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Release 2
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Story file
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.

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Roofed

by Jim Munroe profile

Science Fiction
2010

Web Site

(based on 16 ratings)
2 reviews

About the Story

You and your brother’s job — scouring the city’s highest spots for a rare building material in the year 2040 — is already hard enough. Now Anton’s gone and gotten you trapped on a rooftop. Your acrobat bloodline will help you with the deadly heights, and your brain will figure out the genmodded plants — but will you be able to cope with having the most annoying big brother alive?


Game Details


Awards

5th Place - Casual Gameplay Design Competition #7

Editorial Reviews

Jay Is Games
In terms of the writing, Roofed really stands out. The far-future setting comes across clearly just through casual mentions and Anton's quips. He's a compelling character, and an excellent example of a well-implemented NPC sidekick: although he doesn't interact with the environment in any permanent way, his bits of stage business feel authentic and in-character.
-- Karl
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SPAG
There's a fair amount of backstory available, which makes sense for a story based on an actual filmed movie. The detail in the characters, down to the history of what they are wearing, is excellent. Not all of the story will necessarily be revealed in just one playthrough, though. This is a game that will reward digging and examining everything in sight over multiple playthroughs to try different strategies. Highly recommended.
-- Reiko Yukawa
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Member Reviews

5 star:
(1)
4 star:
(11)
3 star:
(4)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
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Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 2
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Spizz., January 8, 2023
by Rovarsson (Belgium)

You love your big brother Anton very much. Wouldn't know where you'd be, how you'd survive without him. That said, Anton's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Closer to a spoon, to be honest.

Just now, he turned away from the handleless rooftop door that he was supposed to hold open while you were working. It clicked shut, leaving the two of you stranded on top of the building with no way to get down again.

I booted up this game without reading a blurb or a review beforehand. From the intro, I gathered that Toph (the PC) and Anton were a pair of chimneysweeping brothers, or maybe smalltime burglars with a hide-out on the roof. Until I reached the end of the starting room description and it turned out we were gathering spider silk. Or "spizz" as Anton calls it, however nastily suggestive that may sound...

This is just the first of many small and subtle but very intruiging bits of worldbuilding you'll find while searching the abandoned rooftop for a way down. They come together very effectively to paint a fragmented yet evocative post-apocalyptic picture of the near future, one that I would love to explore in a bigger game.

Roofed is a very small game, six locations in total and maybe 45 minutes of (slow and attentive) playing time. It feels like a small slice-of-life in the daily goings-on of the two brothers, and it makes me very curious about how they spend the rest of their time. There are hints about a rivalling gang, about their boss who buys the spider silk, about the completely organic architecture in the newer parts of town, and of course about the spiders who left their threads to be harvested...

The puzzles are simple but clever. Even though there are very little resources to be found on the rooftop and the objective seems straightforward, it takes a decent amount of experimenting and getting to know the surroundings to successfully find an escape. Of course your trusted big brother is there to spring to your muscular help should you require it...

The relationship between the brothers is endearing and lifelike. Each stands by the other's side and helps out with the skills nature has given him, be it brains or brawn. Helping them escape their predicament and seeing them walk off toward new adventures, little Toph atop Anton's broad shoulders made me smile.

Good game.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A nice diversion, December 8, 2013
by Simon Deimel (Germany)

This story is quite short, and the locations are clearly limited.
The special thing about it are the responses and actions of the central NPC, your sidekick who shares the fate of the story with you. They appear funny and brighten up the gameplay without ever becoming annoying. The NPC is well intergrated into other aspects like the hint system and the puzzles which cannot be solved without interaction with the NPC.
This is an excellent example of NPC integration.

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Roofed on IFDB

Polls

The following polls include votes for Roofed:

Games about strange and wonderful plants by verityvirtue
Botany!

Games with NPCs that tag along by Ghalev
List here any games that feature a (preferably memorable!) "sidekick" character - an NPC who follows the viewpoint character around for most or all of the game, as per Floyd in Planetfall or Trent/Tiffany in Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

Vertical Games by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Looking for games that really explore verticality, which go up (way up) in their setting. Human-made structures in particular: towers, skyscrapers, radio antennae. Games that figuratively can make you feel dizzy, particularly after a...

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