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Number of Ratings: 42
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2 people found the following review helpful:
Good story and writing, but a few anachronisms and long-winded passages, July 17, 2016The Axolotl Project tells a very interesting and often gripping SF story. I especially liked the action scene and the descriptions of the aliens. There is also a final decision to be made, which, even though a bit foreseeable, draws the player right in. There are no real puzzles, and the amount of thinking required is just right as to not distract from the story but still keeping this interactive fiction as opposed to just fiction.
I have a few nibbles, though, which put this closer to a three star game then a five star game for me. For one, some technology seems rather old fashioned for a moon base. Sure, there are fully automatic cleaning robots, but also password authentication and (Spoiler - click to show)old fashioned secret doors. Also, some texts are rather long-winded, especially compared to the generally very dense and to the point writing in most parts of the game.
Still, all in all a satisfying SF game and a good example of what can be achieved with Twine.
- LayzaSkully (Italy), June 21, 2016
- SalemCruz, March 13, 2016
3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
The best exploration/inventory Twine game I've seen. Creature sci fi, February 3, 2016Axolotl is a fantastic sci fi Twine game with a large map, big inventory, multiple NPC's with menu-driven conversation, and so on.
You play a researcher of alien salamanders on the moon. The corporation you are working for is breathing down your neck, and things start to go wrong. A mystery develops, a surprisingly deep mystery, that I found extremely satisfying.
Also, this is a surprisingly fresh Twine game, as it avoids many of the overused Twine tropes: world-weariness, body horror, and psychological metaphor are all avoided for a better sci fi story.
One of the best Twine games ever.
- leanbh, December 1, 2015
- Catalina, November 8, 2015
- Ramona G, August 6, 2015
- Khalisar (Italy), July 26, 2015
- Harry Coburn (Atlanta, GA), March 5, 2015
- CMG (NYC), November 10, 2014
- Jubell (Florida), April 3, 2014
- verityvirtue (London), February 23, 2014
- Ismarus, February 12, 2014
- popo, February 1, 2014
- Katrisa (Houston), January 22, 2014
- JoQsh, January 15, 2014
7 of
8 people found the following review helpful:
Great Story, November 23, 2013The Axolotl Project is a choice-based narrative written in Twine. You are a lowly intern researcher working as an animal handler on the moon where research into new drugs is being conducted. Per usual in these types of stories, a sinister plot reveals itself, and you must untangle the threads and save yourself and humanity.
This game got hold of my attention and absorbed me. The prose is well-written and never indulgent. There's a surprising amount of agency, and I never got stuck so the narrative never lost momentum. I'm not sure if I was funneled, but after the exploratory first act, I was always given a well-timed nudge on what to do next. I never felt as though I was being forced to the conclusion, but once the diegetic hints start coming (they're all explained in the denouement) you appreciate them.
My only slight gripe is the story was in the default Twine font and format (I think it's called Jonah? The dark one that clears the screen after each choice). I always appreciate when authors make the font a little bit larger and more readable. There was only once or twice when the text filled more than the upper fourth of the screen, so that would be my only suggestion: style the HTML a bit more nicely.
I went from skimming some of the descriptions at the beginning to actually fully invested and interested in the story that Samantha Vick was telling, as well as her characters. So many of the Twine offerings have very abstracted plot lines or provide just so much metaphorical poetry (which Twine does very well), or are so poorly written that you may as well not bother. So if you've never read a good fully-fleshed out and plotted narrative in a CYOA-type wrapper, then The Axolotl Project is here as one of the best and most recent examples of how Twine can be used to tell an actual linear, non-abstract story.
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