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Showing All | Show by Page - Xavid, March 6, 2024 - Max Fog, February 23, 2024 - DignitySquared, January 3, 2024 - joes, January 2, 2024 - Tabitha / alyshkalia, December 25, 2023 >INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction I was shocked at how quickly and easily I found myself typing commands like "doatch at droke about calbice". However, the whole experience was completely cerebral, with little of the emotional catharsis I associate with successful storytelling. I felt this effect when I played Dan Schmidt's For a Change, but it's ten times stronger in this game, where words aren't simply rearranged but actually replaced wholesale. Consequently, while playing The Gostak was a strange and memorable experience, one which will surely elevate the game to the rarefied level of For A Change, Bad Machine, and Lighan ses Lion, I found it a somewhat strained sort of fun. Great for a puzzle-solving mood, and certainly worth trying if you're a cryptography buff, but not terribly involving as a story.
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2 people found the following review helpful:
I think I should have made a better glossary…, July 4, 2022by Fizzgig …because you ABSOLUTELY MUST make one to play this game. Also, it may help to know what I found out only after the fact: "The gostak distims the doshes" is a linguistic joke, illustrating how humans can derive meaning from syntax even when the words themselves are nonsense. And that, indeed, is a driving feature of this game. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- rowan.du, April 30, 2022 - Titania Lowe, January 24, 2022 - Zape, August 30, 2021 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
A Real Treat, April 17, 2021by Avondel I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem. As remarked in other places, this should NOT be the first interactive fiction or adventure game you play. With some experimentation, I was able to figure out the gist of the words. I love that much of the game is left nebulous, so the player can interpret it according to his imagination. After playing, it took some effort to not say to my fellow human: "Just rask the chalm from the hoggam." Wish there was a sequel. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Jonathan Verso, April 11, 2021 - TheBoxThinker, March 4, 2021 - Pinstripe (Chicago, Illinois), December 30, 2020 - William Chet (Michigan), July 20, 2020 - Blind Assassin (Illinois, United States), July 12, 2020 - Cosmo42, May 28, 2020 - Dan Fabulich, May 12, 2020 - IanAllenBird, December 11, 2019 4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Language, meet Logic, December 2, 2019by Rovarsson (Belgium) It is very tempting to try to translate The Gostak. I've found different versions of the, no, more accurately I should say a story on the internet. I too have created a story based on my understanding of what things and what actions the strange words in this game refer to. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- ArchDelacy, November 29, 2019 - Denk, November 24, 2019 - draziwfozo, September 2, 2019 - florzinha, July 12, 2019 - kevan, July 11, 2019 - CleverFool, June 11, 2019 - wisprabbit (Sheffield, UK), May 6, 2019 - gildedSnail, March 18, 2019 - davidar, November 10, 2018 - AKheon (Finland), September 22, 2018 - Joey Jones (UK), September 15, 2018 - Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), August 1, 2018 - yaronra, July 16, 2018 - mjw1007, January 15, 2018 - Greg Frost (Seattle, Washington), November 8, 2017 - lkdc, February 1, 2017 - Brian Kwak, December 28, 2016 - Oreolek (Kemerovo, Russia), October 20, 2016 - insufficient data, July 10, 2016 3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
A game (in)famous for its main challenge: understanding a nonsense language, February 3, 2016The Gostak is one of those games that everyone hears about eventually. Some play it, some stay far away. I didn't get past the first room when I first played it, felt scared, and put it off for five years. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Matt W (San Diego, CA), March 20, 2015 - Thrax, March 11, 2015 - Molly (USA), February 15, 2015 - Janice M. Eisen (Portland, Oregon), November 22, 2014 6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
A rorm and snave halpock, October 23, 2014by Sobol (Russia) It's tavid to doatch about this halpock without fargishing scurm-brolges; let's just doach it's very snave, rorm and dobbly... if somewhat dunmile. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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12 people found the following review helpful:
The map is not the territory, March 26, 2014by Snave This is a game for experienced players, not just because it practically requires knowledge of genre conventions, but because the way The Gostak obfuscates its output is pushing directly against an old-school drive: the player's desire to construct a mental model of the game world. For old-school games, this often also means drawing an actual map on paper. Here, there are only a handful of rooms, but you have to start taking notes and make your own little dictionary before you can start connecting any of them, let alone visualize what's supposed to be in them. Understanding the language is the main puzzle of the game, and it's a great one. As you build your vocabulary and your understanding of objects and the relationships between them, descriptions that were impenetrable nonsense at first glance become more and more sensible until you're reading fairly naturally and typing back commands that would seem like crazy talk to anyone looking over your shoulder. It's extremely satisfying. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- shornet (Bucharest), March 23, 2014 - trystero, February 13, 2014 - lisapaul, January 9, 2014 - Galena, September 12, 2013 - DJ (Olalla, Washington), May 9, 2013 - Tortoiseshell Bat, March 25, 2013 - Sdn (UK), December 24, 2012 - rec53, June 9, 2012 1 of
1 people found the following review helpful:
More a metagame than a game, March 14, 2012by Jeff Zeitlin (Greater New York Area) The game itself isn't much, in the sense of having an extensive world, but I found this not to be a detraction. For me, the attraction was in the solving of the language puzzle, and led to quite a bit of reflection on my own thought processes and on language acquisition through immersion. (Spoiler - click to show)I can't recommend this for someone who is not familiar with the 'Zorkian' response conventions; I don't believe someone lacking that familiarity will be able to get a reasonable foothold into the game. For someone with that grounding though, I strongly recommend it. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Relle Veyér, March 1, 2012 - E.K., January 11, 2012 - trojo (Huntsville, Alabama, USA), October 10, 2011 - Lea, January 7, 2010 - Divide (Wroclaw, Poland), December 3, 2009 - Ben Cressey (Seattle, WA), September 4, 2009 - googoogjoob, May 21, 2009 - Ziixxxitria (California), April 12, 2009 - Ben, February 9, 2009 - albtraum, February 8, 2009 - Cendare, January 14, 2009 - Audiart (Davis, CA), January 8, 2009 - Genjar (Finland), August 31, 2008 - aaronius, March 12, 2008 - jfpbookworm (Hamburg, New York), February 25, 2008 12 of
12 people found the following review helpful:
One of the finest decoding puzzles I've ever encountered, February 20, 2008by Michael Martin (Mountain View, California) The goal of this game is straightforward; as the gostak, you distim the doshes. Alas, the lutt to the doshery is crenned with glauds! But surely a snave gostak such as yourself can discren them. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (1) - Add comment
- puzzler (Everett, Washington), February 10, 2008 - anj tuesday, November 18, 2007 11 of
12 people found the following review helpful:
A story that could not be told any other way., November 7, 2007It's a game; it's a puzzle; it's a very, very good depiction of an alien universe from the perspective of one of its inhabitants. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Maureen (California), November 2, 2007 - Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), October 26, 2007 - Emily Short, October 22, 2007 6 of
9 people found the following review helpful:
My Favorite IF, October 19, 2007by Personman (Somerville, MA) I am not your average player of IF, it's true. The fact that this game is my favorite IF ever does not mean that it is exceptional in the ways you would expect an IF to be exceptional. The puzzles are solid, but not amazing, the plot is fun but trivial, the interface is not buggy or anything, but it doesn't do anything exciting. But the concept is so utterly wonderful that (english) words do not describe it. You'll simply have to play it. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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