Ratings and Reviews by thesleuthacademy
View this member's profile
Short but interesting, January 18, 2024I liked how it's heavy on deduction skills and how it just cuts to the chase with the narrative. Short and sweet; totally my cup of tea. I find the deduction stage somewhat unique in that you first get to choose options from dropdown menus, and then if you've got it all correct, submit a written report of the details of what you thought happened, which allows you to then compare your report with the truth of the matter. The truth of the mystery made a lot of sense with the clues hidden in the narrative. Hope to see more of such works!
A promising noir mystery, December 4, 2023Looked promising till I got hopelessly stuck (Spoiler - click to show)after shooting a figure that keeps reappearing.. A walkthrough or a hint system would have been great. Spotted a few typographical errors. Some of the exits don't quite make sense - I could go "out" but not use cardinal directions to exit a location.
Almost perfect in every way, October 4, 2023Another gem found. Appreciated the depth of exploration for a one-hour game, the beautiful pixelated old-school graphics(!), and the ease of gameplay (well I liked that you don't need a walkthrough for this; the in-game hint system was simple but sufficient to point you in the right direction when you need one. The difficulty was just right and that was a significant part of the fun). Was stuck at the very last part in (Spoiler - click to show) catching the main criminal but managed to figure it out eventually after a few failed attempts. Minor glitch encountered where (Spoiler - click to show) the turtle reappeared and I could take the turtle even though I had already done so, after revisiting the fountain the second time. (Spoiler - click to show)Wasn't quite sure what the microphone on the box in the villa was about though, and didn't manage to find the other puzzle piece for the mosaic wall either, but one could still complete the mission without these.
Short noir comedy, June 26, 2023Plot could have been more well-developed. More of a comedy than a detective mystery. Oh and the music is on point!
Easily my cup of tea, June 23, 2023A simple yet adequate murder mystery plot with sufficient suspects and clues. Was stuck towards the end when I couldn't get the suspect to talk, so had to rely on peeking at a walkthrough, but otherwise most things made sense. Would be great to have an in-game hint system, and anticipate other commands to minimise the "There is no reply" response. Would also be nice if there were more plot development, but otherwise I am glad to have found this.
Beautifully executed on GForms, April 14, 2023Very impressively designed on an unconventional platform. The mystery storyline (twists included) was intriguing enough for me to want to finish all five chapters at one go. Can be played without much reference to the walkthrough (I had to use it two to three times as I was stuck at a few puzzles in the later chapters). I liked how the puzzles became more difficult as one progressed in the game. Appreciated the informative details provided at the end as well. You could also explore multiple endings. Creating IF games just became a lot more accessible for those who are programming-naive. Highly recommended!
Let it tell you a story, April 4, 2023This is one game in which I actually didn't know what was going on or what I should do until I gave up and that was when the "Aha" moment struck me. 'Nuff said. (Spoiler - click to show)Bittersweet.
Curious and curiouser, March 26, 2023Interesting way to craft an IF game! Short but it was fun while it lasted. Lovely colour scheme too. Would’ve been great if there was more than one puzzle.
Body was unsearchable :(, March 21, 2023I was not able to examine or search the victim's body. It just kept saying the body was not there (Spoiler - click to show) when I examined the car at the crash site. Otherwise, the walkthrough made the game look very promising. I appreciated the plot twist along the way, but I could not continue with the gameplay without being able to access the abovementioned vital evidence.
Excellent, March 15, 2023By far the best game I've played. Was quite stuck at the machine puzzle and had to rely on the transcript. Otherwise, the in-game hints were sufficient. The twist was unexpected (perhaps because I was too engrossed in solving the puzzles), but it blew me away. This was one game I could do without a map. Five stars because it has done very well in both narrative and game design. Thank you!
Text-based Cluedo!, March 13, 2023This was a nostalgic one for me. There were more things to explore than the usual Cluedo, which was a nice touch. Having a map was great, as usual! Spotted several typos, however. Thanks for creating this!
An improved version of the Mansion, March 12, 2023Had to replay it when it hanged while I was more than halfway through (hence one star less), but managed to complete it eventually. It's similar to The Mansion in terms of the gameplay, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were more locations outside the building. The forum was helpful when I got stuck, but the game was logical enough for one to progress by... "logical" trial and error. I preferred this to the first "sequel", partly because there was a lot more to explore and discover. Thank you for another well-designed game!
More like an escape room than a mystery to be solved, March 11, 2023Having the maps were very, very helpful. Didn't think I could finish it without the maps nor walkthrough. But with these aids, I felt the game was well-planned, and the gameplay logical and sequential, somewhat like a slightly more complex escape room. I took about four hours to complete.
Would have been great if the "Save" feature could work (as there were a few times it got really laggy and I was almost at the end of the game). The buttons on the right panel of the page made the interactive fiction a lot less frustrating (Spoiler - click to show)- I couldn't "climb" things by typing it the usual way, but the "Look at" button allowed me to do this.
The game is heavier on the navigating and unlocking of doors and lighter on discovering what happened to the victim (the latter occurred really sporadically). Highly recommended if you enjoy escape rooms, but for those looking to solve a mystery, you might be disappointed. However I'm giving 5 stars for an intricately designed game that went pretty well without bugs, glitches, or textual errors.
Well-designed mechanics, March 2, 2023I felt that being able to find something and the directions on the status bar made the gameplay a lot more enjoyable and much less frustrating, given the vast number of rooms to explore. These two features should be standard practice for complex or multi-room IF games. One of most well-designed IF games I’ve played to date and I’m glad to have stumbled upon this. Interesting storyline as well!
Would be better if there was a map of sorts, February 26, 2023Well thought-out classic murder mystery which is made slightly easier given that it's Twine-style, but it was confusing without a map (Spoiler - click to show) - thought a map would be useful as I completely missed one of the areas (and therefore several suspects) as there were too many forks in the path. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable hour of investigation. Would recommend it to all armchair detectives.
A gem of a find!, February 16, 2023This made me laugh. I couldn’t do without the hints (had to get help from external hints to exit as well), but the puzzles were great and made sense. I liked how one could just go to a room without re/navigating using directions. This is such a cute game. I even tried putting pants on Pig and also giving pants to Gnome when I was stuck XD Great theme, great storyline. Would replay this just to explore the funny interactions between Grunk and Pig!
A light and heartwarming mystery, February 14, 2023A clean and light-hearted family mystery, with a hint of humour. (Spoiler - click to show)I was reminded of the quote from Sherlock Holmes: "... When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" when the time came to deduce who did it.
I particularly appreciated the notes which provided useful direction, and I felt that the game mechanics were skillfully crafted - the initial gameplay was pretty straightforward, but after the first statements were taken from all suspects, it became a lot less obvious as to how one should proceed (but by then one would have gotten the hang of exploring the house and locating the characters to unveal further revelations).
Excellent, never mind the few bugs, February 13, 2023Thoroughly enjoyed this one. A classic murder mystery.
Had to rely on external hints at times, however. (Spoiler - click to show)I entered the house without checking out the cars, and there was no way to get back out of the house without quitting the game (knowing that it'll be randomised is a huge barrier to exiting the house).
Saving the game helped a lot, especially when it was time to deduce the culprit and present the evidence. (Spoiler - click to show)It was mentioned that the chief would appear at 2:00 am, but in my gameplay, I was done before 2 am but had to make a couple of hundreds of "wait" turns until 4:00 am which was when the chief appeared. This seems to be a glitch.
The game took me several hours to complete, but I would definitely recommend this if you're an armchair detective. Really wish there were more of such traditional whodunits!
Interesting mechanics, February 13, 2023This is a fresh take on a detective mystery, where the player has to link and corroborate suspects' statements to trigger new insights or findings.
The in-game hints are adequate (no walkthrough needed), although I came across one hint that sounded somewhat harsh: (Spoiler - click to show)"Just type [COMMAND]", although there was nothing in the narrative that mentioned about that specific command involving a certain object (the object wasn't mentioned in the narrative either), and this was only at the second hint attempt on the same topic. The subsequent re-played flashbacks could do away with the initial required activities; having to repeat the same actions felt unnecessary.
Otherwise, the plot was well thought-out and sufficiently complex, without requiring too long a gameplay. A good game to wind down after a busy day.
Showing All | Show by Page