External Links

This game costs $2.​50 at the author's website, although you can pay more

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

The Terror Aboard the Speedwell

by Javy Gwaltney

Horror
2014

Web Site

(based on 4 ratings)
2 reviews

About the Story

A sci-fi horror story with many different endings, this game takes place in the same fictional universe of You Were Made For Loneliness, an earlier work by a team which included this author as the lead designer.

You can play as either Julia or Zoe; each protagonist has their own unique personality which influences their dialogue and options.

Content warning: Suicide, PTSD, and cannibalism are themes explored in The Terror Aboard The Speedwell. Violence, gore, and strong language are also part of the game.


Game Details

Editorial Reviews

Indie Games
Terror Aboard The Speedwell brings classic horror movie action to Twine

Most Twine games are short, but Javy Gwaltney has put together a horror Twine game with the word count of a novel. Branching storylines mean you won't be seeing all 90,000+ words in one play through, but it's given the author plenty of room to put together a story that perfectly captures, to use the author's own words, "Schlocky sci-fi and horror tropes".

In Terror Aboard The Speedwell, you play an officer about the Speedwell, a ship sent from Mars to check out whatever is left of Earth. On the planet's surface you are attacked by strange creatures; one of your crew members gets bitten on the way back to the ship and the infection turns her into a monster hell-bent on hunting down everyone on board. With two months left until the ship reaches Mars, you must try to survive.


See the full review

Indie Games
Strongly recommended CYOA horror game
With 60 possible endings, over 50,000 words, 2 protagonists and dozens of difficult, story-altering choices to make, The Terror Aboard The Speedwell is a unique piece of interactive fiction you'll just have to play over and over again. Yes, over and over and over again, for this is an excellent sci-fi horror adventure that manages to have properly interesting characters, panic inducing set pieces and can unravel itself in all sorts of melancholy/gory/heroic/sweet/unfair/deadly ways.
See the full review

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)
Tags you added are shown below with checkmarks. To remove one of your tags, simply un-check it.

Enter new tags here (use commas to separate tags):

Member Reviews

5 star:
(0)
4 star:
(3)
3 star:
(0)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
(1)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 2
Write a review


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Deep twine piece with many endings and narrative branches, September 2, 2014
by streever (America)

While on a routine mission, a small crew discovers an unknown alien presence, and accidentally brings it on board the Speedwell. The premise of this long, branching CYOA is a much-loved staple of the sci-fi horror genre, reminiscent of Ridley Scott's Aliens. Despite the use of a standard convention of sci-fi, this piece is both original and creative.

The game starts with a choice between two protagonists, both women, with their own personalities, backgrounds, and identities. All of the characters feel unique and interesting, transcending their archetypes and having complex relationships with the protagonist and the rest of the crew.

The quality of the writing shows throughout the story, in descriptions, dialogue, and pacing. This is a well-written piece.

This work is fairly long, and could take between 20 minutes and an hour on your first play-through. You'll want to play it again; some choices close off other parts of the narrative, and you won't have a complete picture of many of the characters if you don't repeat your game and try different options.

There are many endings possible, and though I've only experienced a few of them, I suspect that there is no clear-cut 'happy ending'; while there isn't a 'perfect score ride into the sunset ending', there are certainly different happy epilogues where your protagonist salvages her future and has a satisfying life post-tragedy. Perhaps more enjoyable is the chance to learn more about the crewmates and the protagonist, instead of worrying about optimal choices and keeping a spread-sheet of outcomes.

Some parts of the plot are pre-determined, but they set the overall tone of the story, and the work would suffer if they could be avoided. Despite these pre-determined outcomes, my decisions felt natural, organic, and true to the character I was playing; at no time did I feel like I was a passive observer, no matter how little control my protagonist had over the events around her.

Presentationally the game shines as well; using an evocative typeface, a great cover illustration, and a well-designed layout, it's a joy to read and interact with.

All in all, this is a highly recommended Twine story which should provide a lot of replay value.

As a footnote, I'll mention that this is one of the few commercial modern interactive fiction projects I've seen, and it's built in Twine no less. I was impressed by this attempt at selling a game written in Twine, and happily paid above the minimum price listed. I think this is an exciting experiment, and hope it proceeds well.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

0 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
I'd like a preview first, September 5, 2014
by Daemon Pyrate ( Optional. For example, "San Diego, California," "Barcelona, Spain")

I don't care that it's only two and a half bucks. I want to know if the quality of the writing is worth even my time never mind my money.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | View comments (3) - Add comment 




This is version 3 of this page, edited by streever on 3 September 2014 at 11:22am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page