Sting of the Wasp

by Jason Devlin

Slice of life
2004

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- witchcock (Gainesville, FL), February 26, 2024

- gattociao, August 23, 2023

- querent, June 4, 2023

- Kinetic Mouse Car, August 3, 2022

>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

Assuming that "Jason Devlin" isn't a pseudonym for an experienced author, we have a very satisfactory debut on our hands. Sting Of The Wasp brings one of the year's nastier PCs in the person of wealthy socialite Julia Hawthorne. In the grand tradition of Primo Varicella, Julia is a vain, preening snob who looks with utter disdain at almost everything around her, including the country club in which the game is set...

SOTW is one of those games that let you gleefully and maliciously wreak havoc on a wide variety of places and characters, all in the service of advancing a thoroughly rotten character. As I said, the most prominent example of this sort of game is Varicella, but this game is Varicella played purely for laughs -- very few darker undertones burden the spree of unrestrained villainy.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Wickedly fun, December 1, 2021
by Mike Russo (Los Angeles)
Related reviews: IF Comp 2004

(This is a repost of a review I wrote on the IF newsgroups right after the 2004 Comp)

If ever a game were a guilty pleasure, Sting of the Wasp would be it; the overall plot is pure soap-opera, the NPC interactions are all about eking out the maximum amount of cattiness, and the puzzles derive their enjoyment value from pure spite -- all of which is to say that it hits its design goals exactly. Guiding the super-snob player character on a rampage through a high-end country club inhabited by people even more deserving of comeuppance than you do is entertaining on its own, and it's all the more so when combined with the viciously funny descriptions and withering repartee on offer.

Indeed, the game's great success is in setting the mood. Part of this is due to the author's strong writing skills — there are some laugh-out-loud moments, such as the PC's observation that a half-eaten bowl of salad bespeaks some rival's lack of willpower in sticking to her diet, and the dialogue is razor sharp — but much of the heavy lifting is done by the robust world simulation. NPCs will remark on the items you're carrying around, smells are implemented, and the scenery is both dense and well-described.

This very much reinforces the sense of immersion, but it's the puzzles which really nail the feel. Without exception, every puzzle you solve winds up advantaging you at somebody else's expense, whether it's through property damage, blackmail, exploiting a dangerous allergy, or just destroying some poor old lady's hair. The PC goes about her wicked business with flair and panache, and it's hard not to cackle at her exploits as long as one isn't encumbered by too many moral objections (which isn't hard in a farce this enjoyable).

There are a few flaws — I think there's a bug with the exit descriptions on the dining terrace, and the social comment is a bit too easy to be worth anything other than a few cheap laughs — but they do little to detract from the overall experience. The author knew exactly what he was going for, and the prose, puzzles, and implementation all work together flawlessly to convey his caustic vision.

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- Edo, August 14, 2021

- Arrowhead12 (Edmonton, Alberta), June 11, 2020

- Laney Berry, September 29, 2018

- Helena Vernon, June 20, 2018

- Stas, March 27, 2018

- lkdc, February 13, 2017

- Denk, January 17, 2017

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Mid-to-long parser game about a woman in a country club saving face, February 3, 2016

This game has some strong sexual content early on, which forms the theme of the rest of the game. You are a WASP (a White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant) who is cheating on their husband in the country club closet, and someone photographs you. You need to keep it secret to save your marriage.

There is a cast of characters you have to deal with. After playing similar games like Varicella and Broken Legs, I decided to go with the walkthrough first, then play through a bit again afterwards to see what is going on.

Unlike those first two games, where you have a collection of rivals that must be eliminated in parallel, there is really only one or two people you are out to get here: those behind the picture. Everyone else who falls by your hand is just a pawn you move, usually to obtain access to new areas or information.

The game roots for the protagonist, but they are rather despicable. Like Varicella, Broken Legs, and the author's Vespers, the only reason anyone roots for you is that everyone else is horrible too.

I don't plan on playing again. It is well-crafted, and polished.

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- hoopla, March 2, 2015

- Sobol (Russia), December 27, 2014

- Joshua Houk, October 18, 2014

- E.K., July 8, 2013

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Postmodern Vanity Fair, May 24, 2013
by kala (Finland)

It is not too often that one encounters IF with cultivated social criticism. Sting of the Wasp can be considered such case, wrapped in a ludic shell of surprising success.

The author's writing deserves a special mention. It is well sophisticated, somewhat close to Emily Short's historical style samples. Responses are always enhanced with a touch of witty satire, yet never falling into descriptive excess.

The puzzles are fair. An advanced reader might consider them simple, excluding the final. Overall, most of the problems are integrated with delightful thematic functions -- a feature not too common in fiction puzzle design in general. Taking a couple of hours to finish, Sting of the Wasp becomes a short novel with a steadily paced challenging narrative.

When reading aspiring IF, it is important not to compare them to canonized literary texts like those of Thackeray's as such. IF is a distinct cultural form with its own aesthetics. How works of IF engage in satirical expression is an art that has no points of comparison outside the history of the form, and in this context, Sting of the Wasp can be seen as one of the postmodern pioneers.

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- Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle), April 16, 2012

- Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), July 12, 2011

- Grey (Italy), December 25, 2009

- adlo, June 27, 2009

- Mark Jones (Los Angeles, California), March 31, 2009

- bolucpap, February 24, 2009

- Shigosei, February 17, 2009

- Dirk, January 24, 2009

- Ikram (Swaziland), November 5, 2008

- Beekeeper, June 13, 2008

- Cheryl L (Australia), March 11, 2008

- tfbk, January 10, 2008

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Darkly entertaining, December 30, 2007

The puzzles in Sting of the Wasp vary in fairness, and none of the major characters are really sympathetic: this is dark comedy, with a scheming, cheating social climber as its protagonist. For general awfulness she falls somewhere between Varicella and the Bastard Operator from Hell.

The modern country-club setting is a refreshing change from the usual, the writing has some high points, and the game plays with a certain self-assurance.

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- Tom Hudson (Durham, North Carolina), December 10, 2007

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Plays nice, October 31, 2007
by Nusco (Bologna, Italy)
Related reviews: IF Competition 2004

Well-written social satire with Gourmet-style "lateral thinking" puzzles. The cheesy opening scene gives way to a very solid, enjoyable game. Intelligent writing, strong characters. The humour is a bit hit-and-miss.

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- Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), October 26, 2007

- Quintin Stone (NC), October 23, 2007


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