All Things Devours

by half sick of shadows

Time Travel
2004

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Number of Ratings: 91
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- Max Fog, December 10, 2023

- Edo, August 17, 2023

- Drew Cook (Acadiana, USA), August 12, 2023

- KGH (North Carolina), July 24, 2023

- SirIgnotus (Somewhere, probably.), June 22, 2023

- sw3dish, October 13, 2022

- Kinetic Mouse Car, August 3, 2022

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Thinking fourth dimensionally!, June 11, 2022
by deathbytroggles (Minneapolis, MN)

"The encounter could create a time paradox. The results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!...Granted, that's the worst-case scenario." -- Doc Brown, Back to the Future 2

And such is the world logic of All Things Devours. The inventor of a time-travel machine, Natalie Williams comes to the same realization about paradoxes and sets out to destroy the machine. However, she soon realizes that her plans have been taken and she must find them so that the machine can never be made again. And soon the player realizes that time travel is necessary to find those papers, and there's a total span of nine minutes in which to work to avoid the guards, avoid your present self, and avoid creating a paradox for your present self.

Toby Ord crafted an incredibly tight puzzle box that is a delightful gift to unwrap, with Natalie's insight and foresight the present (and the past!). There is a lot of learning by dying as you get to know what Natalie already knows about the facility as well as the game's internal logic about time travel. The logic, as with all time travel stories, breaks down if you think about it too much; however, it is consistent within the story. I took extensive notes while playing, detailing the exact time of each move I made, and then after destroying the universe with another paradox, adjusting actions ever so slightly the next time around. Normally, learning by dying eventually exhausts me, but because every death here taught me something new, I never stopped having fun.

Despite the incredibly tight timeline, there is still a little flexibility with decision-making as well as multiple solutions to several puzzles. Some of those solutions require knowledge it would be impossible for Natalie to know without dying first, though there is a path through the game that is plausible if you care about that sort of thing. My only critique is the final solution only insofar as I thought my alternate solution should have worked!

One of the best uses of time travel I've seen in a game and a treat for those who enjoy a complex puzzle.

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- onebrownfinch, May 12, 2022

SPAG

The technical aspect is where the game really shines. As both a player and an author, it was easy for me to see the intricate ballet that the various pieces of code have to participate in, in order to create the desired effects, and the author pulls it off impeccably. Also, there are no spelling or grammar errors of any kind, which I could spot.
-- Joao Mendes

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>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

[T]he game is eminently worth playing just for its clever premise and a couple of excellent puzzles. It may play a bit fast and loose with its concept, and its ending may be a bit anticlimactic, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

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SPAG

Anyway, after a while, all these issues didn't seem to matter. The reason for that was, well, let's call it the puzzle framework of the game. It's mostly based on the idea of time-travelling; sure, there are enough text adventures using this concept (beginning with the classic Sorcerer by Infocom), but scarcely any implementing it as consistent and consequent. And I use the term "framework" on purpose: the whole game is built around and determined by constructing a sequence of actions leading to success. (There are multiple paths to victory, by the way.) While doing that, the player has to account for a number of time-travel side effects and paradoxes, some of which he can use to his benefit, while others are to avoid. It was a real thrill.
-- Valentine Kopteltsev

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- bkirwi, March 20, 2022

- Titania Lowe, January 24, 2022

- Jonathan Verso, January 15, 2022

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Challenging, tight design, October 27, 2021
by Will

All Things Devours has been on my radar for a couple years, but only recently have I gotten around to actually take a serious crack at it. And what serious crack it is.

The narrative consists of a very light premise, more for setting the scene than to add substance to the gameplay, which consists wholly of a singular, large puzzle involving managing time loops without triggering inconsistency paradoxes. There are relatively few elements in the work - you won't get lost in the world or struggle to keep track of inventory any time soon - but what is there is all very cleverly constructed to plant subtle obstacles for you to overcome, many of which you might not realize to be problematic until having experimented with the time loops yourself.

The experience is one of iterative, layered discovery - formulate a theory with what you know, implement it, fail, work out just what it is that you've overlooked, have a eureka moment, then go on right ahead with another theory. It's a simple loop but very engaging, largely aided by the game's clean design (basic commands, time system, clear feedback on failure) and short length. Which is great, because you'd likely end up needing a spreadsheet to keep track of the order and timing of events.

The normal game is rather forgiving when it comes down to it, with lots of room to play around and several viable solution paths. It took me a short couple of hours to figure out, and I ended up over-optimizing in a couple places when I didn't need to. The final solution was enjoyable to craft, but felt a little unrestrained and empty given the potential of the premise, and I found I had several theories that ended up going unused. This was going to be a high three or low four in rating for me due to that - until I discovered that there was a challenge mode. And challenge me it did.

The challenge mode provides three simple but significant changes to the structure of the setup. My efficient solution from earlier now looked utterly silly! Nothing fits where it should, and I had to abandon several previous assumptions just to move forward at all. What followed was several lovely a-ha moments one after the other, as I discovered techniques I haven't envisioned before to structure my moves in a way that made the impossible possible. My unused theories from earlier also came into play, much to my delight. Even with all this, I repeatedly failed at the final steps - it must've been four or five times that I confidently entered a solution I thought must work, only to have it blow up in my face near the end! It took a couple more hours of meticulous optimizing, leaving no move unscoured, making small adjustments each run-through, were I finally able to achieve success. The catharsis it offered was incredible.

In short, All Things Devours is a clever, efficient, and challenging puzzle package. It isn't likely to leave you hopelessly stuck, but will definitely offer you a couple hours of dedicated puzzling fun. And I highly recommend that you not skip the challenge version. In my humble opinion, that is the true version of the game, and it's where its self contained premise really shines.

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- WillFlame, October 1, 2021

- Ruber Eaglenest, August 25, 2021

- nounsnlies, June 7, 2021

- Virix, May 23, 2020

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
All Things Devours: an unWinnable State review, May 12, 2020
by unWinnable State (unWinnableState.com)
Related reviews: Parser, unWinnable State, The List!

All Things Devours is, in essence, one single puzzle. A crunchy, well constructed puzzle. I mean, I had to create a spreadsheet to solve the puzzle. Or rather, I got to create a spread sheet.

You play as a researcher who’s had their lab commandeered by the military. Afraid of the repercussions of future use of the prototype, you’ve decided to sneak back in to destroy your creation.

The puzzle of All Things Devours is exciting and tense. There is a real joy in discovering how the mechanisms of the puzzle work, and there are multiple paths to victory.

All Things Devours is not going to be for everyone. It is extremely light on story, and its puzzle, while fair, is difficult. You are likely to fail repeatedly before you find victory, but in the end the victory feels earned and is very rewarding.

You can find the SPOILER-Y portion of unWinnable State's review of All Things Devours here.

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- Walter Sandsquish, January 31, 2020

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- Zape, June 18, 2019

- shornet (Bucharest), June 17, 2019


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