Shade

by Andrew Plotkin profile

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Reviews and Ratings

5 star:
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Rating:
Number of Ratings: 408
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- Katherine Inez, October 12, 2016

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
The logic of Death, September 28, 2016
by Form 27b-6 (Southern California)

The true merit of Shade is that it poses the question of free will and fate through interactive fiction. The game (experience?) gives a semblance of freedom to the player. However, as the character explores his room and his grasp on reality weakens, and as he ultimately fails to escape his ordeal (or is the tragedy already behind us?), the player can't quite derail the scripted structure of the game. And thus Andrew Plotkin bonds the player and the character through constraint rather than freedom, which in itself is a bold and original proposition.

The result can be somewhat frustrating, but also conveys the stressful and helpless nature of the situation. However, Andrew Plotkin was clever enough to alleviate the tedious trial and error pattern common to these types of games, by offering some tools to the player. I particularly liked his use of the (Spoiler - click to show)To-do List, to guide the reader through the sequence of events.

Overall, I think Shade is a truly accomplished work, both from literary and technical standpoints. It's definitely morbid, but also very atmospheric and poignant, and the author doesn't lose focus on his main themes throughout the entire game. Players hoping for rewarding puzzles should look elsewhere though, as Shade doesn't offer any meaningful challenge. I was able to complete my first play through without hints within an hour or so. It makes Shade a really good introduction to IF, especially for people interested in the less "gamey" fringe of the medium. This was my first contact with the work of Andrew Plotkin, and it made me crave for more.

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- mstahl, August 18, 2016

0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Who reads reviews of Andrew Plotkin games?, July 17, 2016

Seriously, who does that? Of course the game is going to be freaking amazing, it is Andrew Plotkin. Just download it and play it already.

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- insufficient data, July 10, 2016

- childhoodlabrador, July 6, 2016

- NinaS, July 3, 2016

- Matt Bates, May 18, 2016

- Denk, May 4, 2016

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Eerie and Powerful, May 2, 2016
by Rollersnake (Rogers, AR)

"It's like an interactive episode of The Twilight Zone" is a line that probably doesn't do Shade justice, but it's something I always say when I'm recommending it to anyone—it's about TV episode-length, really grippingly weird as you're playing it, and something you'll still be thinking about years later. Shade is always the first game I bring up whenever I'm introducing someone to IF, and it's one of my favorite pieces of weird fiction—in any medium.

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- Deka, April 26, 2016

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
very cool, April 7, 2016

nothing like simulated mental deterioration...once everything clicked into place (Spoiler - click to show) the radio! it kinda blew my mind. moral of the story: (Spoiler - click to show) don't do drugs in the desert.

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- ToALonelyPeace, April 1, 2016

- itsdnoftheworld, March 19, 2016

- Shirm, March 10, 2016

- Mergath, February 25, 2016

- E. W. B., February 23, 2016

- Traviswf (Los Angeles), February 11, 2016

- Oreolek (Kemerovo, Russia), February 11, 2016

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
One of the few games to truly frighten me (because I thought it wouldn't), February 3, 2016
by MathBrush
Related reviews: 15-30 minutes

Shade is a surreal game. It is an almost one-room game, where you are trying to leave your apartment, but encounter more and more difficulties.

Shade is one of the most well-written short horror games available on IFDB, and has been sold as an iOS game.

There were two points in the game that I wasn't expecting and deeply unsettled me. I won't list them here. Unfortunately, this whole review is a bit pointless, as nothing is scary if you are told it is scary. The scariest story I ever read was NES Godzilla, and it was only scary because it was such a ridiculously stupid story that when it actually got scary, it surprised me. On the other hand, I was told The Lurking Horror was one of the scariest games of all time, so when I actually played it, I was pretty disappointed.

So your best bet is to forget this and the other few reviews, wait a few months, think, "Oh, what game is this?" and then play it.

Most of the game, including the ending, was not that scary. Just a few moments stuck out for me, but they were big moments.

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- Teaspoon, January 30, 2016

- Aryore, December 13, 2015

- RoboDragonn, November 9, 2015

- CasualGamer33356, October 14, 2015

- KingofSushi, October 12, 2015


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