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Ecdysis

by Peter Nepstad profile

Part of Commonplace Book Project
Horror, Lovecraftian
2007

Web Site

(based on 79 ratings)
16 reviews

About the Story

You wake, a pounding headache loud in your inner ear, the back of your head itching and tingling, your mouth full of cotton. The pain drives away your dreams, weird visions of alien landscapes...

Ecdysis is based on an entry in H.P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book.


Game Details

Editorial Reviews

SPAG
You play an average husband who wakes up in the middle of the night in a cloud of weird visions and physical pain. As the short, linear narrative plays out you will be gradually transformed into something Other. It's genuinely creepy to guide your character's figurative and literal descent, although one might wish for a bit more interactivity to go with the solid writing.
-- Jimmy Maher
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Jay Is Games
"Ecdysis" toys with the player's perceptions in ways that only a text-based game can [...]
-- Emily Short
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Member Reviews

5 star:
(8)
4 star:
(36)
3 star:
(29)
2 star:
(4)
1 star:
(2)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 16
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Most Helpful Member Reviews


15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Very brief, but effective, June 27, 2008

Ecdysis is a compact bit of horror. Summarizing the plot too much would only ruin it, but it's worth knowing that this is one of several games based on snippets from H. P. Lovecraft's "Commonplace Book", and that the premise is a weird and disturbing one.

Ecdysis is fairly linear up until the late stages of the game. I found that the first release of the game had some awkward moments, but the later release is smoother and easier to play. Puzzles are mostly a matter of figuring out the one next thing you can do, and are not too hard -- but all the same this does make some good use of its interactivity. Worth a look.

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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Robbed of the "Best In Show" award, March 14, 2008

A shot of pure Lovecraftian horror. Unlike the disappointing Dead Cities, this entry in the Commonplace Book Project maintains the creeping dread perfectly from beginning to end. No jarring implementation issues or intrusive default parser responses, no aimless undirected wandering, Ecdysis is short, sharp, and perfectly formed. There are multiple endings, all suitably Lovecraftian.

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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
One-trick-pony with a very good trick, May 24, 2010
by Nusco (Bologna, Italy)
Related reviews: lovecraftian horror, short, mature

Ecdysis is underimplemented, extremely short and linear, heavy on directing the player and very limited in scope. However, it makes up for all of its shortcomings by being a very disturbing small piece of IF - even more disturbing than Lovecraft's average work. Not for the squeamish.

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Recommended Lists

Ecdysis appears in the following Recommended Lists:

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Polls

The following polls include votes for Ecdysis:

Games for Beginners by WriterBob
I'm looking for games that are suited for adults who are new to IF. My purpose is to share these games with friends and let them get experience IF without being frustrated by mazes or guess-the-verb issues. Please avoid children's games....

The Squick Squad by Sam Kabo Ashwell
A list of games with a heavy emphasis on disgusting, gross-out subject-matter, whether in service to some higher goal, or just because the author is nine years old and thinks poop is the funniest thing ever.

Creepy Games by J'onn Roger
I'm not looking for supernatural/ghost stories or horror stories, just games that do a good job being scary and/or disturbing.

See all polls with votes for this game




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