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1 people found the following review helpful:
Beautifully written and painful, September 27, 2022by nothingling What a conversation. I recommend playing this a few times, with and without hints, to discover some of the different endings. A single word can be enough to turn Galatea's thoughts in a new direction. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
1 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Creep, September 5, 2022by witchcock (Gainesville, FL) tbh I found this protagonist to be a creep. I explored a few endings and the joy petered out because of how weird it was acting about her. I enjoyed listening to Galatea talk, but the responses from protagonist were either objectifying or belittling and it felt gross. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- cat, August 1, 2022 - flaxam, July 31, 2022 - Amun100 (UK), July 25, 2022 - SherwoodForbes, June 21, 2022 - jgkamat, June 17, 2022 - rowan.du, April 30, 2022 - josephine17, April 25, 2022 - lleon, April 21, 2022 - Joey Acrimonious, March 21, 2022 - rintastic, February 9, 2022 - OverThinking, December 1, 2021 - thiefnessman (Massachusetts), November 30, 2021 - Malasana, October 28, 2021 - civilstat (Maine, USA), October 21, 2021 - heasm66 (Sweden), August 16, 2021 - Ruber Eaglenest, August 14, 2021 - Sarah Mak (Singapore), August 6, 2021 - Zape, April 18, 2021 - Karlok (Netherlands), April 16, 2021 - arslonga, March 9, 2021 - knockupwood, February 12, 2021 - TheBoxThinker, January 25, 2021 - MerlaB, January 17, 2021 - katerinaterramare, December 28, 2020 - beecadee, November 14, 2020 - bradleyswissman (Virginia, US), September 15, 2020 - autumnc, September 11, 2020 - William Chet (Michigan), September 10, 2020 - Rainbow Fire , August 27, 2020 - Sothea Chhum, August 14, 2020 - Arrowhead12 (Edmonton, Alberta), June 11, 2020 - quackoquack, June 10, 2020 - tekket (Česká Lípa, Czech Republic), June 10, 2020 - kierlani, May 9, 2020 - Edo, April 29, 2020 - Sitri Salmacis (Atlanta), April 9, 2020 - Elizabeth DeCoste (Canada), April 2, 2020 - Bartlebooth, March 5, 2020 - JuiceCarver, February 28, 2020 - Rovarsson (Belgium), December 2, 2019 - Lillianatha, November 15, 2019 - FishOnHead, September 26, 2019 - erzulie, September 24, 2019 - whjohnson22, August 28, 2019 - Kommissar Verboten, July 1, 2019 5 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
Fantastic writing, wish I could appreciate it more, June 20, 2019by wisprabbit (Sheffield, UK) Galatea is a weird one for me, because I always butt my head against it for reasons that might not even be its fault. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Xylah, June 19, 2019 5 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
No statue has ever been erected to a critic, June 7, 2019by deathbytroggles (Minneapolis, MN) Galatea is an impressive piece of coding. Around the turn of the century there were many games that tried to create incredibly in-depth characters that would respond to anything, not to mention Scribblenauts, which tried to allow for a near infinite amount of actions. Of all in this genre I've tried, Galatea is the most successful at being interesting; yet, the shine wears off quickly and I stopped caring quicker than I thought possible. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (1) - Add comment
- Spike, May 12, 2019 - Elternabend, April 13, 2019 - Steffan LW Sitka (Los Angeles), February 28, 2019 - Princessthe1st (USA), February 6, 2019 - Stian, January 22, 2019 - IanAllenBird, January 17, 2019 - SchnickelFritz (TX), December 26, 2018 - Zach Shifflett (VA, United States), December 11, 2018 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
exceptional, November 27, 2018Above the vast expanse of interactive fiction, Galatea stands alone. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- illuki, November 3, 2018 - ellact2000, August 31, 2018 - doodlelogic, July 30, 2018 - ialessan, July 10, 2018 - Dawn Sueoka, July 8, 2018 - DustyCypress (Hong Kong), May 19, 2018 - Mutagen, April 4, 2018 - RoboDragonn, March 1, 2018 - fredfredfred, February 10, 2018 - gnarp, January 30, 2018 - thedigitaldiarist (Canada), January 29, 2018 - eme, January 24, 2018 - Viko (Canada), December 8, 2017 - Prosilire (New York City), December 3, 2017 - A. I. Wulf (India), October 26, 2017 - helado (a small ceramic bowl), October 5, 2017 - enkaye (usa), September 1, 2017 - Julia Myer (USA), August 30, 2017 - karlnp (Vancouver, BC), August 23, 2017 - TheAncientOne, August 6, 2017 - Wanderlust, August 3, 2017 - jamesb (San Antonio, Texas), July 12, 2017 - mirandamiranda, June 30, 2017 - fhon, June 22, 2017 - plek, May 16, 2017 - Laney Berry, May 15, 2017 - enigmity, March 21, 2017 - pox, March 18, 2017 - Ilex (Georgia, US), February 27, 2017 - Greg Frost (Seattle, Washington), February 11, 2017 - magicnumber, January 9, 2017 - SciFinn (Alberta, Canada), December 14, 2016 - piffling-paka (State College, Pennsylvania), December 6, 2016 - jrpz2 (Hong Kong), November 18, 2016 - paranormal-potato, September 24, 2016 - verityvirtue (London), September 21, 2016 - ocdunlap, September 16, 2016 - NinaS, July 3, 2016 - Oreolek (Kemerovo, Russia), June 10, 2016 2 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
First IF, June 2, 2016by Anistasya A fascinating and complex character to interact with. Clearly the author went to a lot of work building this story. The first ending I found was quite sudden and surprising. Interacting with the game was difficult at first because I'm not overly familiar with IFs in general, but I quickly got the hang of it and was impressed by how many things had been programmed got her to respond to. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Lino, May 28, 2016 - Lucas Brook, May 13, 2016 - itsdnoftheworld, May 9, 2016 - ChuChuVonLu, May 2, 2016 - Matt Bates, April 4, 2016 3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
Ivory , March 26, 2016by Teaspoon If there's a more convincing NPC in all of interactive fiction, I've yet to come across her. (I do dearly wish that Emily's updated Versu version in which one can play as Galatea had been made available.) Conversations don't get more plausible than this in a parser format. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- BeerIF (MA), March 25, 2016 - Deka, March 16, 2016 - Dhary, March 10, 2016 - Mergath, March 5, 2016 - E. W. B., February 24, 2016 3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
One of the first great conversation games, February 3, 2016Galatea is set in an artificial intelligence exhibit. Galatea, a stone woman brought to life, has mistakenly (or purposefully) been placed here. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- IFforL2 (Chiayi, Taiwan), January 29, 2016 - Guenni (At home), January 24, 2016 - Veraloo, January 20, 2016 - branewurms, December 24, 2015 - thang30, December 22, 2015 - gaite, December 19, 2015 - Aryore, December 13, 2015 - Trobairitz (USA), October 28, 2015 - nonnamethankyou, September 29, 2015 - Juhana, August 15, 2015 - leanbh, July 30, 2015 - wwenches (Florida), June 5, 2015 - ibelongia, June 5, 2015 - chux, May 20, 2015 - blue/green, March 19, 2015 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
Echoes a previous relationship in scope and power, March 18, 2015Being that I played this game fifteen years after its release, interacting with Galatea is truly like speaking to a relic from a by-gone time. And just like her, that sense of an ancient creation is also misleading. The words she uses in this game, the descriptions, the sensations granted by interaction, everything about this game is amazing. Never on my life had I expected to run across a game that felt exactly like speaking to a person I had met in real life. In both real life and through chat our relationship was like many of the different paths a player can walk with Galatea. That in itself is haunting, and a testament to how powerful this game is. It's also fun and I had a great time with it. This game is beautiful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Thrax, March 12, 2015 - CMG (NYC), February 19, 2015 - hoopla, February 16, 2015 - besmaller (Portland, OR), January 29, 2015 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
Conversation with a statue, January 25, 2015by Amphiareion Galatea is all about interaction. You talk to a statue. She tells you things. You don't go anywhere, you don't solve any puzzles. You talk. Well, sometimes things can happen to finish the games that aren't just talk. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Jallarial, January 16, 2015 - dutchmule, December 23, 2014 - siquis (Scotland), November 7, 2014 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
different and interesting, November 6, 2014by glasslioness At first this game didn't do much for me, because I like plot-driven games, puzzles, etc. But after a little time, I realized how much depth there actually is beneath the surface. Upon closer inspection, it truly is a very well-written and nicely crafted psychological study. Worth playing more than once. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- EllaClass, November 5, 2014 - Witchy W, October 20, 2014 - BlitzWithGuns, September 13, 2014 - Sobol (Russia), September 12, 2014 - nosferatu, August 21, 2014 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
A uniquely beautiful experience, July 16, 2014by Alyssa Barstow (California) I must have played through Galatea for at least two hours exploring all of the options. It was beautiful, intriguing, surprising, and sweet. I am still amazed at how it felt like a real conversation rather than playing a game. The first and only IF I have played that had no story progression, only exploration. Parser is polished. Overall a stunning must play on IF. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- wendladarlings, June 22, 2014 - Simon Deimel (Germany), May 20, 2014 - PVince81 (Germany), May 3, 2014 - Floating Info, April 8, 2014 - frenolestes, April 2, 2014 - Snave, March 7, 2014 4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Behind the curtain, January 31, 2014by scottmbruner (alameda, california) I have a lot of thoughts on this piece that wouldn't fit in a review. It's so well written, such a fascinating concept - and perhaps the best IF I've ever experienced that takes place completely through conversation and the haunts of memory, and desire... Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- francisthe3rd (Horseheads, NY), January 23, 2014 - Cloud-Of-Judgement (Eastern Europe), December 12, 2013 - bigotitos, November 8, 2013 - Edward Lacey (Oxford, England), October 31, 2013 - N.C. Hunter Hayden, October 30, 2013 - grainne6, October 28, 2013 - Adam Myers, September 19, 2013 - Indigo9182, August 14, 2013 - ButteredCatArray, July 2, 2013 - decourf (Norway), June 14, 2013 - Kuffen Bach (Brno), May 26, 2013 - Zack Kline (Near Seattle, Washington), May 10, 2013 - DJ (Olalla, Washington), May 9, 2013 - stadtgorilla (Munich, Germany), April 20, 2013 - DAzebras, April 18, 2013 - Zepton (Canada), April 6, 2013 - Stier, March 27, 2013 - Brown_Cow, March 16, 2013 - Galena, March 14, 2013 - dk101 (London, UK), March 2, 2013 - Metz77 (Massachusetts, USA), February 21, 2013 - Stewjar (USA), January 29, 2013 - Fantacide (California), January 23, 2013 - drumsfellow, January 22, 2013 - Sdn (UK), December 24, 2012 - amciek (Opole), December 22, 2012 - Ashelyn Dawn, December 6, 2012 - Artran (Taipei, Taiwan), December 3, 2012 - deem7c0, November 5, 2012 1 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
Galatea Little Brute, October 16, 2012by ateague6 Ha! I had to laugh when the statue typed back to me. Good one! Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- AADA7A, September 19, 2012 0 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
One I'll Return To Many a Time, August 12, 2012by Petrichor As a new IF player, I often find myself stuck, lost in an unfamiliar world where every step could get me killed. This one, I think, came at just the right time not too long ago. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- ohno, August 4, 2012 - Catalina, August 2, 2012 - Katrisa (Houston), July 19, 2012 - Sorrel, June 29, 2012 - Leland Paul (Swarthmore, PA), June 27, 2012 - libsrone, June 7, 2012 - kala (Finland), May 25, 2012 - Orivej Desh, May 13, 2012 - zylla, May 2, 2012 - Abalone , April 19, 2012 - Peloquin, April 14, 2012 - Jim Kaplan (Jim Kaplan has a room called the location. The location of Jim Kaplan is variable.), March 20, 2012 - Hagbard Celine, January 26, 2012 - Costis, January 2, 2012 - RedHatter (Vista, California), November 16, 2011 - X, November 7, 2011 - k24601 (Vancouver Washington), October 29, 2011 - AndyC (Japan), October 11, 2011 - trojo (Huntsville, Alabama, USA), October 10, 2011 - cmdrfalafel, September 20, 2011 - Digibomber, August 29, 2011 - David Kinder, June 7, 2011 - Adam D, June 5, 2011 - Nathanial, May 27, 2011 2 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting as a concept for NPCs, May 25, 2011by ZUrlocker (Traverse City, Michgian) Galatea is interesting as it makes a point of emphasizing story telling through interaction with an NPC. While I think it's a great concept and will help illustrate the level of sophisticated interaction that can be done in a game, I think it's more of an interesting exercise for authors than necessarily a superb standalone work. I admit the Pygmalion reference was lost on me and I had trouble figuring out the right interactions with Galatea. Sadly the story ended just as I thought it was getting interesting. Still, a breakthrough in its time and Emily Short has done tremendous work to push the envelope in IF. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- MKrone (Harsleben), April 26, 2011 - Joshua Wilson, April 25, 2011 - JohnW (Brno, Czech Republic), March 16, 2011 - frocutio (Irvine, CA), February 22, 2011 - diddlescatter (US), February 2, 2011 - snickerdoddle, January 28, 2011 - Ben Cressey (Seattle, WA), January 26, 2011 - Ghalev (Northern Appalachia, United States), January 1, 2011 - Markoff23, December 6, 2010 - samuraipoet (Fayetteville Arkansas), October 27, 2010 - Chris Longhurst (Oxford, UK), September 30, 2010 - Brian Lavelle (Edinburgh, Scotland), September 12, 2010 - Aaron (Lille, France), August 29, 2010 - Alder (San Francisco), August 15, 2010 - Juleske, July 20, 2010 - Stickz (Atlanta, Georgia), June 23, 2010 - strikemeyer (Atlanta, Georgia), June 12, 2010 16 of
20 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting Experiment, June 9, 2010by tggdan3 (Michigan) There are two ways to take Galtea- like there are two ways to take most IF nowadays: as a game, and as an experiment. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Patrick M. McCormick (United States), May 23, 2010 - G.D. Lascelle (UK), May 19, 2010 - Azazel, April 6, 2010 - pearceduncan (New Zealand), March 23, 2010 - Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle), February 15, 2010 - Pinstripe (Chicago, Illinois), February 7, 2010 - loungeman (Bilbao, Spain), January 4, 2010 - Aina Grey, December 29, 2009 - Andreas Teufel (Poland), December 28, 2009 20 of
22 people found the following review helpful:
Giving Meaning To Art, December 4, 2009by TempestDash (Cincinnati, Ohio) On the surface, Galatea is a relatively simple game. You are an art critic, and you are standing in one room of a gallery observing a piece of art. The piece of art and its podium are the only things in the room, and you can’t leave the room or the game ends. So there is really only one thing you can do: interact with the piece of art. Fortunately, the piece of art is Galatea, the statue come to life of the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion from Greek myth. In the game, Pygmalion is gone now, for reasons not initially clear, but Galatea has a lot to say about him and herself if you choose to ask. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), December 3, 2009 - eu, November 22, 2009 - BladeL, October 7, 2009 - lupusrex (Seattle, WA), October 4, 2009 - Pepisolo, September 30, 2009 - Shchekotiki, August 8, 2009 - Fredrik Ramsberg (Stockholm, Sweden), August 4, 2009 - Stephen Gilbert (Canada), July 11, 2009 - trifoliumChain, June 29, 2009 - Pope Richard Corey (Colorado), June 26, 2009 - Mark V. (Madrid, Spain), June 2, 2009 - four1475 (Manhattan, KS), April 10, 2009 - Jerome C West (United Kingdom), March 18, 2009 - John D, March 14, 2009 - GDL (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), March 9, 2009 - C.E.J. Pacian (England), February 21, 2009 - Ben, February 9, 2009 4 of
13 people found the following review helpful:
A remarkable experiment., January 16, 2009This has to be one of the finest examples of NPC interactivity yet seen in IF. Speaking to an exhibit for 10 or 15 minutes might seem rather strange, but her variety of topics can take you from greek myths to the meaning of life and or death. Recommended for anyone wanting to see developments in IF characterization. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Shigosei, January 14, 2009 - Karl Ove Hufthammer (Bergen, Norway), January 12, 2009 - anj tuesday, January 2, 2009 - Aaron Mumaw (Appalachia), December 22, 2008 - Linnau (Tel-Aviv, Israel), October 31, 2008 - madducks (Indianapolis, Indiana), September 5, 2008 - Wesley (Iowa City, Iowa), September 1, 2008 - Genjar (Finland), August 31, 2008 - declain, August 23, 2008 - mrsambarlow, August 17, 2008 - thisisboots, August 15, 2008 - Maze (Rome, Italy), August 6, 2008 - googoogjoob, August 4, 2008 31 of
33 people found the following review helpful:
Overrated among Short's games, July 28, 2008by Beekeeper Galatea is an intricately detailed work of high concept. I wanted to like it - I can't get enough NPC interaction, and this has somehow acquired a reputation as the best NPC out there. Despite this, I found this to be deeply flawed and ultimately unsatisfying, both as a character and as a work of IF. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (3) - Add comment
- Timo Saarinen (Finland), July 23, 2008 - LisariaUS, July 17, 2008 - zibahkhana, July 15, 2008 - Rose (New Zealand), July 6, 2008 - Zoltar, June 22, 2008 - Mike Ciul (Philadelphia), June 4, 2008 - Sarah Mitty (Ypsilanti, Michigan), June 4, 2008 - Fra Enrico (Torino, Italy), June 3, 2008 - reepeecheep (Harare), May 20, 2008 - Steve Blanding (Redmond, WA), May 7, 2008 - Clare Parker (Portland, OR), April 22, 2008 - brattish (Canada), March 28, 2008 - Rhian Moss (UK), March 28, 2008 5 of
20 people found the following review helpful:
Sex is NG, March 28, 2008by isd (Tokyo) I tried to ask about sex then the game ended... because sex is a NG conversation topic it seems. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- lobespear, March 17, 2008 - jfpbookworm (Hamburg, New York), February 25, 2008 - Dan Schmidt (Boston), January 31, 2008 - Ziixxxitria (California), January 26, 2008 - Michel Nizette (Brussels, Belgium), January 18, 2008 - incandenza (carrboro, north carolina), January 17, 2008 - Wendymoon, January 13, 2008 - Dannii (Australia), January 10, 2008 - Matt Poush (Des Moines, Iowa), January 6, 2008 - Havoc Crow, December 25, 2007 - RichCheng (Warwickshire, UK), December 19, 2007 - PSilk (London, UK), November 29, 2007 - VK, November 26, 2007 - Naeradan, November 20, 2007 - ErWenn (Bloomington, IN), November 18, 2007 - Benjamin Sokal (Elysium pod planting enclosure on Mars), November 14, 2007 - protobob, November 8, 2007 4 of
11 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting, but I couldn't get into it, November 7, 2007Although I really like the premise of this, and I had a fair bit of sympathy/empathy for Galatea-the-character, I don't feel I really enjoyed the game, despite around twenty replays. It may be my playing style, but I found it very easy to fall into repetitive dead-ends, and I never managed to find an ending that I thought was really satisfying. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Nusco (Bologna, Italy), October 31, 2007 - Mortchek (United States), October 28, 2007 - Brian Slesinsky (California), October 27, 2007 6 of
42 people found the following review helpful:
Futile Guesswork, October 26, 2007by AmberShards (The Gothic South) Are you ready to be clobbered over the head with the 2x4 of modern man-hating female disparagement? If so, Galatea is the game for you. Many have crowed about the interactivity, but interactivity with a self-righteous female, statue or no, is not enjoyable. (Modern spineless males will enjoy the exercise in self-torture, doubtless.) Because the game goals are so vague, there's no real way to advance to the next state of conversation without playing an updated version of "guess the verb" called "guess the conversation topic". Thirty minutes of futile guesswork was enough for me. Galatea gets two stars for coding genius alone. As far as games go, it's a dud. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (5) - Add comment
- Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), October 26, 2007 - Pseudo_Intellectual (Vancouver, Canada), October 25, 2007 - John Murphy (Lebanon, NH, USA), October 24, 2007 - David Garcia, October 21, 2007 - Brian Campbell, October 21, 2007 8 of
13 people found the following review helpful:
Extensive interaction and characterization, October 21, 2007by Michael R. Bacon (New Mexico) This is the work I recommend most highly of all interactive fiction. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- robkun (London, UK), October 20, 2007 - Gregory (USA), October 20, 2007 Baf's GuideRetells the myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor whose statue came to life; here, you're interacting with the statue herself (she's on a pedestal in a museum as an "animate"), and getting her perspectives on a wide variety of things. As such, this is a one-room game that consists entirely of interactions with one NPC--but what an NPC it is. This is the only IF I've ever seen that tried to give an NPC a thoroughly complex psychology--the same question can elicit a wide variety of responses depending on the character's mood, which in turn depends on a variety of things, including the progress of the conversation up to that point. Nor is this simply a portrait of a complex character--your developing relationship with her affects both how you see her and how she reacts. There are no puzzles as such, but the game offers numerous endings that resolve the conversation one way or another, and some of the endings are more satisfying than others. A hint at what NPCs can be with enough attention; considering that the Z-machine code runs to nearly 260K, bigger than many good-sized games, Galatea also suggests that the amount of programming needed to achieve this degree of complexity is not small. Intriguing and rewarding. -- Duncan Stevens
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