Reviews by Christina Nordlander
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Does what it set out to do, but nothing more, December 27, 20183 Minute Adventure is a short choice-based parody story about saving a princess from a dragon.
Parodies of clichéd fantasy and fairy tales are a well-worn subject, in and out of IF. Fortunately, in terms of humour, 3 Minute Adventure delivers. It's not the funniest thing ever, but the jokes stick the landing. I particularly enjoyed the fact that (Spoiler - click to show)it turns out that the blacksmith would have been able to supply you with the one thing you actually need for your quest, and that there is no way to get it even when you know what you'll need.
Aside from that, nothing about it is really memorable. There is a bit of choice, but it all funnels down to the same plotline. There is only one ending, which I find... not really excusable, in a game this short. I really would have liked if your actions towards the dragon led to a bit of a difference in the outcome. Perhaps the biggest nod towards player independence is in the closet scene, which I found one of the funniest parts of the game, (Spoiler - click to show)though it loses subtlety points for outright name-dropping The Stanley Parable.
The homebrew format (grey text in a Comic Sans-like font, appearing in real-time typing speed, with specific action buttons appearing at each choice) isn't awful, but not particularly attractive, either.
A reasonably well-made game, with some good jokes, but not very memorable. It has a kind feel to it which makes me feel it would be appropriate for young children. However, I wonder if children old enough to get references to He-Man or the original Legend of Zelda wouldn't prefer meatier fare.
Good body horror, but left me a bit hungry, September 25, 2018(Confusingly, the title of this game is given as Knife and Tendril in the game proper. I will refer to it as A Gift for Mother for the sake of clarity.)
EDIT: When I first played this game, I had not heard of Texture and assumed that it was made in a Twine mod, thence the references to Twine in the review below. I apologise for any confusion caused by this.
The first thing that stands out about A Gift for Mother is the interaction interface. Instead of performing actions by clicking hotlinked words, the player is given one or more buttons, which can be clicked-and-dragged. They then need to be placed on the relevant word, which is highlighted when you move the button.
This is a trick I've never seen in a Twine game before, and it is slick and attention-catching. I have no idea how much coding went into it. However, once the novelty wore off, I felt that more could have been done with it. The effect doesn't measurably differ from the regular Twine mechanism of clicking links: there are only 1-3 options on screen at any time, and since each only works on one specific word, there's no dimension of challenge. It would have been interesting if several nouns became highlighted and the player had to choose between them. Of course, I don't know whether that would have been feasible.
When you place the button over the highlighted word, the word then shows up on the button: again, an extremely neat effect. However, in several cases the grammar of the button-word and the target-word doesn't mesh: for example, early on, you have a button saying "listen", you have to place it over "reading" (as in the noun), getting "listen reading".
As for the story itself, it is body horror from the point of view of an alien parasite, gathering data from its human host for an unseen "Mother". I realise this genre isn't everyone's bag: me, I don't mind it. There is no exaggerated focus on grossing the reader out (the story being from the parasite's POV probably has something to do with it). The writing is very good, though I caught one or two typoes. You have to make some strategic decisions about whether to proceed or quit while you're ahead, getting different endings as a result.
The visuals are black text on white, without graphical flashiness. They feel... a bit too clinical, given the content. At least they are clear and easy on the eyes.
All in all, I found it engaging and well-written, but it still left me feeling a bit dissatisfied. (Spoiler - click to show)From the intro text, I expected more of a storyline, or at least some sort of revelation about the goals of the PC and their Mother. However, the game invariably ended with the PC's death, just when I would have liked it to spin off into a wider story. I realise this is the story the author wanted to write; I can't fault her for not writing something else. But it still came off as more of a morsel than a full meal.
Still, if you're interested in a short, well-written piece of SF/horror, it may well be the morsel for you.
Twine retro beat 'em up, with graphics and music, May 12, 2018HAIZARA cuts the Gordian knot of Twiny Jam's extreme word count limit, by using Twine commands to power an LCD-style game, complete with music and sound effects. The result is slick, funny, and addictive (if hard).
I have to admit, I still haven't beaten it. (Spoiler - click to show)I can't figure out how to defeat the fire demon.
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is because some of the puzzle solutions are counter-intuitive. (Spoiler - click to show)Instead of attacking the spider, you have to JUMP up to the spider, causing it to drag you to its lair where you find an emerald. Fortunately, emeralds are wizard stuff, leading the wizard to let you into his castle. Obviously, this is part of the intentional retro silliness of the game, but it still makes progress a matter of trial-and-error rather than reasoning.
Contains some gratuitous swearing and meme usage, for those who don't like such things.
Definitely should be played by everyone, if only for the innovation factor.
Just a story, but a beautiful story, May 12, 2018little mermaids is an entry in Twiny Jam, which has a 300 word size limit. You are a siren, setting out with your sisters to charm and drown the sailors of an approaching ship -- not because you're evil, but because the law of the sea is the same as the law of the jungle: hunt or starve. And your sister is going to die unless she feeds soon.
This piece is completely linear, but the writing is excellent enough that I'm not taking any points off for that. While the story is short and simple, there is enough wealth of detail that I didn't feel the wordcount limit. The Twine links pace out the story well, with a nice effect in the ending.
A lushly written, tragic work. Well worth a read if you're a fan of mermaids or the darker side of folklore.
(Disclosure: I participated in Ectocomp 2017.)
YOUR PARTY IS DEAD grabbed me with its title, and the plot is pretty interesting, though far from cheerful (obviously the game was written for Hallowe'en, but I found it more depressing than scary). It presents an unpleasant situation, and made me identify with the PC's desperation to get out of it. The use of intentional boredom is well handled: making the reader experience boredom without feeling bored is very hard, but the monotony of the PC's undeath is handled well here and doesn't outstay its welcome. While I don't quite understand the reasons for why the ending turns out as it does, it is unexpected and ties in nicely with what came before.
Unfortunately, the writing quality fluctuates a bit. A lot of that can probably be laid at the door of the time limit, because there are some genuinely nice, emotionally intense moments, while others feel dull. "Show, don't tell" is an overused piece of writing advice, but I feel it's particularly warranted in IF: in static fiction, there are times when telling the reader how a character feels are the best option, but in IF, the reader takes the role of a character and thus really should never need to be told how they feel. In YOUR PARTY IS DEAD, there are several instances of the PC being told how they panic, scream, etc., when letting the situation speak for itself would be more effective.
Another issue is the lack of interactivity. The author is upfront about this, but it's still rather jarring: there is a single instance where the player can choose multiple options, and they all lead to the same continuation, and there are other instances where options would seem logical, even if they would simply lead to failure. Again, this is a function of the short time-frame. An expanded version with all the branching and multiple endings the author originally wanted would be interesting.
Tonally, there is some fluctuation as well. The blurb and monochrome-and-red palette made me expect something either teen-angsty or genuinely distressing, but there are also adventuring parties straight out of a derivative RPG, complete with a bard who speaks in rhyme. That makes it hard to pinpoint just how seriously this story wants to be taken.
The NPCs are not deep, though they feel sympathetic enough to explain the PCs feelings for them. Oddly, the NPC I liked best was the Bat Dragon, (Spoiler - click to show)again, it's not a groundbreaking character, but it gets quite a bit of charm and pathos in some of the well-written passages.
On a technical level, the dark palette feels suitable, but the (custom-made?) font is a bit rough, with small Fs looking identical to capital ones and unnecessarily tall colons. There are a few typoes, but again, that's to be expected from a Petite Morte game.
In short, a fairly engaging but completely non-interactive dark fantasy story, with writing that isn't quite up to the task, despite some good passages. Worth giving a try if you're in the mood.
Great game, but play Skulljhabit first, November 21, 2017Creating an homage to a fellow artist (particularly one who is still alive and may come across your work) is a tricky rope to walk. At worst, it may turn into cringeworthy idolisation. At the same time, surely some form of deference to the older (greater?) artist is to be expected; otherwise, what's the point of it being an homage?
chintokkong's A Study in Porpentine avoids the risk of cringe through a fairly original approach: the game isn't so much about its creator's feelings towards Porpentine and her work as it is about a concrete artistic problem: how to create a game like Skulljhabit. The author's page mentions several literary sources with which I'm unfortunately unfamiliar. I'd like to add that it reminded me of Jorge Luis Borges' short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote", the story of a 20th century writer's attempt to recreate Don Quixote; not an adaptation or a pastiche, but an identical facsimile, word by word.
And A Study in Porpentine works. In fact, I may have enjoyed it more than the game it's based on. Skulljhabit is not a bad game by any means; it has Porpentine's usual high writing quality, and the setting and ambience are compelling. Even so, I've only played it once and was satisfied, whereas I keep coming back to A Study in Porpentine, even after solving it. I can think of a few reasons (essentially all boiling down to "it's a taste thing"). For starters, ASiP's story of finding inspiration and creating a work of fiction is closer to my own life and motivations than Skulljhabit's cycle of menial labour. Secondly, ASiP gives you a more driving plot, with your goal and the way to get there set out right from the start. Skulljhabit does have a progressing plot, but it lets you fumble about in the dark to find it. What can I say? It's a taste thing. You may have the opposite reaction.
I enjoyed pretty much everything about it. The challenge of compiling the material for your game is a good example of how puzzles can be implemented in a Twine game. I did find one part (finding the hair) frustrating, since it got me blundering about using trial-and-error, but I don't have many hard feelings for that. And the writing and mood are excellent, fully on a par with the source material.
I found it enlightening to compare my feelings to the other chintokkong game I've played, Save the World in 7 Moves. With Save the World I found the gameplay original, especially for Twine, but didn't feel that the writing or mood were particularly memorable. In ASiP, the gameplay is upfront about being unoriginal, but the writing and mood are as good as I could desire.
Recommended, but play Skulljhabit first.
(Disclosure: I participated in Ectocomp 2016.)
In The Unstoppable Vengeance of Dr. Bonesaw you play a genius inventor about to take the final step to get revenge on four enemies. The good doctor's hatred of the enemies shines through; however, since apparently their crime is plagiarising inventions and Dr. Bonesaw's response is murder, you get the feeling that our protagonist may be a bit morally ambiguous.
The first thing that stood out to me in this game was the writing. This has the best writing of any Ectocomp 2016 entry I've played so far, and then some. It is pitch-perfect and funny, with sensuous descriptions. The plot is clever, with an unusual gimmick.
The central puzzle isn't the most groundbreaking thing in all IF, but it's solidly implemented and rewards experimentation. It stumped me just long enough to feel challenging, rather than frustrating. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the outcomes, even just a slight change to the ending message depending on, for example, whether you (Spoiler - click to show)blocked the southern doorway but not the northeastern one. However, this is after all a speed IF.
While the story is about cold-blooded murder, the ambience of the game is pulp, rather than horror. The most frightening parts were little asides, rather than the main plot: for example, the existence of the morphing surgical table, (Spoiler - click to show)though it doesn't get used for any nasty purposes in-game, or the response to REMOVE MASK.
My only criticism of this game is that I would have loved more: more endings, more things for Dr. Bonesaw to comment on, more puzzle. However, when I come across a game that is as much a treat as this, I'm thankful for what I get.
I haven't rated any Ectocomp entries; it would have felt disingenuous, since I participated in it. However, if I did, I think this game merits at least a 4. Strongly recommended for anyone who enjoys a short, mildly creepy pulp read with polished prose and implementation.
(Disclosure: I participated in Ectocomp 2016.)
Because You're Mine is a dark little puzzler where the PC is a sapient horse searching for the ingredients for a spell to get revenge on an unfaithful lover.
The title sets the darkly romantic ambience right from the start, and the game is atmospheric and grim, while still having enough touches of black comedy to make you at least half-sympathise with the protagonist. There are some fine puzzles (I liked figuring out how to enter the swamp and get the wing), and the writing is good, given the time restrictions, though it could of course be more polished. The description of the swamp is particularly atmospheric. While the setting is pretty obviously based on My Little Pony, there is enough original worldbuilding (Brieflings, the magic) to make it a bit more than just a copy. The NPCs are obviously limited, but still get a lot of quite sympathetic characterisation in a few lines. All in all, the game is well implemented for a Petite Morte entry, including an encyclopaedia that you can consult about various topics.
So far I was enjoying both writing and puzzles. However, I got stuck on obtaining the mandrake root. I had an idea of where to find it, but the implementation was so sketchy that I nearly quit the game, before stumbling on the right phrasing.
(Spoiler - click to show)You have to type LOOK UNDER CORPSE. Commands such as LOOK UNDER TREE, SEARCH GROUND etc. will give you a stock negative response
So that brings down the score a bit for me (and if you're not familiar with real-world folklore about mandrakes, the in-game information will not be particularly helpful about where to look). However, in all other aspects the game is well-implemented, with fresh puzzles and fun worldbuilding. Recommended if you're in the mood for a dark, sardonic fantasy game with an unpleasant protagonist.
A flawed work of art, September 30, 2017The word "keepsake" makes me think of a small object: precious, of course, beautiful, perhaps, but above all exquisite and rare.
Keepsake is small and unique. Unfortunately, its idea is a bit too bold, and the details a bit too out of proportion, for it to form an aesthetically perfect whole.
I let that simile get away from me, didn't I? Let's rewind.
Keepsake has a very bold concept that can't be discussed without spoiler tags: (Spoiler - click to show)you are playing through a series of events in reverse, taking things from bystanders instead of carrying out fetch-quests, handing over important items, on your way away from the climactic moment. It's not a completely original concept: I haven't see Memento, but I was also reminded of Martin Amis' novel Time's Arrow, another example of a bold work of art that perhaps doesn't quite work. This conceit is wrapped up in a very simple but emotionally powerful revenge plot.
So I like the plot, slight as it is, and am impressed by the conceit. I'm in two minds about the puzzles. On the one hand, they're clever: solving them requires having figured out the conceit. On the other hand, once you have done so, the puzzles are 1) essentially the same, and 2) very simple acts of giving or using an item. The simplicity is justified: in this type of story, more complex puzzles might have been very difficult to solve, let alone implement. Still, it meant that while the first puzzle I came across (the old man's cane in the coffee shop) impressed me, the next one was just more of the same.
The writing is good, rather than great. It's not strikingly beautiful prose, and some sentences felt clichéd, but conversely, there were also times when the writing struck a psychologically accurate note, and I feel like those moments outnumbered the duds. The style is a clear window to observe the story through, rather than an artwork.
The epilogue, again, has me in two minds. On the one hand, it's well implemented and serves as a good coda to the story; on the other hand, it made me realise that unplayable epilogues might be rare in IF for a reason.
The version I played was very well implemented: the set-up by necessity causes a bunch of disambiguation issues, but the game is streamlined enough that I had very few problems getting it to understand me. As I mentioned before, the epilogue is also a good piece of implementation.
One of the more original games out there, and perhaps it implements its gimmick as well as can be realistically expected. In the end, however, between the somewhat flavourless writing and the simplicity of the puzzles, I found it not-quite-exquisite enough to live up to its name.
Slight but well-written Batman fanfiction, September 11, 2017Batman is Screaming is a short Batman fanfiction from the Joker's point of view, where (Spoiler - click to show)the Joker finally wins.
It is utterly linear and slight in size, without much of a story, but the writing and characters' voices are top notch (I'm admittedly not a huge Batman fan, but the Joker's actions and props feel true to form). Unsurprisingly for Porpentine, there is some unsettling (not graphic, but unsettling) horror content as well.
Not one of Porpentine's more memorable games, but worth a playthrough for the quality of the prose alone.
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
The Curious Incident at Blackrock Township is a short Twine story about a witch trial in colonial North America, told entirely through snippets from contemporary and later documents.
Historical fiction seems to be a comparatively rare genre in IF, which makes me all the happier when I find a game that lets me immerse myself in an alien time period. Witch trials are a concept that's hard to screw up when it comes to good drama, and I'm always a fan of the "found document" gimmick, which is used excellently here.
I'm not a historian of 17th century America, but the story feels well-researched. My only major nitpick with the storyline is that (Spoiler - click to show)I find it hard to believe that Ezola would be allowed to go free for denouncing Hopkins; to me it seems more likely that they would both have been executed. That said, again, I'm not an expert on witch trials, and perhaps that has indeed happened. (As a minor nitpick, I also find it hard to believe that a Puritan would name one of his children "Diffidence".)
The documents, both contemporary and those of later historians, are well-written and catch an authentic tone. Some of the 17th century spelling felt hokey to me, even taking into consideration the lack of standardised English spelling in that era. (I'm particularly dubious about the spelling "tortor" for "torture".) However, that seems like something that would be difficult to get right in a 3-hour time span - and, to repeat myself, perhaps some of the weirder spellings come straight out of actual documents from the time.
Ezola's character is nicely sketched in a brief space. The horrors are hinted at in a matter-of-fact way, making them stick in the mind better than any melodrama or explicit gore could have done. While many of the passages just have a single link leading to the next one, there is a reasonable amount of interactivity for such a short story.
For all that, I came away feeling vaguely unsatisfied. It felt like the game simply didn't add much to distinguish itself from other witch-hunt stories. The hints in some endings that (Spoiler - click to show)Ezola was indeed a witch is a twist that has been done before. There is some interesting potential in the concept that the player gets to influence events that are already set down by historians and should thus be immutable, but this isn't really given much emphasis in the text.
Well worth playing: for starters, it's a setting and genre that is relatively rare in IF, with a dark, interesting and well-written (my misgivings about some of the archaic spelling aside) story. At the end of the day, though, it feels like there could have been more meat on it.
Fun and original concept, but the lack of interactivity is detrimental, August 30, 2017The title of this game led me to expect something pretty dark: both "mind control" and "slaughter" are heavy, frightening terms. In fact, the game turns out to be a slapstick comedy, if one with a nightmarish, Kafkaesque side (actually, isn't that true of most slapstick?). You're an ordinary guy, out drinking with friends on your birthday, when you try a mind-control drug. Things spiral out of control quickly.
The effects of the mind-control are funny, surreal, and lead to some original havoc. I won't spoil the events that ensue, since they're the best part of the story.
Sadly, this is one of those Twine games where the lack of interactivity is a negative. Drunken Mind Control Slaughter is not completely linear, but player choice is restricted to the ending. This bothers me, because the effects of the mind-control essentially set the player up with a puzzle: perhaps a difficult one, due to the chaos and the characters' lack of control, but original. Instead, I clicked my way through a mostly static story, without a chance to affect the action. Perhaps more interactivity would just have compounded the chaos, but that would be great for the comedy, too.
The characters are cyphers: good as slapstick props, but virtually blank otherwise. The writing is hardly great literature, but it's good enough. Most importantly, it's clear: more florid writing might have made the chaotic events more difficult to follow. On the downside, there were times when it felt slapdash. Slapdash isn't necessarily a negative: Porpentine has sometimes used a more informal tone without her games suffering for it. Here, however, it made the story feel skimpy in some places (such as in some of the ending scenarios) where more involved description would have added to the drama.
Not a bad story by any means: give it a playthrough, it's short and sweet. However, I would have enjoyed a way for the player to do more. The set-up is good enough that the lack of interactivity felt like a missed opportunity.
Not much there, July 11, 2017The Morning After the Night Before is to all intents and purposes a "my crappy apartment" game in Twine. You wake up after a bender and presumably have to figure out what happened last night, though there is little actual investigation done. There is something of a puzzle (finding the key so you can go outside), which is good as far as it goes, but that is pretty much all there is to it. The rest of it is "my crappy apartment"-text. It's not noticeably badly written, just extremely bland.
The tags promise a twist, so I played to the end looking for the reveal that, for example, I was Donald Trump all along. Instead I got (Spoiler - click to show)one of the most cliché storylines of modern games, the zombie apocalypse. It's not particularly scarily written. There are prior hints that something is wrong outside the apartment, but again, they fail to build up any really ominous atmosphere. It was almost enough to make me wonder whether I'd missed something.
I don't want to be too harsh. Like I said, the writing isn't actively bad, and there are no bugs. The "my crappy apartment" genre isn't bad in itself: some excellent works have started out with a similar premise. And I always enjoy puzzles and puzzle-like elements (such as needing to find an item to proceed) in Twine games.
We all have to start somewhere, and there are much worse first games than this.
Cute, but not very memorable, July 4, 2017Saybutts is an interactive story entered in Twiny Jam about the perennial plight of a cat owner: how to stop your cat waking you up in the middle of the night. The cat in question is named Sabriel, "the Patience of God", apparently so called because that's what you need to deal with her.
The moment I played it, the lovely and character-filled photos of Sabriel won me over. If you have even the slightest fondness of cats, it's worth giving it a playthrough for the photos alone.
That aside, there's not much here, for better or for worse. The shortness is of course a component of Twiny Jam, and it does do a good job packing that small scope with a complete story (a gentle, slice-of-life story) and interactivity. However, other Twiny Jam games had far more impact on me while still adhering to the same space constraints. The prose isn't bad, but neither does it stand out. There are some cute and amusing observations, and the ending made me chuckle, but by and large, the story is pretty unmemorable.
Worth playing for some excellent photos and a sweet little story, just don't expect it to blow your mind.
For a much more in-depth game about feline cuteness and annoyance, I recommend Cat Petting Simulator 2014.
Well-written fantasy horror, but feels like it could have done more, June 28, 2017The Cursed Sword of Shagganuthor is a dark Twine short story casting you in the role of a villager participating in an uprising against an evil sorcerer-king.
The writing is extremely fine, and the central horror conceit is original and memorable. Chances are, it will stay with you for a while.
As for downsides, I will refer to Gijsbers' review: the story is so linear, it barely merits the interactive format. For much of the plot, I found it justifiable as an expression of the fatalism mentioned in the game blurb: the protagonist is swept along by events outside of his control, first in the battle, then by the effects of the curse. Even so, I found the linearity too overbearing: there are events that the protagonist should realistically be able to influence, but the story won't let you.
Also, while I've mentioned that I found the conceit original, the larger storyline of the curse is less so. Perhaps it's just that I read a lot of horror, but I still found the overall story predictable. Sometimes, predictability can add to horror: the inevitability of classical tragedy. In this case, however, I didn't experience that effect. That said, I wasn't expecting (Spoiler - click to show)the protagonist to infect his wife and father-in-law, rather than killing them.
A bit where the storytelling felt unclear: (Spoiler - click to show)when the protagonist proceeds to his father-in-law's house, I assumed that he would kill his father-in-law, and thus the man showing up alive later confused me a bit.
In short: brilliantly written, with some gruesomely original imagery, and well worth a read if you're a fan of body horror and dark fantasy. It just feels like it could have gone deeper.
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
Scars is a low-key horror game set in an alternative present where (Spoiler - click to show)superiors have the right to punish their subordinates by scarring them.
I like this concept a lot. The game stands out from most EctoComp games I've played: there's no supernatural element, and no reliance on shock tactics. The story does a good job building up an unpleasant atmosphere, and there's no gratuitous gore. The horror is mundane, at least for our viewpoint character. I would love to read a longer work going into more detail about how this society works.
The writing is very good, if a bit unpolished due to time constraints. Around the middle of the story, it felt like it bogged down a little: a bit too many details that didn't really give me any useful information, a bit too much "telling". On the other hand, the ending is vague and enigmatic, leaving for the reader to infer what is between the lines.
The only major flaw is that the story is very linear. A long section of the opening has no interactivity other than pressing a link to see the next page. While it does get more interactive, that interactivity primarily expresses itself in letting the player choose a few different scenes that provide more information, rather than actually affecting the plot.
You can't even say that the second-person CYOA format makes the story more personally engaging. The protagonist is simultaneously too individualised to be the iconic blank slate PC, and too bland to be a compelling character. We're given a lot of details about her job and past events, but not much that made me identify with her.
These are minor quibbles. I still found it well worth a play-through, for the plot and writing.
Fun coffee break RPG, June 4, 2017As other reviewers have pointed out, brevity quest takes the stripped-down aesthetics of ultra-short Twine games (such as, for example, RPG-ish) and puts them to work in a more large-scale and sprawling (if fairly mechanically simple) RPG. You can choose between three different character classes, and several storylines are mutually exclusive, thus adding a large element of replayability.
Your feelings for brevity quest will probably depend on how you feel about unabashedly classic (or conventional?) Dungeons & Dragons tropes. Me, I enjoyed it enough to come back for multiple playthroughs. A lot of my enjoyment may be powered by nostalgia, but you know, it's exactly what I needed. The length feels just about perfect. It gets quite challenging early on (the mine quest), but only enough to make me determined to find a way through the obstacles, not enough to make me lose interest. Getting a winning ending is enough of a challenge to feel rewarding. The writing is, as mentioned, succinct, but clear and transparent.
While I described it as being mechanically simple, it's far from stupid. The ending screen tracks your adventures and skills, and while there's no over-arching plot, your previous actions may come to affect the events in later quests.
There are a few flaws that stop me from giving it five stars. Most importantly, it is up-front about being unfair and rife with learning-by-death. The author is disarmingly aware of this and suggests using the Undo button when needed, but the fact remains that picking options without having a fair chance of knowing the outcome hardly counts as "gameplay", any more than flipping a coin does. A minor issue is that the tone of the narration fluctuates a bit: the first couple of quests are written in a straight-faced manner, whereas later ones have a more tongue-in-cheek narration. Now, don't get me wrong: the comedy is good. (I particularly enjoyed the intro to the final dungeon.) Still, I might have enjoyed it more if it had been present from the start.
I also found a bug (I assume): in the final dungeon, during the battle against (Spoiler - click to show)the multi-armed monster, the game displays the links for both success and failure.
The story doesn't really break any new ground in terms of fantasy games: the enemies are conventional, the quests are mostly comfortable fantasy RPG tropes. If you don't have a problem with that, you won't have a problem with this game either.
To sum up: a polished, coffee break-sized fantasy quest. Exactly what it says on the tin, in other words. Recommended for everyone who wants a nostalgic, adventurous fantasy experience, or like their Twine to be on the "game" side of the spectrum.
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
The following is not Andrew Schultz's fault, but when I saw the title, I got a strong mental impression of a shaded, elegiac ghost story. What it is is a decidedly non-complex "visit all the rooms without retracing your steps" puzzle, with some plot justifications involving ghosts and the afterlife. No descriptions, no NPCs, essentially nothing to interact with (though the last part is justified, given that you're non-corporeal). Still, once I started I found it a fun, semi-mindless way to spend an afternoon. An ASCII auto-map is included, and the game is just the right length not to feel too light, nor to outstay its welcome.
(Spoiler - click to show)Then, you have to guess a verb in order to win the game. While I found that part difficult, I wouldn't call it illogical. It also stands out as a puzzle that wouldn't work in any medium other than IF, and draws attention to the PC's powerless nature as a ghost in a way that is somewhat darker than anything we have been led to expect.
Technically, it's good: I appreciated the map, and there is even a system where progressively more blatant hints appear if you get stuck. (Also, as Easter eggs, try going UP or DOWN.) The only place where I felt the constraints of the three-hour time limit was in the writing, which felt a bit unpolished, even to the point of being difficult to understand. In places, this may even have affected my ability to solve the final puzzle. That is the only major fault I could find, though.
There is a bit of a story, even a pretty good one, but it's almost exclusively doled out in the intro and ending text.
Not horror in any sense of the word, and barely counts as the F in IF, but a fun diversion if you're in a puzzly mood, and technically robust for a speed-IF.
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
First of all, let it be said that I agree 100% with the concept behind this game. The idea of a horror parody of a disliked troll game is funny, and anyone who can make toilets scary is a friend of mine.
Unfortunately, this game feels like a troll itself. It's not egregiously bad; there's just barely anything there. The writing is... okay. It's a bit overblown in a way I assume is intentionally parodic, but again, it's hard to tell.
I don't want to knock it too hard: there's some sophisticated coding, and the actual horror content manages to be disorienting and startling. It just didn't make an impact on me at all, for better or for worse.
(Note: I didn't get the Lousy Last Point. Perhaps if I had, my feelings about the game would change.)
I think I like the concept of this game more than the actual game, May 15, 2017My interest for Save the World in 7 Moves was piqued after I read Sobol's review, which described it as a Rematch-style replay puzzle that manages to fit a vast amount of puzzle-solving into the Twine format. That is indeed true. The puzzles are the high point of the game: some challenging, some not particularly logical (as befits the surrealism of the plot), but I stuck it out and felt that the game rewarded my persistence. I'm particularly impressed with (Spoiler - click to show)the Emporium puzzle. I'd quite like to know the code that went into that.
Everything else? The plot is minimal and not very original. The solution to the problem is, again, not massively original, but at least it contains one or two twists rather than being a straightforward journey from point A to point B. The writing, while not bad, is somewhat ungrammatical: I can't tell whether the author is going for a Porpentine-style expressionism or simply isn't a native English-speaker, but that in itself is a bit damning. That said, some descriptions are atmospheric, and even the clunky grammar becomes background noise due to the many replays you're going to go through. There is plenty of satire of office life: it's amusing enough (stick it out through the meeting-room presentation at least once), but this is extremely well-trodden ground in IF, and this game doesn't add anything much.
While the puzzles are the high point of the game, towards the end I found myself lawn-mowering through the locations trying to find something I hadn't tried, and it ended up feeling like busy-work. Also, quite a chunk of the game is spent on a red herring (though it does point you in the direction of the correct solution).
EDIT: Removed a complaint that turned out to be due to my own misreading.
I hesitated whether to give this a 3 or a 4. Picture 3.5 stars if you will. The plot, writing and setting are nothing particularly memorable, but the puzzles really are good enough to make up for it. Play it for the puzzles. I'm glad I did.
PS. Was that a Stanley Parable reference?
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
This one grabbed me from the start: the set-up, with the PC in a car trying to escape from an unknown horror, is sufficiently rare in IF to be memorable, and creates a nice claustrophobic sense of horror. The writing is largely very good, despite one or two slightly cliché moments. Once I found out what the threat was, my interest flagged a little, but that's because I'm not a fan of (Spoiler - click to show)werewolves, not because of any fault in the game.
If I had to describe this game in one word, it would be "polished". Processes that could easily have become a case of guess-the-verb, such as driving a car or buying something, have been nearly perfectly streamlined. The game does a very good job of seeming sprawling and open, creating the illusion of a vast world despite the short time-frame of creation. Finally, the ending is powerful and appropriate to the set-up.
The only real problem I had is that you can lock yourself out of the winning ending (Spoiler - click to show)literally, by not taking the hamburger before you get locked out of the car. This was particularly annoying to me as I figured out the winning move, only to realise that I'd left behind the item I needed. Now, you may say that this is an IF game, you should pick up everything that isn't nailed down. The thing is, if I have something in my car, I think of it as being in my possession. "You need to pick it up" doesn't register with me.
EDIT: The author has informed me that it is still possible to get a winning ending if this happens, so I stand corrected.
There are a couple of other minor annoyances: figuring out how to enter (Spoiler - click to show)the gas station is unintuitive (you have to use IN; ENTER or compass directions won't work); some stock commands are unimplemented (for example, OPEN DOOR while struggling to get back into your car will give you "You can't see any such thing"). Of course, such issues are the expected casualties of a speed-IF, and apart from these few technical problems, I really have no complaints about this game. Play it if you want a tense, unnerving horror game with a sense of a large world and a strong ending.
Well worthy of its high score in the competition.
(Disclosure: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
The premise is original, and the writing is pretty good. I came into it expecting something rather light-hearted and silly, but the various PCs' backstories turn out to have a bit more darkness to them: a nice mixture of black comedy and inhumanity. Those backstories are probably my favourite part of the story: they're well-written and get the right amount of detail without dragging on.
Then you get to the bulk of the story, and... it's a boredom simulator. You have to click through a few repetitive tasks until enough years have passed for you to reach the planet of your destination, (Spoiler - click to show)upon which the storyline ends. There exists a game called Journey to Alpha Centauri: In Real Time, based on a joke in Terry Pratchett's novel Only You Can Save Mankind, where the joke is that it takes 3,000 years to complete; this is like the coffee-break version. Of course, the point is that the journey is immensely boring for the PC; the problem is that intentional boredom is still boredom.
(Spoiler - click to show)I played through all the characters, in case there were some sort of reward for completing all the storylines, but it turns out there isn't.
I found most of the PCs interesting in one way or another. I particularly enjoyed the vampire's backstory, and the lich has an interesting personality (and also the most varied content during the actual journey). Implementation-wise, the game is competent: nothing groundbreaking, but a good use of expanding text and randomised elements. On the downside, there are a few typoes, but not enough to reduce my enjoyment.
Not particularly scary.
To sum up: a fun idea, decently written, but still a boredom simulator.
You can shake berries from the mulberry tree onto a tatty fitted sheet, March 5, 2017A short piece of dynamic fiction about trying some ecological fresh-from-the-comb honey for the first time. There is a little bit of interactivity, but the main draw is in the perfectly gauged prose (I was particularly impressed by the author's way of describing flavours, something I always find difficult to put into words), and the glimpses of the PC's surroundings and backstory.
The hyperlinked words often have little connection with what comes next. Moving to a new page shows the previous paragraphs with the new paragraph added: not my favourite format, but that is a taste thing, and it prevents you from losing track of the narrative. While I'm on the subject of technical details, the use of yellow text for some words is a bit of a pain, since it's almost necessary to highlight it. However, it's rare enough not to be a big issue.
Fine slice of life with an elegiac edge. Read if you want to savour some exact prose, or enjoy honey.
(Disclaimer: I participated in EctoComp 2016.)
Going Home is a very sparse zombie horror story in Twine. The PC is attacked by zombies and turned into one of them in the opening scene. This scene, and the PC's ensuing disoriented attempt to go home, are written in a semi-comical fashion, with plentiful use of growls and zombie noises. While there is horror here, it is not really emphasised.
This is followed by (Spoiler - click to show)a rather restrained and tragic scene of the PC attacking and eating their little daughter.
The Petite Mort class of EctoComp is of course under extreme time pressure, and taking the limitations into account, this isn't a bad story, but neither does it rise to any great heights. The succinctness undermines the horror, and of course, reactions to the horror and emotive content are going to vary from person to person. There is a game-like maze element (in the "going home" segment, all your choices are represented by guttural noises). It's not long enough to get frustrating, and it's a cool idea in theory, but in practice there does not seem to be any way to solve it other than by trial and error.
To sum up: there are some good points, such as some black comedy and a fairly powerful ending, but by and large I found it unmemorable. Still, it's short enough that it's worth a try.
Great set-up, good execution, September 25, 2016Here is the plot of Zero Sum Game: you are an adventurer who needs to go back and undo the puzzles you've solved, decreasing your score as you do so.
This is still an unusual conceit, and even more so in 1997. However, the puzzles are fairly traditional, without particularly relying on the "undo your actions" idea: finding keys to locked doors, killing or placating enemies who block your path.
Some reviewers have criticised the game for being violent. In my opinion, this is a bit exaggerated: it's hardly the IF equivalent of American Psycho, more like a fairly gory episode of Family Guy. That said, there is indeed (non-graphic) violence against innocents on the part of the PC and others, and some (non-graphic, comedic) sexual content. What I came away with was a sense of shallowness and slapstick. I found most of the major characters funny enough, but extremely one-note. The most developed one is probably your non-speaking animal companion, which might be significant. There is a type of fantasy parody story where everyone is stupid, sociopathic and horny, and Zero Sum Game fits into that bracket.
Most of the puzzles are logical and decently clued, and some are very clever. (I particularly enjoyed how you (Spoiler - click to show)resurrect the dragon.) However, some are unintuitive. Most blatantly, at one point you need to hide in one area when an NPC comes in and drops an item: miss it and you lose the item and your chance to complete the game. There is no massively compelling reason that the player should decide to hide in this place and rifle through the NPCs belongings, and I didn't figure it out without a walkthrough.
There is some world-building, but in general, the game's world is extremely thin, throwing together a number of settings (an orphanage, a troll bridge, a castle) because they fit with the puzzles. The writing is uneven. Most of the time it feels bland, but there are also passages of slightly overwrought beauty (such as the description of the oak in the glade), and some of the jokes are very good.
A funny parody adventure for an evening or two, if you're not bothered by violent characters and immature humour, but don't expect to still be thinking about it for weeks afterwards. A game that uses the same conceit, but with (in my opinion) better writing and more inventive puzzles, is Janitor.
Okay horror story, but never becomes greater than the sum of its parts, June 27, 2016I had high hopes for Ecdysis: the title and cover are evocative, and I am a fan of both Lovecraftian and body horror, and have found other entries in the Lovecraft Commonplace Book Project extremely enjoyable.
In the end, though, it didn't live up to my expectations. It feels harsh saying that, because the game is not a failure by any means. The writing is above-average, doing a good job conveying pain, disorientation and dread, as well as the occasional glimpse of wonder. While it's short and linear, it's polished, putting in quite a bit of information that you might miss on your first playthrough. (For example, try examining the stars when you can see them.) While the NPCs never get any characterisation, the PC's love for them comes through. The core situation with the PC's stepchildren is one that is pretty rare in this type of story. It's all... good, rather than great.
Time for the downsides. Perhaps it's just that I've consumed a lot of horror, but I found it easy to guess from early on where the plot was going, and it didn't surprise me much.
The writing seems to aim for Lovecraft's style a bit too slavishly, without hitting the things I like about Lovecraft's writing. Also, there are a couple of vocabulary blunders: for example, "diaphanous light" in the bathroom. (I guess the writer might mean that the light is faint, as if the darkness is showing through it, but it looks like a plain misused word.) As I mentioned, the game is short, linear, and almost puzzleless. (I say "almost", since there's apparently an alternative ending I haven't been able to get.) That's fine for what it is, but a longer game with a bit more freedom might have had more impact.
Perhaps most damning for a horror game, I didn't find it scary. The situation at the outset is certainly unpleasant, but as I said, after a certain point I could see too clearly where the story was going, and the central scene where we realise what is going on felt a bit too pulpy, rather than cosmic.
Not a waste of time by any means, but not as memorable as I was hoping for. Still, if you're after a quick, very polished horror/SF read, check it out.
Lovely magical girl RPG, May 28, 2016Bubblegum Slaughter uses Twine to create a solid RPG about exploring and fighting enemies to build up your strength for the game's climax. Plot-wise, it's a magical girl story, but towards the darker end of the genre. While most magical girl animé and manga tend to focus on a team, the start of this game sees you all alone: your friends and beloved mentor have vanished, as night falls and demons are breaking into the material world. You are not defenceless, you still have your superhuman powers, but you have no idea where to find your friends, or whether they are still alive. And you are on a time limit.
I had a blast. The writing is very good, especially when describing the crystal items you can craft to enhance your abilities. The attack descriptions do a good job transmitting the feel of action animé into prose: you feel like you are effortlessly unleashing hell upon your foes.
There is a strong ambience of darkness and menace. Heading into a new area tends to keep you on your toes; there is an element of trial and error (though not to the extent of learning-by-death) when facing a new phenomenon for the first time. The fighting is rather simply implemented, but not simply enough to feel perfunctory, and a more complex system might have slowed the gameplay. The game element lies rather in the tactics of choosing your battles and deciding whether to use your resources or save them for greater effects later.
(Spoiler - click to show)While the plot may be darker than that of the average magical girl story, it steers clear of the more unremitting tragedy of, for example, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Your mentor turns against you, but the evil is vanquished and your team is saved.
There are a few flaws, though not enough for it to lose a star in my book. Firstly, your friends (your mentor excepted) have very little characterisation. I'm fine with a blank-slate PC for the player to project themselves upon, but NPCs, if they are important, require at least a little more personality.
As for the ending:
(Spoiler - click to show)I enjoyed that the game lets you choose whether to defeat your mentor-turned-enemy or accept her Faustian offer: if a game has the antagonist tempt you, you should be able to accept their temptation. However, I would have liked it even more if the "bad" ending had been as developed as the "good" one: after all, at the point where the PC accepts the offer, it's no longer a bad ending for her. Instead, we get little more than a "you have died" message, if an emotive one.
While not a negative, I have a few words about the time limit:
(Spoiler - click to show)It builds tension effectively, but in my two playthroughs, I never got close to running out of time: I always got to the endgame with around twenty in-game minutes to spare. I suspect a practical reason for the limit was to ensure that the player couldn't loaf around beating up demons indefinitely. Whatever the reason, it kept me on my toes, which is what matters.
In short, a good example of how to use Twine to create an RPG mechanic, while not skimping on the art or emotional impact. The mentor is a well-written NPC. Strongly recommended to fans of combat-oriented games or magical girls.
Note: the link to play online appears to be faulty. If the author reads this, could you please fix it? This game deserves more exposure.
The creator acknowledges that this is her first game and not particularly polished, so instead of criticising or scoring it, I'll give some hopefully constructive pointers on future game creation.
The good:
The writing is pretty good, though there are a few clichés, and there is a lack of paragraph breaks. There are also some technical errors that could be fixed with more beta-reading (for example, "here the sound" in the first room should be "hear").
The story itself has a nice dream-logic ambience to it. Especially climbing the tree in the darkness stuck with me. While the game is essentially puzzleless, I like that (Spoiler - click to show)the ending gives you a choice, even if one of the options just lets you replay the game rather than being a true ending.
Now, for problems to fix in future games:
Events in room descriptions. For example, if you walk out of the shed and then walk back, the cat gives you the same speech. Events like this should be put in a "say:" message. Likewise, room descriptions should either be written so as to avoid too much "story" information (for example, writing that the PC is shocked when they enter a room), or else be set to change after the first viewing.
There is also a problem with items being mentioned in the room description. This is not only redundant (since items are automatically listed on their own line); it also becomes misleading when the item in question is no longer around.
Some other implementation problems:
It's possible to return to the tree from the cloud by going down, which I think shouldn't work.
The switch isn't fixed in place, meaning that you can take it. Also, "push switch" or "pull switch" does nothing, but "examine switch" causes the PC to press it.
(Spoiler - click to show)If you choose to return to the garden at the end, "examine switch" no longer works.
At the end of the day, it's clearly a beginner's exercise. The story is simple, but nicely dreamlike; the world model, despite the problems mentioned above, is solid enough to make a winnable game.
We all need to start somewhere. Keep going!
Sweet, weird, comforting, February 5, 2016Mother is one of Porpentine's own contributions for her Twiny Jam, a Twine game jam with a 300-word limit. It's pretty much a shaggy dog story; talking too much about it would spoil the joke, but it's a clever joke. The story is (unsurprisingly) well-written and (perhaps surprisingly) sweet. (Spoiler - click to show)The titular mother isn't an ordinary parent, but it's clear that she and the PC care a lot for each other.
It's essentially a static story, but features some cosmetic choices.
Play it if you want a clever, sweet little story that features all of Porpentine's weirdness without going into horror territory.
I Can't Believe It's Speed-IF, January 13, 2016To start with: I am not going to review this as an Ectocomp game, because it is so well-constructed, in terms of both writing and gameplay, that there is no way I could have guessed that it was made in three hours. I am going to review it as if it were any other interactive fiction game.
Caelyn Sandel has a history of making Twine games with strong world modelling and well implemented puzzles, more like point-and-click adventures than CYOA stories. It Is Pitch Black falls into this category. The plot is simple, but engaging: you are a kid going into an abandoned hardware store for a bet, one of your friends accidentally locks you in, and you have to find a way to make the light last until help arrives. Because you're not alone.
The writing is excellent: clear, not fancy, transmitting both the setting and the PC's sensations perfectly and without melodramatic effects. The use of graphics (and lack thereof) adds to the ambience. The puzzles are solid; again, exactly what I expect from Sandel's work. It is not extremely difficult, but it took me a couple of tries to beat.
I have very little negative criticism. The world-building feels sketchy, including magic and monsters as well as a vague (but evocative) apocalypse some time before the start of the game, but as the outro text explains that the game is part of a larger setting created by the author, I presume that other works fill in the details. I could also quibble with the use of the Zorkian staple, the grue, in an otherwise serious and non-derivative story. Obviously, there is a reason for the monster being called a grue (and not, say, a gazzok): the game's main puzzle is finding light sources, the average IF player knows that grues are afraid of light, no further set-up is needed. It still brought me out of the game a little bit.
As horror games go, this isn't particularly horrific, but it is tense and atmospheric. Recommended if you want a decently challenging Twine game with a world model and puzzles.
(And no, I still don't know how Ms. Sandel makes games like this in three hours.)
Punchy and evocative, December 11, 2015The plot of Jetbike Gang fits easily within the 300-word limit of Twiny Jam. It is written entirely in punchy, evocative sentence fragments, a style that reminded me a bit of some scenes in Porpentine's games. This enables a storyline that doesn't feel the least bit cramped, with many possible endings. The whole story functions thanks to a perfect choice of words, and by working from cyberpunk and teen gang tropes to fill in the backgrounds. Graphically, there are few modifications to the standard Twine interface, but they add to the ambience.
There is not much of a strategic element; choices are often a coin-toss. This would be annoying in a longer story, but Jetbike Gang is short enough that replaying is worthwhile.
(Spoiler - click to show)I played it about five times until I got to a winning ending.
Well worth playing. One of the high-water marks of Twiny Jam.
Good dungeon crawl, somewhat aimless parody, December 2, 2015TOMBs of Reschette is an approximation of an old-fashioned fantasy RPG, complete with combat, inventory and unconventional stats, in Twine. It feels very much akin to Goodness' previous RPG parody, TWEEZER: it's not a direct sequel, and does not necessarily take place in the same setting, but there are some references to the previous game, and the worldbuilding is a similar mixture of tongue-in-cheek cliché and wild originality.
In many ways, TOMBs of Reschette improves on its predecessor. The plot is more of a driving force, even if it is a bog-standard "explore the tombs and kill the final boss" (almost in so many words). The inventory adds to the retro RPG feel. Twine formatting flourishes feel less intrusive, and remain well handled (changes in the colour scheme contribute greatly to the ambience, for example). Puzzles play a large part and are nicely challenging. Combat is usually resolved in a single move and focus on a puzzle approach (choosing the right weapon) rather than repeated bashing: perhaps less reminiscent of roguelikes, but more appropriate for Twine. There is some very good descriptive writing. Despite the overt derivative nature of the game, a great deal of originality has gone into the monsters inhabiting the dungeon: you're not going to find your average run-of-the-mill skeletons or goblins here.
At the same time, I came away feeling vaguely unsatisfied. TWEEZER was a slight game, and some of its comedy was hit-and-miss, but by and large, I found it a joy to read. TOMBs, though it might be better written, never feels as funny. Some of its comedy relies on a close pastiche of 1980s computer game/gamebook writing, which is well done but not laugh-out-loud funny; some feels aimless; and a couple of stretches of the game hardly seem to be comedic at all (by which I don't mean that they're tragic or grim, simply that they don't aim for comedy). While there are some well-turned lines, the game is missing the main source of TWEEZER's comedy, the individualised narrative voice.
(Spoiler - click to show)As for one of the central conceits, "monsters are living beings who deserve to be left alone" is a subversion of "monsters should just be slaughtered for XP" that has been around long enough (the earliest occurrence I'm aware of is in the Sega game Soleil in 1994) that it's almost become a cliché of its own. This game doesn't take it very seriously; the happy endings where you spare the Wamwhateverit'scalled have an '80s after-school special earnestness to them. It's not badly handled, but neither is it a very interesting concept, in my opinion.
In short, a well-written, well coded tribute/friendly send-up of old dungeon crawls, well worth a playthrough if you like puzzles, Twine with complex world modelling, or simply want to revel in a retro fantasy atmosphere for a while. However... oh, maybe TWEEZER just primed me to expect something other than what I've got. TOMBs, despite its parodic nature, isn't laugh-out-loud funny most of the time, and perhaps it isn't trying to be. That's okay. It's got other strengths.
Good SF/horror story, but did not quite live up to my expectations, November 21, 2015In Capsule, you play a Sandman, the single person awake on board a gigantic ship freighting millions of cryogenically frozen people towards potential salvation on the other side of a black hole. Going about your routine one day, you notice an anomaly in one of the cryo-storage sectors.
It's not the world's most original plot, but I'm a sucker for abandoned spaceship horror (well, not abandoned in this case, but you know what I mean), and it's a powerful story, well told. The strengths of all of PaperBlurt's games that I've played are writing, coding and artwork, and this game is no exception. There are even extremely attractive animated graphics at crucial moments. Background colours are used as a simple but effective way to evoke a mood.
In terms of style, the writing may not be the best ever, but it has a vivid, slightly unpolished strength. Unfortunately, there are a couple of typoes, too. There are several moments that ring psychologically true: for example, the protagonist's musings on how the administration went about choosing porn for the ship's entertainment sector. There is a lot of good comedy, and the horror is almost always well-written with exactly the right amount of detail, rather than relying on schlocky effects.
PaperBlurt's trademark style swings strongly, and sometimes that results in a miss. For example, the description of the fate of your predecessor does come off as a bit too try-hard, going for either horror or dark comedy but only achieving cheesy. Similarly, the narrative voice doesn't veer away from all-too-human things like bodily functions; mostly this works, but a gratuitous bit of scatology in an otherwise effectively horrific scene brought me out of the moment. Style is ultimately a matter of taste; perhaps that scene works for other people, but it didn't for me.
My main problem was with the endgame. (Spoiler - click to show)While it doesn't come out of nowhere, it has no organic connection with the plot that has come before (the tribe of awakened passengers). Ending a piece of interactive media is hard; it may feel like more closure is expected from a game than from a piece of static media. The various endings of Capsule all have definite closure, but the story still ends up feeling slightly disjointed.
Also, I felt the game wasn't clear enough at one point: when the computer said that there was a 98% risk of fatal outcome on entering the Loop, I assumed that that referred to the ship as a whole, not to me personally, which predisposed me against the game more than a bit: I have nothing against unhappy endings, but I do have a problem with being given three choices of endings, only to find out that all resulted in a negative outcome. My assumption was wrong, but I still think the writing could have made this clearer.
Also, other reviewers (mostly for the sequel) have pointed out the lack of realism in having only a single caretaker on board the ship. I'd like to add that certainly, some future technology should be able to protect that caretaker from almost certain doom, too.
Again, the writing in some of the endings was a bit swing-and-a-miss, feeling more silly than anything else.
It feels like I've just been listing a bunch of problems with this game, and that is unfair. The writing is very good (bar one or two glitches). Technically, it's a masterpiece. The mood is abundant, and there is a sufficient amount of interactivity, even if it felt like most of the meaningful choices were clustered around the very end.
Recommended to everyone who enjoys dark, ambient spaceship thrillers.
On to Capsule II - The 11th Sandman.
Decent implementation of a classic game, October 29, 2015David Griffith has adapted the 1987 graphic adventure game Shadowgate, by ICOM Simulations, Inc., for Inform. I have previously played the graphic game in its NES port. In this review, I will start with addressing this version as an adaptation, and then move on to the qualities of the game itself.
In Shadowgate, you are a warrior tasked with entering the eponymous castle and slay the evil Warlock Lord before he can summon the Behemoth, a huge monster of immense power. While the plot is slight, the game is large, with dozens of rooms and a wide range of items to collect. Puzzles are of the use-object-on-object variety. There is a time limit, in the form of the torch that provides you with light: as you progress through the castle, you find fresh torches.
The NES version of the game had good graphics: perhaps not by today's standards, but good enough to provide ambience, in addition to the clarity required to solve puzzles. Unfortunately, I don't think the writing in the IF adaptation is up to replacing them. It expands on the text in the original, giving the detail required to interact with the game world, but is mostly bare-bones and functional. The text has some old-school features that have moved out of fashion in parser games: for example, listing important items on a separate line. I also came across some cases where objects are listed twice, in the running description and on said new line. From a purely adaptational perspective, I felt that some of the flavour was missing: for example, I missed the grates in the Epor room, behind which the player could smell the stench of an animal and hear claws.
The greater wealth of commands possible in a parser game is rather underused. For example, one location is a cave containing a chasm, with the description "From the darkness below rise the screams of the undead", but typing LISTEN gives you the stock "You hear nothing unexpected." Likewise, SMELL, which could have been used to great effect in a crumbling castle full of bones and decaying items, only seems to be implemented once.
This makes it seem like the implementation is artless, but it's not. Griffith has made some subtle changes to make the game playable as text-only. For example, where the graphical original would hint at a hidden door with a faint outline on the wall, this adaptation may contain text such as "You feel a slight draft coming from the north." There are also cases where object descriptions provide hints that weren't in the original. Map layout has been streamlined to make compass direction navigation easier: where the original might have two doorways in the same wall, the adaptation might have one to the north and one to the west.
I also had serious problems with the way spells were implemented. When finding spells, you need to use a "gnusto" spell to commit them to your spellbook... except in some cases, you then also need to type "learn [SPELL NAME]" before you can cast the spell.
The game itself... is of its era. The plot is an excuse; deaths are plentiful (sometimes fair, often not); booby-trapped objects and exits are common; when violence is the answer, only one specific weapon will do. Readers may be relieved to hear that it does not contain a maze. Puzzles are often hard, and worse, unintuitive. For example: (Spoiler - click to show)in one specific place you need to light a rug on fire, uncovering a key. At this point, the player will have encountered half a dozen rugs, and while they can all be burnt, none of the others hide anything. Others are made more difficult by the parser. The one that gave me most trouble (even knowing what I needed to do): (Spoiler - click to show)PUT BURNING TORCH ON ICE, to thaw a frozen lake.
It is the fate of early examples of media that their virtues get repeated in work after work, while their flaws are left behind. I loved playing the NES Shadowgate at an age where you could justify spending months trying to crack an (unfair) puzzle. The ambience of magic and mystery is powerful, with a wealth of spells, prophecies and strange objects; the little hints of a wider world tug at the imagination; the original writing, while perhaps not high literature, is evocative; there are enough genuinely clever puzzles and hints to make me forgive the wall-banging ones. I want to thank Mr. Griffith for porting this game to a format where more people could experience it.
But today, when the original has been emulated and can be downloaded or played online, graphics and music included, I don't believe there is a place for it.
Impressive puzzly Twine game, October 24, 2015Hallowmoor stretches the capabilities of Twine to their limits, containing a complex world model, an inventory, a compass rose showing possible exits (though these can also be accessed by clicking keywords), an automap, and puzzles that are not necessarily easier just because you don't have to type in the solution.
The puzzles are the high point of the game: there were several times when I let out an impressed "really?" upon trying some combination and finding that it was indeed implemented. The central conceit for many of the puzzles may not be completely unique, but is rare in IF, and particularly unexpected in a choice-based game. (Spoiler - click to show)You need to switch between two host bodies with different abilities and weaknesses. However, their paths may not cross, or the unpossessed one will kill the possessed one on sight. There are of course also other puzzles, involving the use of inventory items. In some ways, it reminded me of the old graphical adventure Shadowgate.
So in terms of implementation and puzzle inventiveness: full marks. Unfortunately, the story and writing don't quite live up to the technical fireworks on display. While the plot is reasonably original (you are a ghost searching for the potion that will restore you to bodily life), the setting is extremely generic fantasy standard: armies of skeletons, witches with gnarled hands, dungeon cells. I admit to a soft spot for old-school fantasy settings in games, but I never warmed to this setting: some rooms did give a satisfyingly edgy feeling of infiltrating a dark castle full of enemies, but for the most part, the world felt gross and filthy rather than frightening.
As for the writing, it's perfectly fine and does a good job laying out the rooms without making them too overwhelming for puzzle-solving; however, no passages really stand out. It's serviceable, rather than exquisite. (Also, I caught an annoying misspelling: "ode de" should be "eau de".)
The Twine format is good, and the colour scheme fits well with the theme.
Deserves to become a classic.
Great use of real-time effects, October 18, 2015Elsewhere is a Twiny Jam entry, i.e. 300 words or less, but the small scope means that it gets across a large amount of detail without feeling too thin. It treats its problem without sentimentality, by letting the player focus on the practical solutions; much like you'd do in the PC's situation, in fact. (I've never been in this situation, but I've been close enough that I can imagine it.)
I was particularly impressed with its use of real-time changing texts and states. That feature made it feel more like a visual medium (despite there being no images) than any other IF game I've played.
Bite-sized Gothic gem, October 11, 2015Other reviewers have already gone into detail about the novel controls, so I will pass on that part. However, even without the mechanical inventiveness, this would still be worth playing.
The world of Amaranth has a unique, dreamy ambience. Despite its small size, there is enough detail (for example, the books) that it doesn't feel sparse. The responses to entering the (unnecessary) compass directions are an excellent touch.
The writing is very good - it falls into slight cliché once or twice, but it's clear and often very vivid. While I agree with other reviewers that the Red Prince does come off as a bit too passive, he is a memorable antagonist.
While the horror element is unlikely to keep you awake at night, the game does a good job at being eerie while staying away from cheap tricks: there is very little violence, little squickiness (apart from the undead guards), no unfair deaths. I enjoyed some of the dreamlike and unnerving images, such as (Spoiler - click to show)the horned skeleton at the shrine in the forest.
However, as the above paragraph shows, one could argue that the protagonist is a bit too safe in what should be a game about battling a powerful nemesis. The downside to the unique control system is a sense of alienation: we view this world top-down, like an intensely detailed model village. The PC can go pretty much anywhere: movement is carried out by the verb EXAMINE. At first, after the intro text's mention of dreams, I assumed that the game was meant to take place inside the PC's dreams, explaining the alien ambience that stems from the controls, but since you can go to sleep and dream in Amaranth (activating a clever, well-written hint system), that doesn't seem to be the case.
The puzzles are mostly simple and well-worn, in contrast with the innovations in other aspects. This isn't a problem for me (I'd rather play a game with conventional-but-logical puzzles than one that forces in the puzzles), but neither is it an advantage. However, one puzzle I did find original was (Spoiler - click to show)how you dispose of the Red Prince's body.
Castle of the Red Prince is a delicate, gem-like petit-four rather than a full meal. Highly recommended if you feel like playing a Gothic fantasy game that is a small time investment and unnerving rather than gruesome, as well as mechanically innovative.
Great concept, not very good in, er, execution, September 23, 2015The setup for this game looks like it could go places. Satirising both communist propaganda and capitalist consumerism could make for quite a few interesting and entertaining ideas. However, the actual game is a sparse, Twiny Jam-sized affair, more a toy than a game, where you click a link to acquire randomly-generated objects.
The technical implementation is flawless, as far as I can see, and the work would probably earn two stars from me, if not for the fact that it's almost completely written in faux-Cyrillic script (for example, using Ф to represent O, not the F sound it actually means), which makes it nearly unreadable and vaguely offensive.
The author himself admits that this is his first published Twine game, so I'm loath to be too harsh to it. The coding, like I said, works perfectly, and the visuals are appropriate. While the actual game is very slight, it is at least a nice time-waster. Rewrite it with proper lettering and it would be greatly improved.
Entertaining Twine RPG, August 20, 2015In essence, Tweezer is a stripped-down fantasy parody RPG created in Twine. You are a tourist with a limited number of days to spend in the fantasy land of Tuisere. Every day or night, you can choose to either visit a shop in town or go adventuring, with different features showing up depending on whether it's night or day, as well as on the day of the week. The day/night mechanic and some of the areas reminded me a little of Castle of the Red Prince, but Tweezer, while it does have a few borderline horror elements, is 100% not serious.
A particularly entertaining feature is the fact that you have a guide, who provides the narration. That's a trick I have seen in the occasional parser game, but never in a Twine game before now. Tweezer is as much the story of the guide as of the PC, and the guide's narrative voice stands for some of the most hilarious lines.
Let's talk about the humour. It's all over the place, ranging from gratuitous swearing and insults to old pop-culture jokes to understated wit. The first time I played, I found it overly broad (visiting the hippie alchemist first). After a few playthroughs, I started to appreciate the variety. While fantasy parody in IF goes back to the 90s at least, this game does manage to infuse it with its own flavour. Whatever your tastes, it's likely that there will be something here to annoy you, and also something to make you at least chuckle.
While this game has an RPG format, with the possibility to buy weapons and items and engage in battle with various fantasy clichés, the actual challenge level isn't very high. Surviving your stay in Tuisere is not particularly hard. (If there is a more "winning" ending other than that, I have not yet found it.) Essentially, in my playthroughs, I noodled around, explored, and figured out which items to use on which challenges. I haven't found everything, though. Don't let the superficial silliness fool you: there is quite a lot to find here, and since every playthrough is quite short, you will need to replay it if you want to look for the things you missed. I still haven't (Spoiler - click to show)beaten the quicktime event, or figured out whether Queen Ghoulia actually appears in-game.
Some of my favourite parts were the losing endings. (Spoiler - click to show)The vampire ending, getting the Blood Sword, and the one where your guide has to register for unemployment come to mind. The black comedy of these misadventures is where the understated narrative voice shines.
As usual, PaperBlurt abuses the multimedia capabilities of Twine in various cool ways. Your mileage will possibly vary on how much use any of it is. I'm not sold on the automatically appearing and disappearing text: I can appreciate that it is more dynamic than pressing a "Continue" link, but there is always the risk of it being either too slow or too fast. (That said, most of the time, the speed seemed good to me.) However, other coding tricks were things I had never seen in Twine before, and they worked well, possibly because they only appeared in small amounts. The colours of the backgrounds are a good minimalist way to illustrate the settings.
Tweezer is a difficult game to rate: I enjoyed it, but I realise that other people have a lower tolerance for clichéd fantasy parodies or wacky humour, or will find the game element too basic. Well, what can I say? It has a dorky passive-aggressive guide, a B-movie mad scientist, and drug jokes. If that sounds like your bag, give it a shot.
The link to this game does not go anywhere. I have to assume that the author has not actually put the game online.
Also, the synopsis "this is just a test story filled with bad spelling" does not inspire me with confidence that this is something that needs to have a page on IFDb, at least not until it has been developed into something the author considers viable.
A favourite, May 22, 2015vale of singing metals is probably the best Twiny Jam entrant I've played so far, and an excellent example of how to create a challenging game in Twine: by using links to create a maze. At first you merely want to find your bearings and explore. Later, you find an object and instructions on where to put it.
This is a straightforward concept, but vale of singing metals uses dream-logic and surreal, evocative sensations to guide the player through the maze. Saying much more about it would probably spoil it.
The colour scheme is enjoyable and works well with the dreamlike but calm ambience.
Strongly recommended to those who are interested in seeing the more game-like uses of Twine, or who want a poetic but decently challenging puzzle.
Fun, actually, April 18, 2015Computer games have widened their range of subjects. In the last few years, we've seen games dealing with serious topics such as LGBT issues, mental illness, or the morality of war. This has polarised critics. Supporters see this as the medium growing up: treating problematic or unpleasant topics, the way novels have done for centuries and films have done for decades. Detractors (the ones who are not just trolls) have pointed to a dilemma: is it possible to make an enjoyable game about an unenjoyable topic? If yes, isn't that distasteful: trivialising a real problem into a few hours' entertainment? If no - who would play an unenjoyable game?
Begscape by Porpentine is a game about a social issue, the plight of homeless beggars. It is also, in my opinion, enjoyable enough that I have come back to play it a dozen times.
It is extremely minimalist; it was only one of Porpentine's submissions for the 2014 IFComp, the other being the full-length, plot-heavy With Those We Love Alive. However, it never feels too bare. The game makes excellent use of randomisation to generate short but evocative descriptions of the villages, cities and citadels where you ply your trade, as well as brief glimpses of your travels in between. Despite the grimness of the subject, there is a good deal of beauty. You are in an insecure position and may be starving, but you're not blind to the port town of yellow wood and black seashells, or the distant sounds of singing as you approach your next goal. This feels true to life.
The gameplay itself is equally simple, but allows for a small amount of strategy. Each settlement has a certain cost of living. If you are not able to make enough money by nightfall, you will be forced to sleep in the street. If this occurs three nights in a row, you will die; a shorter period, and you will be reduced to a weakened state, from which you will slowly recuperate if you get food and board. Every morning, you have the choice to stay or move on (or will be expelled by the townspeople). There is no way of knowing whether the next town will have cheaper or more expensive costs of living. You have to take your chances, and there is even a slight random risk of an event during your travel impacting your health. Figuring out when leaving is worth the risk is the strategy that will keep you alive.
Keep you alive for longer, that is. It's hardly even a spoiler: the game is hopeless. I have come back to it evening after evening trying to beat my record in staying alive, but the ultimate outcome is never in doubt. And then you look at the final screen, and realise what it means that you're proud of surviving for 27 days.
So, as a game, Begscape works: it has good (if extremely spare) writing, and an addictive challenge. Does it work as social commentary? Hard for me to say: I already know that people begging in the street are human, I've never said "They just want money to buy drugs." Nor have I given any substantial amount - for reasons of personal economy, I would like to say, but also because what can I do? I already know that begging is hell, so I didn't need a game to tell me. Perhaps it has shown me what it's like in more detail. I would like to help, but like with any social issue, inertia and my own poverty will continue to hinder me. I'm lazy. I'm not equipped to help anyone in this situation.
Begscape sets out to do a certain thing, and does it flawlessly. If I give it four stars rather than five, it's because the minimalism does eventually become rather limiting. But it keeps me coming back and is well worth a playthrough, even just to see on which side it polarises you.
A final note: I read one IFComp review that mentioned that the lack of personal information served to dehumanise the "beggar". I'd like to offer a contrasting view: in this game, you simply play the classical faceless, genderless, ageless IF protagonist. We don't need to be told about the protagonist's reaction to being ignored or spat on, because they are us.
To start with, this isn't a game, or even fiction: it's a Twine document with musings ("reviews" would be too strong a word) on the IFComp 2014 entries.
Now that that's out of the way, is it any good? Well, the central conceit is cute, the writing is good if not outstanding, and I laughed out loud a number of times, which is more than most IFComp reviews pages get from me. On the downside, this isn't really what I look for in IF criticism: I enjoy reviews that are meaty, discuss the techniques used (both technical and artistic), and provide at least enough information about the game to make me decide whether I want to give it a shot. Some of the pages in IF is Dead are one sentence long, and not a particularly generous one. Even the longer ones assume that the reader has either played every entry, or has read enough other reviews to have at least an idea about them.
An enjoyable way to waste fifteen minutes, but I don't know whether I'll remember it a week from now. Give it a read if you want; there's nothing bad about it. Just don't let it be your first introduction to the 2014 entries, or you'll just be confused.
A good story, June 24, 2014Patrick is a simple but intriguing short story, very well written. (Especially the ob/gyn doctor's vaguely nightmarish monologue stands out as excellent writing.) There is a sense of there being more to the story than is visible at first sight, and the conclusion is surprising and appropriate.
While playing, I wondered whether the story and the protagonist's name were a reference to American Psycho. Patrick doesn't have any of that novel's gruesome content, but both works are about a businessman named Patrick who keeps getting mixed up with other people. Intentional? Hard to know, unless you're the author.
The illustrations are only stock photos, but the way they form a full-screen background to the text creates a visual dimension that is rather rare in Twine games, making it feel more like a Japanese visual novel. It's probably a taste thing, but I enjoyed the effect.
While I enjoyed this as a short story, I'm not sure whether the interactivity adds much. The blurb teases us with the possibility of an alternative ending, but I haven't found one. Apart from that tantalising secret ending, Twine gives us an (Spoiler - click to show)interesting but cosmetic randomised element, and the choice whether to read or skip a part of the protagonist's story.
In short: low on the interactivity, but well worth a read for its plot and stylistic prowess.
I have affluenza, and the only cure is more nano-woven abalone cards!, April 16, 2014Ultra Business Tycoon III is what life as a corporate executive looks like after half a gramme of cocaine. It's set in a surreal world, overtly inspired by the aesthetic of early 90s video games, where cops are gigantic multi-limbed hulks of muscle, and business consists of wanton theft and murder without even a token attempt at negotiation. Just to drive the point home, the famously anti-capitalist Porpentine has placed herself in the game as PorpCo, your first enemy.
This sounds disgusting, and it is, but it's also fun. Immoral behaviour tends to be attractive, after all: why else would anyone engage in it? Your desk contains a seemingly infinite number of randomly-generated business cards in sensuously detailed materials and textures, which serve no in-game purpose other than aesthetic pleasure. The setting is ugly and hostile, but also vibrant and (unsurprisingly, given that this is Porpentine) utterly unique. You get to engage in seemingly hour-long gunfights and use rare tycoon powers. Even when you kill yourself to escape justice, you look like a badass.
Ultra Business Tycoon III claims to be a port of a 90s business simulation game, and does a great job replicating in text the aesthetic of 8-bit games and our nostalgia for them. It's an aesthetic I love: bright reds and purples, white streaks imitating reflections, the cyberpunk jewels of nocturnal cities. Of course, Porpentine put words to it better than I ever could. There is even an intentional glitch sequence.
This absurdism and exuberance is filtered through a story-outside-the-story, the story of the player of Ultra Business Tycoon III. Unlike the Tycoon (whose sex and name you can choose), the player is not customisable. She (I believe she's female, but I think some passages could be read both ways) is a teenager, hiding from abusive parents in the power-fantasy of the game. She is transgender: ironically, PorpCo would be her ally, not her enemy. She has a strained relationship with her older sister. She is also a memory: some of the italicised passages mention her adult life, implying that she got out of that prison eventually.
The game was apparently Porpentine's most extensive work, at least at the time, and it shows. Twine works often get the "not a real game" label, but that doesn't apply here. The puzzles are excellent, and occasionally difficult enough to leave me stumped for months (again, like the generation of games that inspired this). The one that stumped me for the longest time was finding the password to Oasis Zone VI.
(Spoiler - click to show)Eventually, with some hints from other reviews, I realised that you're supposed to type in the serial number from the NFO sheet Porpentine created for the game. At first, I was a bit disappointed: the developer has a password field, the ultimate puzzle; she could have dropped any kind of clever hints in various parts of the game, why just hand us the password? Then I realised: the puzzle is to think like a capitalist. You need to have the capitalist mindset --to have, yeah, bought into it-- to realise that the game will reward you for merely buying it legally rather than filesharing. Like Sierra's King's Quest III, which gave you more points for following the copy-protection instructions than for the puzzles you legitimately solved.
I have some nitpicks, like I always do. As far as I'm aware, the game cannot be placed in an unwinnable state (bad endings will kill you and let you respawn back at the hub, which is nice and merciful), but it is still possible to end up playing several iterations of an ending that requires clicking through non-interactive screens before you respawn. In my experience, even the best prose (and this game has darn good writing) loses its lustre if you read it a few times in quick succession. The ending is -- not bad, but a bit unbalanced.
(Spoiler - click to show)But then, I guess that is the point. The old sim game only gives you a bald "YOU HAVE WON" screen. Our player gets something at least hopeful.
I could probably go on about this game for page after page: the layers of irony in providing a capitalist "buy this game legally" message in a freeware pastiche that has never been for sale, for example. But I'll leave with this:
The video games that my generation loved and are shaped by were created by corporations to make the maximum amount of money. So is most art, of course, but video games make it blatant: they intensify stimuli, rewarding us with visuals and music and expanding storylines, making us work for more stimuli, making us feel guilty for putting the game away in frustration. It's manipulation. If I were to write a story where the main character is as influenced as I was by, for example, Zelda or Final Fantasy VII, it would come off as product placement. And yet, that dreamlike experience of exploring new worlds is equally true.
HyperCapitalism and sense of wonder. Ultra Business Tycoon III shows where they intersect.
Digging yourself deeper, March 22, 2014As a story, my father's long, long legs is original, weird (in the Lovecraftian sense of the term), and excellently scary. It is the kind of story I will need to mull over for a while, (Spoiler - click to show)especially given the lack of a conclusive ending. The writing occasionally feels a bit lacklustre, but when it is good, it is very good. The concept is excellent and uncanny.
As a Twine creation, I'm in two minds about it. Visually, it's very good. The grayscale background is a subtle, superb touch: representing the dwindling light falling into the father's basement; brightening or darkening depending on the events of the story. However, once the novelty wore off, I ended up feeling that the Twine format was a gimmick. The story is static; the vast majority of segments only have one link to click to get to the next one. The narration didn't even use the simple trick of second person to give the reader a sense of agency. I enjoyed the story, but I felt I would have enjoyed it equally if I'd read it in print or on a static web page.
(Spoiler - click to show)Then I got to the final section, and the story unleashed all Twine's possibilities: a more game-like structure with several possible actions, sound, and a spotlight effect I've never seen in Twine before. All these factors do an excellent job building atmosphere and creating claustrophobia. The music at the end is perfect.
I give my father's long, long legs four stars on account of the story, mood, and some excellent use of Twine's possibilities. However, players who prefer some agency in their IF might want to look elsewhere.
Not sure I get it, December 16, 2013Not on an intellectual level: the plot makes perfect sense once you get to the end. However, the fear that underlies the story in this game is alien to me. I'm sure that sounds insensitive, and that's not my intention - when I read the blurb, I was expecting gender dysphoria, which is something I know of, even though I'm lucky enough to never have experienced it. Not to spoil anything, the body dysphoria in Staring at a Single Face Forever is something different, and I can't really connect with it.
That said, the game is well implemented, and the writing is top notch. Especially the desert sequence is jealousy-inducingly well written.
In short, a good story and stylistically beautiful. It just didn't connect emotionally with me, which is a bit of a problem when reading an emotionally-driven story. Other players may very well have a different experience.
Even if not, it's well worth a playthrough.
Not brilliant, but pretty entertaining, December 13, 2013Firstly, I'm fairly obsessed with The Stanley Parable, so I was thrilled to find an IF tribute to it.
So. The Larry Parable isn't nearly as rich or complex as the original (partly, of course, because it's just a demo so far), with only two choices per scene (if you're lucky). However, the Narrator's voice is pretty spot on and a very entertaining constant throughout your little adventure. While some of the humour is a bit too silly for my personal taste, there are several hilarious lines: the response to repeated button-pushing, for instance, and several others which I won't spoil.
The game seems a bit unpolished. It seems weird to list your options in plain text and then have the links below, but I can't figure out whether that's a coding error or intentional.
To sum up: shallow and silly, but should provide a decent amount of entertainment, whether you're familiar with The Stanley Parable or not. If it gets made into a full-length game, I'll play it.
Barely a game, December 5, 2013I give this two stars because the writing is pretty good, in its self-imposed succinctness, and the story ties together well. But the premise is hardly original, and this isn't even a CYOA: there are no choices.
Good story, weak gameplay, December 4, 2013Disclaimer: I spoiled myself for this game by reading some IFComp reviews, which gave me hints for how to solve the final puzzle, as well as some ideas of what the plot may mean.
The House at the End of Rosewood Street is very well-written. The descriptions are beautiful, the only problem being an occasional (but only occasional) reliance on clichés. Most of the characters aren't particularly deep (though I believe there is a reason for that; see the spoilered section below), but fairly memorably sketched. The antagonist is vague in terms of motivation, but an enjoyable character. There is a special ambience to this story, a mystery that doesn't try too hard to be scary, and the plot... well, I'd be lying if I said I understood everything that's going on in the plot. Though I have a couple of reservations, I do like it.
As a game, however, it's a mixed experience. It's mostly puzzleless; OK, that's not a problem in a post-Photopia world. But puzzleless IF still needs a hook to keep us going. Photopia itself has the exploration of the science fiction settings and the player's desire to piece together Ally's story; Galatea has a different kind of exploration (the drive to discuss various topics with the title character), and so on. The House at the End of Rosewood Street does not have any kind of exploration. Until the end of the game, you will be doing the same routine of delivering newspapers and carrying out odd jobs for the residents, without finding any new areas or points of interest. A couple of new characters show up, but your interaction with any of the characters is not deep. There is not even a progression in the mood of the game: your dreams get creepier, but the ambience of your daily work stays the same. The repetitive tasks fall somewhere between "soothing" and "boring", for me. I occasionally got the feeling that I would have enjoyed this more as a static fiction story.
Technically, all this is well implemented. Sometimes, it felt like the implementation was a bit sparse, but I didn't run into any "guess the verb" moments.
Then you get to the puzzle - arguably, the only puzzle in the game. Further discussion of it, and of the plot of the game, will be spoilerfied.
(Spoiler - click to show)I am in two minds about the puzzle. I can agree with those reviewers who found it underclued, given that the wrong action will send you back to the start of the game. On the other hand, I like it, because (and what follows is only my interpretation) it requires the player to understand what exactly is going on on Rosewood Street: the PC is in a coma, the other residents are shards of his/her psyche, and the mirror is said to contain your soul. You need to collect all your constituent parts (except for Caius, who is in some way the force keeping you asleep), and only then will you be able to wake up.
And there we have it: another coma dream story, along the lines of Madame Spider's Web. This isn't a particularly new storyline in IF, but apart from the fact that it's been done before, I think it's well done here. I found Elisabeth a bit too obviously the good guy, and, to a lesser extent, Caius a bit too obviously evil, but I can live with that.
There are still many things I don't get (and man, I hate it when readers say they don't get my writings. Mr. Thomét, I apologise): is Caius just another part of you, the one that doesn't want to wake up, or some malignant entity? What exactly is the connection of Lisa to the PC's story? Given their similarity of names, you would expect Elisabeth to be some sort of avatar of Lisa, but if there is a connection, I don't see it.
All in all, not a flawless game, but it does what it does very interestingly, and the writing is high quality. I might require another playthrough to see whether I can make more sense of the story.
Excellent and innovative, August 8, 2013I may as well nail my colours to the mast: I'm a big fan of roguelikes, and Kerkerkruip does an excellent job of transferring the roguelike dungeon-crawl experience to a text medium. It reminded me a lot of "The Reliques of Tolti-Aph", another game I love (though I recognise that it's an acquired taste), but is easier and less unforgiving. The enemies and many of the items are innovative.
It's not the kind of game you play for the prose or the mood. The writing is workmanlike a lot of the time, but that doesn't mean that it's bad (in case anyone were expecting bad writing from Gijsbers): there are some excellent descriptions (I particularly like the mirror room and the phantasmagoria). Battle descriptions are nice and varied. Humour is sparse, but excellent.
Is it a perfect roguelike? Is anything on this earth perfect? No. The small size of the game world, while necessary (and obviating the need of a map, or of hours of free time) means that the game doesn't have one of my favourite features of roguelikes: the exploration. The randomly generated dungeon means that there is no real sense of build-up: it is possible (at least in earlier versions) to spawn in the room next to the final boss. There is no complex plot, and little sense of the wider world of the game, other than some scattered sword & sorcery tropes. (Though, again, this isn't a game you play for the plot or worldbuilding.)
Those quibbles aside, I love it. Highly recommended if you enjoy RPGs and have fifteen minutes to spare. And finally, kudos to mynheer Gijsbers for continuing to develop and upgrade this game. He has created something innovative and wonderful.
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