howling dogs

by Porpentine profile

Secret
2012

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Reviews and Ratings

5 star:
(42)
4 star:
(46)
3 star:
(22)
2 star:
(6)
1 star:
(3)
Average Rating:
Number of Ratings: 120
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- Ry (Philippines), September 30, 2019

- Bartlebooth, September 21, 2019

- Victor Gijsbers (The Netherlands), July 9, 2019

- Steffan LW Sitka (Los Angeles), March 3, 2019

- IanAllenBird, January 26, 2019

- Woof, January 21, 2019

- Snave, October 30, 2018

- Jaxcap (Arizona), August 12, 2018

- Dawn Sueoka, June 20, 2018

- ikkinlala, June 16, 2018

- Stas, April 1, 2018

- Aryore, March 24, 2018

- maya surya, February 1, 2018

- Dominia, December 23, 2017

- enkaye (usa), September 1, 2017

- Wanderlust, August 3, 2017

- gilhova, July 27, 2017

- mirandamiranda, June 30, 2017

- John Ayliff (Vancouver, BC), March 28, 2017

- TheAncientOne, January 28, 2017

- SLane, January 27, 2017

- hoopla, November 2, 2016

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
.., September 14, 2016

This is one of the most influential twine games by the amazing Porpentine. It actually took me a while to play this game because it's quite long and I think the first time I played this I also, believe it or not, got lost somehow. It was one of the first twine games I've ever played but gave up several times because I always veered off somewhere else and accidently restarted it. But one night, I said to myself, "I've played all the other Porps, so I should finish Howling Dogs."

I won't be saying anything much different from anyone else. But this game is quite bleak, but yet so tender to the touch, so freaking beautiful. The magical realist universes you transport into, so small but yet so well built, as you leave some sort of galactic prison. Like, other than novels, this is one of the most moving pieces of text I've read. I also give a star for that Kenzaburo Oe quote.

Pros: Thick and bleak Sci-Fi. Time Travel.
Cons: May be too long for some. It doesn't deter from the story in my opinion but people who aren't use to playing Twine games might find it tiresome?

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Dense and somewhat haunting., August 19, 2016

It's difficult to know what to make of howling dogs. It is written well, the imagery it evokes is poetic, almost to the detriment of story, but it is certainly affecting.

I've played through it twice now, and gotten both endings, and to be honest I still can't tell you exactly what it is about, not fully. It is not a story, so much as it is a semi-interactive piece of art, and as that it succeeds very well... I suspect that I will still be thinking about this game long after, something that I can't say for a lot of games that I enjoyed a lot more than this one.

Many other reviews talk about how much this game has to say about women, and looking back that is definitely a theme running strong within the disjointed scenes. Equally fascinating though, as with much Art, is how much of what you see is what you brought with you. In my first play through, it never occurred to me the protagonist might be female. It also never occurred to me that the prophet was a "joan of arc" figure, as in my mind they were also male.

Reading it the second time, I projected a female PC, and a Joan of Arc figure, and it worked equally well - the writing is beautifully designed that way, to magnify your own prejudices and allow you to see your own reflection.

I play for enjoyment, and I didn't enjoy this a great deal, hence the 3 stars. It was confusing, it was confronting, and as Art it succeeded in unbalancing me. It was quite well done.

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- Horace Torys, July 27, 2016


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