Victor Gijsbers

Top 10 Reviewer
Member since December 30, 2007
Last visited May 22, 2013
Profile ID (TUID): fzkruakfu53h20do

I have authored The Baron, Fate, Figaro, most of The Art of Fugue, The Game Formerly Known as Hidden Nazi Mode, 'Mid the Sagebrush and the Cactus and Kerkerkruip. I have also written a large Inform 7 extension called ATTACK.

A note on my ratings: I am mapping stars, numerical values and prose evaluations onto each other in roughly the following way.

1 star = 1 - 4 numerical rating = a bad game; not worth playing.

2 stars = 5 - 6 numerical rating = either does something interesting, but in flawed way; or is solid but unremarkable; worth playing if the premise interests you.

3 stars = 7 - 8 numerical rating = an interesting and solid game that nevertheless lacks something that would make it a thoroughly successful work of art; definitely worth playing, but not 'must play'.

4 stars = 9 numerical rating = a great game, that shines is almost every way; a 'must play'.

5 stars = 10 numerical rating = a perfect game, a radiant example of what interactive fiction is capable of; something to play and replay and replay again. (It might well be the case that no IF had been written yet which I would give 5 stars.)

I am aware that my ratings are generally lower than those of other reviewers, but this (I think) is because (a) I am reserving 5 stars for games that are truly awe-inspiring, in the sense that the greatest of literature or music is awe-inspiring, and (b) I think it is more useful to discriminate among good games than among bad games. (Whether a game is bad or very bad is not interesting: in either case, you shouldn't play it.) So if I give you two stars, that might well be the equivalent of someone else giving you 3 stars. It should all balance out in the long run. :)

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Reviews by Victor Gijsbers

The Hunt for the Gay Planet, by Anna Anthropy   April 5, 2013

"The Hunt for the Gay Planet is a small CYOA fiction, centred around Anna Antropy's trademark themes of lesbian love and deviant..." - See the full review

Attack of the Mutaydid Meat Monsters, by Duncan Bowsman   July 29, 2012

"Some games present us with a serious issue, but refuse to deal with it in a serious manner: for instance, The People's Glorious..." - See the full review

Logic Puzzle Sampler, by Andrew Plotkin   May 3, 2012

"Logic Puzzle Sampler is not a game; it describes itself more accurately as a toy, and it is also a programming example that comes with..." - See the full review

The Twelve Heads of St. John the Baptist, by Jake Wildstrom   May 3, 2012

"I played this game because of the title. Just think of the possibilities inherent in a game called "The Twelve Heads of St. John the..." - See the full review

Dragons and Tears: Part 1 of The Spiraling Darkness Trilogy, by Volition, Inc. and Anna Anthropy   May 2, 2012

"There is a theory that if you make a game that is really bad, but you know that it is really bad and signal this to the reader, the game..." - See the full review

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