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Showing All | Show by Page - k42write, October 28, 2023
- Nomad, February 11, 2021
3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
Very enjoyable mystery, August 15, 2020I've seen this one before, but I'm not usually a big fan of mysteries. However inspired by the recent release of the source code for many of Christiansen's games, I tried this one out.
Overall I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It did guide you pretty well so the only thing you really had to be sure of is to keep reading the descriptions closely and examining everything. If you do that, you'll have no problem progressing.
I really enjoyed the logical as the PC worked through the solution himself was quite pleasing. Also the humor, while subtle, was fun as the PC tried to play it off that he knew this stuff all along.
The parser was very forgiving and there were some nice touches to simplify what could have been some tedious typing. The tutorial was a nice touch as it guided you through some of these niceties. Also the hint system, while I didn't need it really, was available and gently guided you to the next thing to do.
Overall, I liked this and would love to see more along this line. Not only will I be checking out the rest of the author's games. I might give the mystery genre another go.
- RichCheng (Warwickshire, UK), August 17, 2018
- play_all_day, June 21, 2018
- Stas, April 14, 2018
- nosferatu, January 29, 2018
- Wanderlust, August 3, 2017
- EngineerWolf (India), December 24, 2016
- hoopla, November 9, 2016
- verityvirtue (London), May 26, 2016
- itsdnoftheworld, May 9, 2016
1 of
1 people found the following review helpful:
A mid-length conversation parser game that Agatha Christie fans can love, February 3, 2016I played the Android app of this game, which is the first parser app I've tried on a smartphone. I had some trouble at first getting used to the interface, but I worked it out eventually. It was nice that the author made the necessary commands quite short.
This game is perfect for Agatha Christie fans. You are a famous French detective, wrapping up your concluding speech after figuring out who the murderer is. Except you have no clue!
This is a conversation game with emphasis on details, much like Toby's Nose, Lime Ergot, or Out of the Study. You look at people, pick out details, and talk about it. This prompts people to spontaneously confess. The details that come out are classic Christie, slightly exaggerated.
The version I played had cartoon illustrations. There are about 6 or 7 NPCs, each with a unique personality.
I enjoyed this game as a Christie fan, right up until the end, when the real murderer confessed out of nowhere. I think it's because I had pressed them before, and forgotten about it, later completing the rest of the tasks. Even though I felt the last challenge was too easy, the steps leading up to it were marvellous.
- Deeborm (Virginia), January 11, 2016
- Sobol (Russia), November 10, 2014
- Katrisa (Houston), March 3, 2014
- Otto (France), January 18, 2014
- IxPrefect, November 9, 2013
4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting, but ultimately frustrating, September 30, 2013Death off the Cuff has a very original and interesting concept: you are a Poirot-style detective, and all the suspects are in the room, waiting for the final reveal; you must observe and evoke relevants topics to move the case forward and ultimately discover who did it.
The mechanics of the game are quite simple, since it's about focusing on the case and the suspects and find out what is not quite right with the facts. However I found several problems with this in the game. First of all, there are a few topics that weren't implemented, and others that quickly run dry, so when you're stuck you end up trying a lot of different things that get rejected by the parser. Second of all there were a lot of reveals, and maybe a bit too many: every character has several things to hide, but they may not all be relevant to the case, in which case they feel a bit futile. Lastly, some clues were very subtle and involved looking around to detect a very small change in the situation, which was a bit frustrating for me because I didn't always think of it and instead tried to talk about different topics that seemed logical but didn't work. (But I guess you can't expect the case to solve itself either, eh?)
On the other hand, the game's writing is very good, since I found it managed to stay in the style of Agatha Christie but with a touch more humor, which made it a refreshing and genuinely funny exercice in style. All the responses to action furthermore fit very well the setting, in that they all seem like parts of the exposition that the detective is attempting to create, and seam together very well. The responses to the observations you make to stall are almost guaranteed to make you chuckle.
On the implementation side, there was a few typos (missing " for instance), the hints were linear (when you can find the reveals in any order, meaning you can find a few of them and get stuck and the hints will hint at the things you've already discovered, which isn't very good), and, unfortunately, a pretty big bug that meant I had to restart and follow the walkthrough to see the end of the game (Spoiler - click to show)(I think I had looked at the constable a bit too much before getting all the other reveals done, and right after I focused on Jonathan's wounds, there was a picture of someone with a gun, and I barely had time to see that the constable had turned into a German murderer without explanation without dying. I imagine that's the trouble with having several reveals you can find in any order, is that if you didn't think of a particular order it produces a bug.) However, the rest of it was well implemented and well made.
To sum up, I wish I could have liked the game more, for its very nice writing and concept, but there was a few issues that made playing it frustrating.
- Zeofar, September 1, 2013
- DAzebras, April 29, 2013
- Ann R. J., April 19, 2013
More than meets the eye, April 14, 2013
(This review is based on the original IF Comp release.)
We begin the game with a exceedingly clever and original premise (at least, not a premise that I've ever seen before). The writing is witty and fun... a few typographical errors here and there to distract, but the prose manages to do what it needs to do without being repetitive, which is a trap it could easily have fallen into given the premise.
This game is interesting in that it's almost entirely conversation driven, but you can only talk about objects in plain sight. This at first makes it seem as if the game will be pretty short, as you're in a room with six people and limited objects, but there is a lovely layering of detail that is not at first apparent, and it turns out there's more to the conversation than it would at first appear. The game looks as though it'll be a banana, but turns out to be a bit more of an onion, and this is a dreaful metaphor, so I'm going to move on and give this game a score.
It wasn't perfect, there were a variety of ways it could have been better. It probably deserves four stars, but I had a lot of fun, so I gave it five.
- DJ (Olalla, Washington), February 6, 2013
- E.K., August 14, 2012
- Molly (USA), July 25, 2012
- Ben Treat (Maine, USA), July 8, 2012
- Andrew Schultz (Chicago), May 14, 2012
- stadtgorilla (Munich, Germany), April 17, 2012
- Kendi, February 8, 2012
- Jaxcap (Arizona), December 10, 2011
- Hannes, November 12, 2011
- EJ, November 1, 2011
- Wade Clarke (Sydney, Australia), September 15, 2011
- Sophronisba, May 13, 2011
- Ben Cressey (Seattle, WA), April 16, 2011
- JohnW (Brno, Czech Republic), March 16, 2011
- ifwizz (Berlin, Germany), January 2, 2011
- eu, January 1, 2011
- Bernie (Fredericksburg, VA), December 19, 2010
- tungol, December 13, 2010
- Kake (London, England), December 7, 2010
4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Floundering was never this fun, November 28, 2010Death Off The Cuff offers an intriguing premise: a famous detective, you've gathered all the suspects for that all-important scene in which you will reveal the true identity of the murderer. The only problem is that you haven't the first clue who that might be. In order to attempt to trick the culprit into a confession, you begin to spout off about whatever's at hand, using the command "talk about" for the majority of interactions, although examine and a few other verbs play a role. You can only talk about things that are visible in the room around you, a clever method of conflating the player with the PC, who is of course casting around desperately for any topic that might yield a confession. Nor is that the only way in which the player and the PC think alike: since neither of you know what you're doing, you'll spend most of the game suggesting random or arbitrary topics of conversation in the hopes that something sticks. The result is impressive in terms of putting you in the shoes of the detective; however, it's too arbitrary to be consistently enjoyable. The limitations on action, and the one-room nature of the game, keep things simple enough for the story to unfold tightly, and there are more than a few twists and turns. Typing "help" at any point will provide a hint on what to do next, and if you get fed up you can always accuse the wrong person. In all, a brief, linear diversion that's slightly more clever than it is fun.
7 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
A bit of light fun, November 28, 2010I know that there are other murder-mystery IF games out there, but this is the first one I’ve played, and I have to say I really enjoyed myself. I really liked how it excused the fact that you the player don’t know what’s gone on. You are a detective with everyone gathered in the room to make the big-finish accusation, but the detective doesn’t have a clue who the murderer is. So you’re just making random observations about people, hoping that they will confess or in some way slip up.
The first time I was able to accuse someone, I didn’t because I didn’t think he did it. After playing some more and getting somewhere but still not able to accuse someone else (even though I’d started to figure out something of what was going on), I decided to save the game and see what happened if I accused the guy I thought was innocent. And it was a very nice ending. (Spoiler - click to show)The guy is obviously not guilty, but you ruin his life with the accusation, which eventually causes him to commit suicide. The ending part that usually says “You have won” or “You have died” instead says “You have saved your reputation.” Awesome.
One thing I’ve learned is to definitely type “about” or whatever if the author tells you to in the beginning. Some of these games would have been a lot more frustrating without a bit of guidance. In particular, the about text for this game outlines what the interaction is going to be like (mostly just talking about people or objects, with just a little manipulating the environment), which helped me enjoy it more. I certainly would have gotten more frustrated if I went into it expecting to be able to search for clues around the room, move objects, etc. and then finding I wasn’t able to.
The other kind of losing ending I found (Spoiler - click to show)(there are several versions of the “You have saved your reputation” ending, depending on whom you falsely accuse) was particularly great, too. (Spoiler - click to show)I had run out of stuff to do, so I started talking about my own moustache. It lets me keep talking about it, which is usually a sign from the game that there’s something interesting there. But I was saying stupid stuff, and then I was shot from behind while pacing around the room pontificating about facial hair.</spolier>
I highly recommend this game, and it makes me want to go look at some other murder-mystery IF games.
- Rose (New Zealand), November 24, 2010
- Wendymoon, November 18, 2010
- Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), November 16, 2010
- Mark Jones (Los Angeles, California), November 16, 2010
- perching path (near Philadelphia, PA, US), November 13, 2010
- Rhian Moss (UK), November 7, 2010
- Karl Ove Hufthammer (Bergen, Norway), November 2, 2010
1 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
Just Like Sherlock Holmes, October 26, 2010I must say, this one was difficult to get through. It is a murder mystery told from the point of view of a famous investigator. The story basically involves him (you) asking around a hotel about the death of a colonel. The main character is a Sherlock Holmes-type person, self-assured and witty. I finally had to use the walkthrough to try to get through it, and even then I eventually found myself blocked. It was interesting, both in concept and execution, but it quickly became tedious when I could no longer progress.
4 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
Delightful writing; unusual method., October 20, 2010I'm not one who tries to "outguess the author" when I read mystery novels or watch movies. I enjoy the ride. So maybe I'm not the target audience for this piece.
CUFF contains a really fun play idea--I just had a hard time getting it going. The first playthrough, I threw the wrong guy in jail (sorry!). The second time, after I thought I'd exhausted the number of items I could examine, I hit a wall. Almost none of the descriptions repeat themselves more than once, so I reached for the walkthrough.
I don't think I would have solved the crime without it. Even after the walkthrough, I didn't quite catch the thread of logic. But I also feel this way after reading some mystery novels, so it could just be the way my head works.
Definitely play this one--the writing is a plum, perfectly in-genre--just know it takes a very careful eye to untangle the real mystery.
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