Ratings and Reviews by Jeremy Hollobon
View this member's profileThis is a fun, charming and compact little adventure which I highly recommend.
Steph Cherrywell has developed her own unique mythos, then teased out the core ideas into myriad of satisfying little details. The result is an original, clever and cohesive world, which is a delight to explore.
I was reminded a little of science-fiction exploration/puzzle games such as Infocom's Planetfall, but without the now overly-familiar tropes from that era. And although Chlorophyll contains elements of mystery, drama, and adventure, it's the humour (frequently light-hearted and occasionally hilarious) which elevates the overall experience to such heights.
Another point of difference is that you're not in the role of a faceless, ageless, gender-neutral person. On the contrary, you're... well, you'll see.
The game is small enough to complete in an hour or two, and I never felt the need to draw a map (both of which I consider to be pluses!)
I thought the handful of puzzles were very good: well-balanced, integrated into the story, and most importantly, logical. I suspect that more experienced players may consider some of the puzzles to be a bit on the easy side, but personally I was happy to keep the story moving forward without getting bogged down. And there are a few red herrings thrown in to keep it from being a cakewalk.
The level of polish seems to me to be commendable, both in terms of prose, and the game's implementation. I look forward to more from this talented author!
Redefining Wordsmithery, March 24, 2014There's really not that much I can say about this ridiculously superb game which hasn't been said already (and more eloquently) by previous reviewers.
So I will limit myself to offering a little advice to anyone who is eyeing this cryptically titled game and wondering "...shall I?"
I would implore you to:
(1) Just download it already. You're more likely to meet a sunbathing Grue than to regret playing this game.
(2) Don't be put off by the fact that the story blurb doesn't make a blind bit of sense. It's not supposed to (until you've played some of the game). Just take a leap of faith into unknown waters.
(3) Make an effort to get the latest version of this game, which may require visiting the Author's web site. The IFDB-hosted gblorb may be out-of-date, and save-game files may not be compatible between releases, so you should get the latest version before you start playing. (I got burned by this).
(4) Avoid playing it on iOS Frotz. Much as I love that app, this game will be intolerably slow, and may even be impossible to complete, due to hanging.
Much as I would love to wax lyrical about the game's mind-boggling breadth and depth, smile-inducing humour, ground-breaking game mechanics, masterful prose, or just the astonishing fact that we live in a universe where you can play this game for free, I will steadfastly resist the temptation. So that you can get on with enjoying the journey ahead.
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