Violet

5 star: (213) 4 star: (122) 3 star: (38) 2 star: (7) 1 star: (2)

Average Rating: Number of Reviews: 36 Write a review

Newest FirstOldest FirstMost Helpful FirstLeast Helpful FirstHighest Ratings FirstLowest Ratings First

Previous | << 1 2 3 4 >> | Next | Show All

Extremely well polished college game with a great innovation; didn't gel for me, February 3, 2016

In this game, you must write your dissertation while overcoming many distractions. You must use various items in the room to block out sound, sight, itchiness, etc.

The main innovation here is that the parser is actually your girlfriend Violet. All of the responses are hers and she comments on everything.

The implementation, writing, and puzzles are top notch. But the game didn't gel for me. One reason may be that I recently finished my PhD, and it hit too close to home. Another reason is that the parser is very, very pushy. It makes the exploration necessary for the game stressful. And the relationship with the narrator seems unhealthy, like many of the superficial romances that develop in college.

So if you want a game that very accurately depicts a college scenario, this is it. Most people won't have the same negative reactions I had, but will share all of my positive reactions.

Highly Polished, Endlessly Inventive, Funny, Cruel, and Exquisitely Relatable, March 12, 2015

I was looking for a quick game to test out an IF interpreter (Text Fiction) on my Kindle. I knew Violet was a one-room game, so thought it would be a good test. Little did I know I'd be playing what may be my favorite IF game so far.

Plenty of others have reviewed the game more than adequately. I'll just reiterate that Violet is highly polished, endlessly inventive, funny, whimsical, cruel, wistful and exquisitely relatable. This one is a must play.

Hilarious!, December 28, 2014

I love all the extras and the fact that the premise and setting are so unique compared to most games. The humor is wacky and unpredictable and so are the solutions. Good length too. I loved every second.

Charming, Funny, Heartwarming Fun. A Must., December 10, 2014

Your girlfriend you dearly love has given you an ultimatum. Write 1,000 words for your dissertation, or she's leaving you forever to go back to her home country of Australia, 1,000s of miles away...

This may seem cold, but as your struggle continues and more distractions stop you from creating any progress. The inner voice of Violet, your girlfriend and narrator, pushes you on and the sheer heart of victory is the sweet end you thirst for. Memories and funny bits flood you as you recount the personal items in your office as you pace breaking distraction to concentrate on the final objective of the game: Write.

From the irrelevant things you find yourself doing to the strange events taking place just outside your window are both hilarious and touching.

But when you finally reach your goal... Oh boy... You'll have to see for yourself.

Even though this game, Violet, takes place nearly entirely in a single room; the puzzles are ingenious and even silly at times. But every aspect feels like a world of it's own.

By the end of the game, I found myself truly caring about Violet and her feelings and whether my character would succeed in finishing his goal in time.

The writing is spot on and the flow of Violet's voice and narration feels natural and never felt like it lagged. It was continuously entertaining.

Overall, this game is very well done and well deserving of it's award. It's a must play for any fan of Text Adventures or Interactive Fictions.

Best one room IF, March 2, 2013

This is a game that not only excells in one regard. The plot is quite unique and the implementation is great, the prose is fun to read and the puzzles are not too difficult to stop the flow of the story while being not too easy to make this an interactive story instead of a game. The number of funny remarks you get when doing something wrong or trying to do something that doesn't work make even failing worthwhile. Never was able to put it into an unwinable state and I don't think this is possible.

Humour always depends on taste a bit but I think here we have something entirely funny for everyone. Even for both genders, since both have someone to emphatise. This is the first game where I really tried to do all the amusing stuff that is listed at the end. Only thing I missed is a (Spoiler - click to show) Zombie Egg.

Strong characters but unenjoyable world, December 25, 2012

This is not a true review. More like impressions after partial game completion.

The thing I liked most about the game was the unconventional narrative voice. I found violet laugh-out-loud amusing. I also really felt the affection and exasperated mockery she has for the player character and the ex-girlfriend. I felt genuine remorse and sorrow at the things the player character has to sacrifice to get the writing done.

However, and maybe I am just dense, but when I tried to solve puzzles in normal-seeming ways, I had trouble getting the game to understand what I wanted. And while the puzzles do make sense for the setting and story, I didn't find them very intuitive. I've had to constantly look up hints and that's just not what I play IF for. The player character isn't very likeable, either. Neither is Violet in some ways, since she seems to expect you to know something won't work when as a player, part of puzzle-solving is doing things to see what happens. She's the only narrator who ever made me feel bad about quitting the game, though.

Maybe I'm taking the game too seriously, but I couldn't handle the things I had to make the character do. I wouldn't want to do such things to myself and while initially, I was drawn into the game, with all the stops and starts because of the puzzles, the mood was broken and I began instead to focus on just how depressing and pathetic the character felt.

Ultimately, I won't finish this game. The writing was great, but there are other games to try that are probably less frustrating and more immersive.

Very Fun, Very Cute, Very Funny, September 16, 2012

For those who haven't played, "Violet" is a game about your character, who has an upcoming deadline--but is too distract to get the writing done. Your job is to remove the distractions and get to writing.
This game was a lot of fun for me, someone relatively new to IF. The puzzles require that you think, but they aren't so difficult that getting to the end is impossible. Not to mention, Violet is an adorable voice to have in your head, and I highly recommend reading all of her asides. They don't really progress the story, but they are cute little stories that give you a better feel of your relationship with her. Anyway, I would definitely recommend this one.

Light Hearted, User Friendly Delight, September 14, 2012

CAVEAT: IF gamer here who prefers narrative over puzzles.

As someone who writes for a living, I found myself throwing up my hands halfway through the game and saying, "I play these games for fun, not to remind myself about work!" I then succumbed to another giggle fit as the puzzles became sillier and sillier.

The puzzles are gentle. I know some have said they found the puzzles to get nonsensical towards the end, but there was actually only a couple in the middle that I found baffling. This is one of the few IF games I've played of late where I can pretend that I'm an adept puzzle solver, not a woman who howls in despair after eleven turns and runs through the fields of the internet to find a walkthrough after the hints were of no help.

I loved the feeling of pity you develop for your character as you make him/her go to excruciating, then humiliating lengths to get this blasted paper written. The author did a great job of making me care about the character and care about his/her relationship.

I found the system very user friendly, especially with its wonderfully large and diverse vocabulary. Surprising range of unique responses to silly actions, too.

Witty, fun and challenging, April 29, 2012

Violet was an awesome find - it manages to combine romance, slice of life, somewhat darkish comedy and one room puzzle action in a pretty impressive way. The prose and the tone of the "dialogue" and the descriptions is witty and a delight to read. The puzzles are pretty out there, but solvable, especially with the well implemented hint system. Both the puzzles and the story lead up to a pretty delightful and nutty ending.

I belly laughed, April 28, 2012

The game starts of with the simple premise of needing to write a thousand words but your procrastination gets the better of you. I have a final on Monday and two others in the coming week, to describe what I'm doing playing this game as procrastinating would be generous.

I'm relatively new to IF (having previously only played Hitchhikers and a couple smaller IFs), so this game took me about an hour to complete. Most everything in the room has a specific interaction but the plot as a whole is linear and expects the puzzles to all be solved using increasingly absurd solutions but they are Monkey Island absurd.

I liked the characters. I can see how some of the other reviewers found fake Violet but it didn't turn me off from it. The ending alone is worth the jaunt, it just so happens the going through it is fun too.

Previous | << 1 2 3 4 >> | Next | Show All | Return to game's main page