Nautilisia

by Ryan Veeder profile

Humor
2012

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5 star:
(2)
4 star:
(19)
3 star:
(14)
2 star:
(4)
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Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 7
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1-7 of 7


0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Short and interesting game, June 26, 2018
by Roberto Grassi (Italy)

A short game in which the protagonist is the avatar of a comatose body trying to break free.
Quite atmospheric with simple and effective interactions.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A fun, short parody of surreal dream games, June 7, 2016

This game was a fun take on the surfeit of surreal dream/coma games. The game map is shaped like a nautilus, hence the name.

In this game, you explore symbolic areas, with the symbolism spelled out, you take symbolic keys and put them in symbolic locks, and face your fears, hopes, and your truths.

I liked it, but it didn't draw me in; the game was intended as a quick, fun romp, but it eventually turned into a monotonic hunt, which, while true to the genre, could have been avoided.

Recommended for fans of short, funny games and surreal games.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Funny, finny, and fun!, January 11, 2016
by Deboriole (San Diego, CA)

If you are looking for a quick, silly game, this is it! There is great humor throughout, and the game doesn't take itself seriously. The one downfall is that it's a "hand-holder" game and thus very easy to complete. If things were a little less conspicuous it might have led to a greater challenge. For example: (Spoiler - click to show)the jungle scene with the blatant dangling vine could have been more puzzly if you had to examine the jungle in order to spot the vine. Still, I enjoyed the narrative so much that the game was still very fulfilling despite its lack of puzzliness. I am still chuckling over some of the dialogue. I am going to check out some other Ryan V games now!

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Tasty vignette, February 15, 2015
by Caleb Wilson (Illinois)

Great voice and pacing. (Amusingly, the game mentions its own pacing.) I also really like the shape of the map.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Parody of the surreal psychological genre, January 12, 2013

Nautilisia is a short, surreal piece riffing on the many many games that take place within the psychological landscape of a comatose (or sleeping, or deceased) protagonist. In contrast with most of those, however, Nautilisia makes no secret of its subject, telling the player up front of this premise, and explaining each symbolic object as one encounters it.

In this vein, there are three very basic puzzles, and a helpfully explanatory NPC who will answer questions and deliver rewards. The gameplay is straightforward, and is likely to take only ten or fifteen minutes to complete. Some of the imagery is charming or evocative, but the narrative voice is so quick to explain what it all means that one doesn't really have time to contemplate it before having it explained away.

This is an experience that is only likely to appeal to one who enjoys Veeder's flavor of humor: if the first room or two don't strike your fancy, the rest of the game isn't likely to either. Personally, I find it engaging enough to enjoy. Veeder has (in my opinion, anyway) an excellent sense of pacing -- of exactly how many times he can push the player's patience and still be funny rather than purely exasperating; of how much he can get away with nudging the player in the ribs without being tiresome.

Overall, a fine execution of a small concept, rightfully brief so as not to overstay its welcome.

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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Actually quite amusing, May 18, 2012

Breaking the fourth wall for humurous effect can be a bit hit and miss, but this is mostly hit, it made me smile. Very easy and fairly short, which is good, because I am lazy.

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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
I know, I know, it's serious, April 2, 2012
by Joey Jones (UK)

I finished Nautilisia in no time at all really. It's an achingly self-aware little romp through someone's dream world. The puzzles are just simple pacing devices and the story is almost nonexistent, what motivates the player to completion is the quality of the writing, which remains consistently witty throughout, and the extra little 'amusing' things that reward light experimentation.

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