skills with some Austen flair,so do check out JA's R&R for some Facebook fun out of the sun this season:
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