Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

You are the Project Manager of a team of employees, but there’s been some changes. The company has introduced a new feature: ProMa, an A.I.-powered management program. To assist you, of course.

ProMa has now scheduled a meeting so you can touch bases and complete a performance review on an employee named Gregg Pendleton.

Problem: Gregg is dead.

Gameplay
Your discussion with ProMa is conducted via chat message, and all choices involve conversation. The game begins with the player "logging in" by typing a username into a text input box. I like games that do this. It's a small feature, but surprisingly immersive.

I have mixed feelings about how the conversation tends to loop around in circles. I think it’s intentional to make our conversation with the A.I. more exasperating, but this means that it’s not always clear which responses move the story forward. At least it factors into the (Spoiler - click to show)score at the end.

Story
Structure
What makes For Gregg so effective is how our conversation unfolds.

It's not obvious at first, but ProMa has the player eating out of its hand. By the time the game ends, the player is sitting there thinking, “what just happened?”

It all starts when ProMa activates Grief.exe and takes control of the conversation.

You see, it has made it its mission to help you cope with Gregg's death, and proceeds to annoy us when, frankly, we’re not exactly grieving this colleague we barely knew. But we have compassion for him and get upset when ProMa makes insensitive comments.

The author's writing is brilliant. The way they portray a computer desperately trying to counsel a human on grief (despite, moments ago, said computer not knowing what death was until it launched Grief.exe) is so smooth. Especially since this help is unsolicited.

For example, if you admit that you didn’t really know Gregg, ProMa interrupts by saying, "I understand you might want to distance yourself from Gregg's death," and takes the initiative to become your therapist.

ProMa’s insistence that we “talk about our feelings” gets irritating real fast. In fact, we get angry when it writes some offensive (though funny) eulogies for Gregg. But this is a good thing! Because anger is one of stages of grieving! You're making such great progress, Reader. Meanwhile the player is staring at the screen like, you have got to be kidding me.

Underlying story
Humor aside, we learn more about Gregg. He (Spoiler - click to show)died by suicide after the company reduced his salary so it could afford ProMa. This becomes more relevant later.

Our conversation with ProMa starts to go off the rails. It keeps trying to convince us that we don’t like working at the company.

Then we get this zinger:

Themes
For Gregg is a short game, but that doesn't stop it from making powerful points about A.I. and its integration into the workplace.

There is an irony to designing an A.I. with a "Grief.exe" protocol so employees can grieve the loss of a human life… without interfering with productivity, of course.

In compliance with the protocols of Human Resources, I have set aside these next twenty minutes for grieving Gregg Pendleton together.

And it turns out (Spoiler - click to show)we've already been sacked. Grief.exe ends up being an empty formality. It’s played for laughs here but serves as a sad reminder of how corporations view their employees as assets to be shuffled around to maximize profit before being discarded.

Gregg's (Spoiler - click to show)situation of being replaced with A.I. is relevant to our world as A.I. technology becomes more mainstream. This prospect raises worrying implications. One of the game’s main takeaways is when ProMa says,

It is clear to me that there are some things AI still needs human beings to double-check.

If human involvement is a critical step in incorporating A.I. into workplaces and beyond, let’s hope that we don’t all get replaced. Otherwise, who knows what will go on unchecked?

Visuals
As a Twine game, For Gregg is a great example of how clean formatting goes a long way in creating a crisp, polished appearance. It uses a light bluish grey background with black text and blue links. Paragraphs are neatly spaced and centered on the screen, and everything is easy to read.

Final thoughts
For Gregg is more than an amusing game about a wrangling an A.I. at your workplace. Beneath the surface, it’s about the cold realization that comes with discovering that you’re not, in fact, the indispensable, valued person you thought you were.

While the game keeps things light-hearted and humorous, it’s worth taking it seriously because we just might find ourselves in the characters’ shoes as A.I. in the modern workplace becomes normalized.

Less like a game, more like a reflection, Nineteen is an author's sharing of her experience with suicide and the insights she has gained over the years.

Gameplay is non-linear. It begins with a short but powerful sentence:

I was twelve the last time I tried to kill myself. That was nineteen years ago.

This sentence contains links that bring you to different moments in her life, and these are woven together through the links scattered across the narrative until we reach the game’s “end.” Depending on the parts you visit, you may need to play the game more than once to view everything.

The author gives us an intimate look into her life and even includes family photos. The details are best experienced through the gameplay in her own words. I’ll just focus on the game’s central theme: the critical role of friendship when struggling with depression.

She recognizes that this is easier said than done and writes about the struggle of not knowing how to convey the kind of support you need. Sometimes you're not even sure of what to ask for, and if you do, there's fear of what your friends may think.

Next, she reflects on how friends can be oblivious of the impact mundane actions can cause, for better or worse. Like when one friend sent her a silly picture of a cat (included in the game!), which was enough for her to want to remain in the moment.

Do they know?

Do they get that they might have just saved my life with that stupid cat macro?

On the flip side, an insensitive comment made by a favorite teacher resulted in feelings of rage- feelings she suppressed until she was alone.

Despite all this, the author concludes that "the only consistently valuable tool I have found has been my friends," and this realization is the product of over a decade of life experience.

As the game draws to a close, we receive this key insight...

Depression convinces you that you have no power. Sometimes you need friends to lend you some of theirs.

...only for the author to take this one step further.

There is always someone who will lend you power.

If you can't think of anyone else, think of me.

The player can then click on "think of me" to email the author! This also serves as the game’s ending. And what a brilliant way of doing so!

I’m not sure if it’s still active, though. The game was created in 2013.

I will say: the game’s implementation could be smoother. Some passages have no links, interrupting the flow of the story. There is no "back button," and the “Rewind” feature on the side of the screen only led to, “No passage available.” It may not occur to players to use the "back" button on their browser, forcing them to restart (like I did until I figured it out). Also, the text is rather small.

To conclude, Nineteen is a short Twine game that leaves a memorable impression on the player due to the author’s candid writing and heartfelt discussion on the difference a support group of friends can make. Her approach of paying it forward by reaching out to players is especially admirable. Play it and see what resonates with you.

Note: This review is for the post-comp release. The change log refers to it as v101, and I recommend playing this version.

Modern society is run by sub-sentient computer programs known as “subs.” You work as a cyberpsychiatrist where you assist and discipline these subs when they run into problems. One night, you are awakened by an emergency: the subs are misbehaving.

And society will come crashing down if you don’t resolve it.

Gameplay
The Entropy Cage is centered around investigating the subs’ odd behavior before shifting to (Spoiler - click to show)aligning with one of the factions from the story.

Gameplay consists of the player receiving requests from subs and deciding on what action to take. Initially, the only action available is “reseed,” but more options become available as the situation develops.

b91: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.

user> sub.reseed() | sub.queryRequest()

Players may find it a bit ambiguous. We’re supposed to “find out what happened,” and yet, it's unclear what your immediate objective is. It’s hard to tell if you’re doing anything right because we always get Jake’s disapproval, though I understand that might be so we can feel the protagonist’s frustration for ourselves. That doesn’t make it less confusing.

Reseed the subs? He complains. Freeze the subs? He complains. Promote the subs? He complains. Each time he complains that we should “try something else,” and the player is staring at the screen thinking, there aren’t any other links to click on!

Allowing the player to save their progress would have been appreciated or at least have a way for the player to skip to later content after their first playthrough. If you're not careful, you click on a link that, woops, turns out to be an ending.

I nearly gave up hope on understanding what I was doing when I froze/promoted/etc. this endless parade of faulty subs. Gradually, things came into focus.

user> sub.promote()

SYSTEM: REDIRECTED sub.promote() -> sub.kill()
bb1: Why? Query Why?
bb1: Query Why? Use? Hello?

In this example, a sub requested that I promote it. And I did: "sub.promote." Some (Spoiler - click to show)unknown agent changed sub.promote to sub.kill, killing the sub instead of promoting it. The poor sub is wondering why this is happening.

So: My advice for playing The Entropy Cage is to stick with it.

Even when you have no idea what’s going on, you can still have fun.

Versions
Out of curiosity, I tried the competition version and could see a clear difference. I like how the newer version uses “reseed” instead of “punish,” which feels more intuitive (and not so mean). Consider:

b78: Hello. I have been bad. Punish me. vs.

f71: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.

I wonder how previous players will feel about the game now.

Story
Before you play, I highly encourage you to read the backstory which can be accessed via the game’s menu. It provides essential context to understanding the story. Without it, I would not have been able to piece together the overarching premise on my own.

It’s quite intriguing!

The author shares that the game “came from wondering what religions computers would create for themselves,” which raises concern of what would happen if said computers started to engage in religious warfare. The aim of The Entropy Cage is to consider humanity’s role as an observer of this theoretical warfare, and this is reflected in the protagonist’s task at investigating the subs’ erratic behavior.

Endings
I thought there were only 2-3 endings until I looked at the ending guide built into the game. The guide summarizes each ending regardless of if you’ve reached it. Turns out, there are 9 possible outcomes. Reaching them was another matter…

Thoughts
Ending 1 serves as a potential warning for our current world and the near future. Technically mild spoilers, so I’ll put them under a spoiler tag.

This theme of over-reliance is increasingly relevant to the technologies that have emerged in recent years which will only continue to be developed.

Characters
We know little about the game’s protagonist beyond their job title and their employer: a corporation called Cloud-Nine. Or is it an agency? Either way, its specialty is transportation. You definitely want your subs to function correctly for that.

Apparently, we've also been “suspended.” The game doesn’t say why, and I would be fine with this if Jake didn’t bring it up ALL THE TIME. He keeps waving your suspension around and threatening you to the point where I want to know why the protagonist is on thin ice. Or is Cloud-Nine just looking to cut costs?

At least some of our exchanges with him can be humorous.

SYSTEM:CHAT@jake: And what checks that blood?
SYSTEM:CHAT@user: A pre-sub. Damn. That guy had one job.

There are NPCs who play a big role behind the scenes, but A, I don’t want to spoil them, and B, I’m still a bit confused about who they are aside from the fact that they are (Spoiler - click to show)subs of religious factions.

Visuals
Taking after the cover art, The Entropy Cage uses blue and black as its main colours. Its appearance is a large dark blue text box against a black screen. Text and links also use different shades of blue.

I have mixed feelings of how some of the dialog is displayed. In these cases, tH3 diAl0G lo0kS liK3 tHIs WhiCH g3tS TeDIus qUIcKlY. This formatting is clever because it conveys that the sub we're chatting with (Spoiler - click to show)is slowly being corrupted. The downside is that it's inconvenient when trying to process what the sub is saying.

Final thoughts
The Entropy Cage feels somewhat like a hidden gem.

I've played games where the source of conflict is heavily based on "A.I. vs. human characters." In The Entropy Cage, the source of conflict is "A.I. vs A.I.," and I don't see this nearly as often. The human protagonist is not an active participant in the (Spoiler - click to show)subs’ warfare, and yet we wield enough power to alter its trajectory.

It’s also frustrating. Even now, I have a hard time understanding it all. While the game’s mechanics emphasizes how the protagonist is working within limitations as they try to resolve a looming crisis, it hinders the player’s enjoyment of story instead of enhancing it.

Still, I liked The Entropy Cage. The game grows on you if you spend enough time experimenting with it.

If you’re looking for a sci-fi game that prefers its mechanics over heavy dialog, The Entropy Cage offers a unique experience. Despite its flaws, it raises questions on morality, technology, and where we stand within it. It was released in 2014, and the author hasn’t created anything since. But if they ever do, I’d be interested.

Anhedonia is a Twine game about depression and how it saps the meaning in one's life. It appears that it’s a reflection of the author's own experience. Everything is told in first person. That said, I will refer to the narrator as "the protagonist." Consider this review as how I understand the game. I hope it reflects what the author had in mind when they created this work.

Gameplay is linear. I'd describe the gameplay as a train of the protagonist's thoughts. While progress is made by clicking on links to move to the next thought, the use of cycling links in some passages add interactivity.

Anhedonia keeps the word count to a minimum, and there are simple but well-designed drawings that add polish. Some of the art is even animated! The visuals also pair well with the font. The dark grey text almost looks like handwriting and there are red links. Fade-in-fade-out text effects are sometimes used to tell the story.

The protagonist looks at the difficulties of living with depression and mental illness, which include the societal belief that you just need to "try harder," medical professionals not taking you seriously, concerns about affording medication if you lose your insurance, and more. But the game's focus is centered on the concept of "anhedonia," which also serves as its title.

"Anhedonia" is an inability to experience pleasure and is often associated with depression. While the game does not explicitly provide anhedonia's definition, it's conveyed through the story. The protagonist no longer finds joy in not only things that once made them happy, but also in things that reinforces one's awareness of being alive. This includes physical sensations that engage the body which now feels muted.

The game does, however, define another word:

semantic saturation:

the phenomenon whereby the uninterrupted repetition of a word

leads to a sense that the word has lost its meaning

Next, the game says that being mentally ill is "not a question of semantics but of ontology."

If I understand this correctly, the protagonist is drawing a parallel between the loss of meaning within a word, and the loss of meaning in their life because of depression, both of which involve some form of repetition: the repetition of a word vs. repetition of depression in everyday existence. The result? The loss of meaning. And loss of meaning can imply that pleasure is lost as well.

I think the game summarizes itself when it ponders,

how does one separate illness from self

A recurring theme is how the numbness of daily life can cause one to be desensitized to what it's like to feel numb to begin with. If depression is all-encompassing, it becomes difficult to identify where "you" start/stop and where the mental illness begins.

I'm going to leave it at that.

Now, I encourage you to play it so you can experience the story for yourself and form your own interpretation. Gameplay is only a few minutes long, and I think the low word-count will appeal to players. Visually, if you're looking for inspiration, Anhedonia is a great example of a Twine game with a simple yet polished appearance.

I imagine that creating Anhedonia was no easy feat for the author, and I appreciate the time and effort put into the game’s creation.

(edit: character name fix. (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT not SPACE CAT.)

The protagonist of SPACE FROG! is... SPACE FROG. Written in all-caps, like the title. He, predictably, is also a frog.

SPACE FROG wants to collect a star. He has his own spaceship. Because of size limitations, the player can only choose one item to bring. There are three items to choose from, which encourage multiple playthroughs. The rest of the gameplay involves traveling to planets.

You choose between exploring a planet or moving on. While the game offers three possible planets, you can only explore one per playthrough. It's also possible to (Spoiler - click to show)return to Earth and end things there. All of this provides incentive to play the game more than once. For convenience, there's a "back" button available.

The planets are each inhabited by other animal characters who offer wholesome interactions.

SPACE FROG wasn't sure what to do. He didn't speak sheep.

Could he communicate with the sheep in some other way?

SHAKE FROGGY BANK
BAA BACK

In some endings we succeed in acquiring a star, while in others (Spoiler - click to show)we get sidetracked and set the star-collecting aside for another day. There are no bad endings. Only ones filled with optimism and joy. I love SPACE FROG's reason for collecting a star, which is only revealed at the end. I don’t want to spoil it, but it has something to do with (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT.

The game has a strong ambience of imagination, curiosity, and the excitement of making new friends...

But SPACE FROG was no ordinary frog.

...and these qualities are showcased in our protagonist.

Made with Twine, the game uses a pale green background and black digital-looking text. There are graphics for most scenes that breathe life into the story. The graphics may be simple, but they fit the game's minimalist design perfectly.

While SPACE FROG! can be appreciated by anyone, the game is fantastic option for children. It features an endearing story with a low word-count, heartwarming visuals, and beginner-level interactivity.

Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a surreal Twine game set in a desert where the player contemplates monuments of human civilization. The artwork is FANTASTIC.

For now, I intend for this to be last game I review for IFComp 2025. It seems like a good piece to end with now that the comp is over and everything's been announced.

Gameplay
At least, this is how I understand the gameplay.

My guess is that we’re not in a real-life physical desert, but an intangible setting made of ideas and abstract concepts. However, the nature of the game means the logistics of this are irrelevant. We accept the existence of this surreal world as it is. Knowing what’s going on in the game is a different matter. I’ll do my best.

Trace your steps toward...
➼ the monument to the road cone
➼ the monument to the aardvark cucumber
➼ the monument to the ink cartridge

Gameplay involves visiting seven monuments and “unraveling them.”

You have reached the unflowing monument to the ink cartridge. Its mysterious nested walls and tissues hold a great amorphous power. For now, it stands.

Unravel it.

This involves reflecting on its content, its portrayal of said content, and how it relates to yourself. The player’s choices involve clicking on cycling links to select a prompt to add to the monument.

➼ Seal your choice. Leave the monument

The game combines these monuments together to create a fusion of ideas, experience, and materials influenced by the reflections that you made. These combinations are “unveiled.” The game does this by generating poem-like passages. For example, in one playthrough I combined the ink cartridge and wicker monuments.

A revelation is what you do, it's what you are. The truth of the ink cartridge and wicker quivers in your hands, alive, alight with the awe of the distance between words. Shine a light across the chasm. Shout their beauty.

Unveil them

(What followed next was the generated passage).

The mechanic of combining different monuments adds replay value, but I’m not sure if its monuments are dynamic enough in content to make players eager to experiment with different combinations.

Writing & Genre
While I enjoy surreal works, I lack the background knowledge to analyze and comment on the genre itself. Because of this, I end up using the word "surreal" as a blanket term.

It’s safe to say, though, that this is an abstract game, and its writing reflects that. In comparison with other surreal works, this game will have a narrower audience due to its writing's elaborate style and tone.

Its writing feels like a string of thoughts and is written as if they are being spilled from one’s mind. Consider my fusion of the wicker and ink cartridge monuments:

The story of wicker and the ink cartridge. Picture a reproduction of three-dimensional forms. The voids in between. Initiate the next phase of cleaning only if the print quality is poor. Keep the diagonal above and then below. It is the only way. They warn: this mold will erase our history. As he kneels to take it out, he forgets that they said anything. The instructions say to throw the thing away when there’s less than eight signs left, but as always there are workarounds on the internet. And they know that this is true among the atoms and the galaxies...

It's a lot to process.

I think the game does a consistent job at making players feel as if they are flowing down a waterfall of ideas and concepts. Wading through this content reveals some fascinating ideas. I liked how the newsstand monument is described as a "relic from the paleo-information age."

Sometimes, though, the writing runs into a wall and starts to feel lame and contrived:

Semiconductors are the judges of the real, and there is no such thing as hot glue.

What does this even mean? Maybe its nonsensicalness is intentional, but I’m not feeling it. Fortunately, the game always pulls itself back on track. You will find things to appreciate if you commit to the gameplay.

Story
There’s not really a story, only a mix of themes. If I had to pinpoint the main theme, I’d say it orbits around examining past civilization and what that civilization leaves behind. Sand is a recurring element, and the game reminds us that all things are eventually worn down into sand and atoms.

It does have an ending. (Spoiler - click to show)After visiting and combining the monuments the game turns around and regards you as a monument. As you did with the previous monuments, you unravel yourself. In a self-reflective way. Maybe it’s up to interpretation.

Visuals
The artwork is the best part of the game. It’s exquisite and fits the genre perfectly.

It appears as a layered collage of different materials and styles. It depicts a desert landscape with artifacts scattered on the dunes. The layers create a sense of depth and distance, and objects fade in and out as you investigate each monument. I was enthralled.

The authors are talented. It’s the kind of art I expect to see at an art gallery or a glossy hardcover book. It really illustrates the story. There were times when I simply ignored the text and stared at the details in the artwork. The humanoid picture with the mismatched hands and geometric shapes was one of my favorites!

I’ve played many games with gorgeous visuals, but Eight Last Signs in the Desert stands out with its use of textures.

Like the sand dunes.

It almost suggests that you can touch the screen and feel the sandy surface. I can’t say I’ve played a game that depicts textures like this. The closest work I can think of is Fabricationist DeWit Remakes the World which looks like watercolour on thick paper.

I hope more games experiment with textures.

Other visuals
Text is placed in a black box, usually on the left side of screen. In this sense, the game feels like a picture book with text on one side and visuals on the other, though the game occasionally uses additional boxes as well. It has a thin cream-coloured border which contrasts nicely with the dune imagery in the background.

There’s also a tiny grey box by the main text box that provides a random passage of text. I’m wondering if it represents something in the narrative. Or is it simply a text box? Either way, it offers some interesting passages.

The game does use some fade-in-fade-out effects for the text, but this is an example of using them appropriately to enhance the gameplay instead of slowing it down. It gives the gameplay a contemplative vibe.

Final thoughts
Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a unique game with writing I enjoyed and art that blew me away. It is not a game for the impatient. In fact, it can be a bit dense for anyone with the patience to ponder each line and take it one step at a time. I was pleased with it, nonetheless.

I recommend this game if you want something that focuses on ambience instead of a storyline. The themes on human civilization- and its impermanence- are compelling but not overwhelming. And the art? At least play it to sample the art.

In the end, thoughts are free at last from gravity and the strong force of their nuclei.

The witch girls are a clique of girls at school who can supposedly perform magic. You and your friend Morag have decided to turn to them for help. You want boyfriends. But they tell you: "We don't do love magic."

As if that's going to stop you.

Taking matters into your own hands, you and Morag recreate this spell to create perfect boyfriends. (Be careful what you wish for.)

Gameplay
The gameplay experience is based on how you cast the boyfriend-creating spell. Failure to do it correctly produces… unexpected results. The spell determines which of the three gameplay paths you take, while the specific ending you reach is determined by decisions made later in the game.

The game keeps track of every possible route/path on a page that is made accessible after your first playthrough. Here, you can skip the intro and start after the spell has been cast, allowing you to dive right into the story. This feature was incredibly helpful for replays.

Story
Generally, the game is about agency, longing for independence, and realizing that the grass is often greener on the other side of the fence. It also serves as a demonstration of the dangers of a 13-year-old girl having unrestricted access to magic.

There was a freedom in it, in asking for what you wanted, without the mediation of parents or schools or big sisters. Magic might not have gotten you results, but it got you something better: power, or the idea of it, at least.

That is, until you do get results.

Creating a perfect boyfriend as planned can be considered as the game’s “generic route.” It leans slightly towards slice-of-life rather than horror because it feels more introspective. I do, however, agree with the game calling it the (Spoiler - click to show)“Zombie Route.”

Ultimately, though, this is a horror game. There are other routes.

Let’s say we do a poor job with casting the spell. What could possibly go wrong?

So, there you go. The Witch Girls can take you in some unexpected directions.

Characters
PC
The protagonist is unnamed and has a surface-level backstory which allows the player to step into her shoes without being distracted by characterization. And yet, the whole fiasco of fabricated boyfriends is still an opportunity for character development.

Like everyone, she judges her peers, and these judgments are mixed in with what she knows about her world. A common theme is how she views herself as separate from those girls, only to reevaluate what “those girls” even means, and whether she might actually be one of them. This is usually referring to sex but can overlap with other things.

You weren’t like those chavvy girls who slept with their fourth-year boyfriends and got pregnant. You were better than them.

There’s a tug-of-war between her passing judgement and her also wanting to partake in the exact things she judges. It becomes an on-going journey of self-discovery.

NPCs
I was hoping that we would get to learn a little more about the witch girls we first meet, especially since one of them is Morag’s sister. Shortly after they refuse to help us, they give up witchcraft altogether, freeing up the hut they used as a meeting space. I wonder how they learned not to mess with love magic.

(In that regard, I like how there’s an unofficial passing of the mantle with most of the endings. (Spoiler - click to show)The protagonist and Morag like to hang out in the witch girls’ hut, and whenever someone comes to them for assistance they say, “We don’t do love magic.” Clever way of bringing things full circle.)

Visuals
The game’s appearance is both simple and memorable. It uses a light blue background with black text in a basic but fun font. Most scenes have a small black-and-white picture in the upper left-hand corner that adds atmosphere without being distracting. The picture of the pencils with the smiley-face erasers resonated with me.

Final thoughts
The Witch Girls was a lot of fun. The protagonist is giddy with what magic can achieve for her, and this excitement is felt by the player as well. Horror and humor are equally intertwined, and the author captures a sense of nostalgia by name-dropping music, clothing brands, and pop culture.

My only complaint is how the original witch girls are glossed over. What’s their story? Just a little more explanation would have provided dimension instead of them being shoved aside. Are we just mirror reflections of them, if only a bit younger (and cooler, of course)?

That aside, The Witch Girls excels in every department. Play it, and you’ll learn why it’s best to steer clear from love magic.

Grocery shopping. Again.

You play as an unnamed protagonist who begrudgingly hauls herself into the local supermarket to complete the weekly errand of buying groceries. You only have $20 in your pocket, so budget wisely.

Gameplay involves going through the store and deciding which groceries to buy. It soon becomes clear that (Spoiler - click to show)buying groceries isn't important. Turns out this mundane errand is the protagonist's desperate grasp for any normalcy because, well... it's the apocalypse.

The strength of Errand Run is how the protagonist knows more about her situation than we do, leaving us in the dark until the end where it pulls a delightful bait-and-switch.

Now, we do know that something's going on. The lights are off, the AC doesn't work, and the store is understocked. But you can be fooled into thinking that the world is simply going through a rough patch. Local food shortages, overdemand of the power grid, etc.

With a sigh, you step through the automatic doors of the local supermarket. No blast of cool air whisks over to greet you; the AC's been acting up for months now.

Oh, no, no, no.

The game’s writing is frosting on the cake. Its cynical humor provides commentary about the task at hand without being too dire. The author builds on this visually through text effects and colours that convey (Spoiler - click to show)the protagonist’s wobbly mental state.

To conclude, Errand Run is a brief horror game about (Spoiler - click to show)crawling back to the familiar because the entire world has gone to pieces. It doesn’t go deep with its story, but it doesn't need to.

Where it doesn’t have depth, it sure has attitude.

Saltwrack follows a perilous expedition across an unforgiving arctic landscape. The story is bleak. The odds are grim. The characters search for secrets best left undisturbed.

Gameplay
Saltwrack describes itself as a “post-post-apocalyptic” story in a world that has been devastated by snowfalls of salt and an ice age. The land is now one vast deposit of salt, also known as a wrack. Human civilization resides in six cities, existing as points of light, huddled at the edges of this harsh wasteland.

You are an interpreter- a scientist. The Observational Society has agreed to fund your proposal: to journey to the center of a salty wrack to discover its secrets. No one has attempted such a journey.

But first you select two individuals to aid you on the expedition: a saltwalker and an oracle. Saltwalkers know the physical landscape through experience and excel at survival, while oracles have precognition and interpret dreams. There are two candidates for both categories, providing incentive for replays.

The entire expedition- traveling to the wrack’s center and returning to the city of Hearth- is expected to take 40 days. Player decisions center on navigating the land with the guidance provided by your travelling companions. The game keeps track of your progress at the top of the screen.

Day 1 | Miles travelled: 40 | Rations: Plentiful

You also collect specimens and samples as proof of your discoveries. And no save features, either. Death looms behind every action.

All sorts of unexpected things can happen.

What frustrates me about the gameplay is how your choices don’t always have as much influence as you would think.

For example, (Spoiler - click to show)the number of specimens I brought back to the Observational Society had no effect on whether they believed my account of the expedition. The protagonist takes notes automatically, but surely physical specimens are needed as proof, right? Turns out, you can skip every opportunity to collect samples, and the Society will still believe you.

There are also moments where the game overrides the impact of your previous choices in favor of a pre-determined outcome. Sometimes the (Spoiler - click to show)female saltwalker would leave even when I followed her advice and established a good rapport with her through conversation. It felt like the game simply wanted her to be taken out of the picture, rapport or no rapport.

Despite this occasional rigidness, the game still managed to surprise me. I didn't think it was possible, but I somehow managed to (Spoiler - click to show)make it to Hearth with the second oracle where we recovered in the hospital clinic together. Usually, the oracles either die or choose to stay in the wrack.

I enjoyed finding every salt-sign glyph encountered by the saltwalkers. I found glyphs for (Spoiler - click to show)Contamination, Trap, and Death.

Story
The game is somewhat reserved in the amount of backstory it provides, but from the looks of it, there is a dead city in the center of the wrack. This city was once a hot spot for technological advancement until something devastated the world. You intend to find its origin. Spoilers.

Fortunately, there are other endings that are slightly more optimistic.

Further impressions
The wrack is probably the coolest (I don’t mean that as a pun) piece of frozen wasteland I’ve encountered in interactive fiction.

It’s interesting how it (Spoiler - click to show)almost has its own consciousness, tied in with the local ecosystem and (I assume) independent from what we find in the facility. Exploring the wrack for too long can result in you becoming “wrack-touched,” where you gain oracle-like abilities that enhance how you perceive the world. Your body’s biology can even be altered.

The protagonist is surprised to see that the wrack is not devoid of life. Rather, unfamiliar organisms- extremophiles- have appeared, their biology allowing them to thrive in this cold wasteland. I love the concise yet vivid way the writing describes these creatures.

Hydras, polyps, a profusion of tiny invisible life.

This life, however, is absent in the city ruins. We learn, vaguely, that the (Spoiler - click to show)anomaly created in the facility would consume natural ecosystems and produce salt as a waste product. That’s probably the clearest answer we’ll get.

We tend to envision the future as being high-tech, but Saltwrack approaches this differently. It appears that the saltfall and ice age has knocked humanity backwards in technological advancement. Any tech we encounter feels rediscovered. While there is no mention of computers or radio communication, we wear clothing made of synthetic fibers and travel in an experimental machine powered by a motor engine.

Parallels to our world
As is often the case with my reviews, I like to take a detour to explore some broader concepts. Feel free to skip this part. I'll stick it under a spoiler tag to take up less space.

Visuals
Just a basic black screen with white text formatted neatly in the center. Links are underlined and stats are clearly listed at the top. Its lack of frills fits with the game’s grim, no-nonsense atmosphere.

Final thoughts
Saltwreck is an intriguingly desolate work of horror with vivid writing that conveys the bleak, salty expanse of the wrack and the expedition that attempts to cross it. There are a variety of events that can happen during the journey, encouraging many playthroughs.

Over time, the gameplay can start to feel inflexible, but the descriptiveness of the setting and its harsh realities make it difficult to turn away. I enjoyed it immensely.

(And if there’s spiky mold on your rations, don’t eat it.)

As the title suggests, the game takes place at the Human Resources Administration (HRA) in New York City. You are an alien sent on a mission to sign up for SNAP, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as part of your studies on human culture. Disguised as a human, you hope to see how SNAP helps people dealing with food insecurity!

Or at least how it’s supposed to help people.

Gameplay
The game takes place in a waiting room where we follow instructions on applying for SNAP. There are no puzzles. As the player we primarily observe the bureaucracy involved as we navigate a kiosk, dismissive staff, paperwork, and a line of people.

Our protagonist has the ability to “freeze” their surroundings in a temporal bubble of green light, rendering everyone and everything frozen in time. This is done to take notes and make observations before returning to reality.

I want to give this game a higher rating. Its exploration into its subject matter is strong, but as a game it ends too abruptly. The turning point happens after we’ve submitted our paperwork.

Story
Rather than focusing on a plot, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration strives to highlight the bureaucratic inadequacies that hinder obtaining social services such as SNAP. And it does an effective job at this.

For example, if you choose “Sarah Traballano-Williams” as your human name, you discover that the kiosk does not have a key for the dash symbol. A staff member says it’s okay to omit it… only for this to clash with the application process several minutes later.

"Your name in the paperwork says Sarah TraballanoWilliams, one word, and your ID says Sarah Traballano DASH Williams. Your name needs to match."

One small snag that can setback your progress. And what about needing to show a photo ID to apply for a new photo ID because your old one got stolen? This is the reality people face in real life.

The game points out that humans’ need to eat does not get put on hold until you fill out paperwork (again), reenter your info online (hopefully you still have access to a computer and internet connection), and possibly wait three to five business days for such and such to be processed and approved.

And what happens if, “sorry, the system isn't working right now?”

When the system fails, struggling people have to contort themselves and navigate unnecessary obstacles to make up for this failure.

SNAP
What initially drew me to this game was its coverage on SNAP.

I have never experienced food insecurity. However, I became aware of SNAP when I participated in a volunteer/learning program that included the “SNAP Challenge.”

In this challenge, we went to different stores and filled a cart with what we would buy if we were on SNAP. We then compared the hypothetical groceries from each store to see how one’s choices were affected by pricing and item availability. A common question was "do I buy higher quantities of food with lower nutritional value, or do I buy less food- and therefore have less to eat- but with better nutrition?" How would this factor in if you had a family to feed? Or lived in a food desert?

It was eye-opening. And yet, I still have a lot to learn.

Now, I thought that the game would portray some of that. Instead, it’s merely on applying for SNAP. And that suits the game’s purposes just fine. Besides, we end up applying for Cash Assistance instead (since the system isn’t working right, we’re told). I’m just curious at what observations the protagonist would make if they had a chance to purchase food with their newly acquired benefits.

Further discussion
The author, a social worker, offers some powerful takeaways that are discussed at the end of the game. Studies can reduce vulnerable people (such as those dealing with food insecurity) into data points. This quantification distances research from the realities endured by its subjects, and we see fragments of this with the game’s protagonist.

In a way, there’s a systemic suspicion towards individuals who apply for help, a default assumption that you’re trying to exploit the system… until you jump through every hoop to demonstrate otherwise. People need to eat. You don’t need studies to prove that.

If food is central to human existence, why are the machines to get SNAP lacking basic functions such as a working text interface?

Questioning the legitimacy of programs (and committing to them) that help reach the objective of no one going hungry makes little sense.

Characters
Initially, I was expecting a story where an alien finds themselves on Earth and must receive benefits to survive. The game takes a different route by using an alien PC sent to Earth on a mission. They don’t actually experience food insecurity firsthand. I do think the investigative approach of the protagonist’s mission and their status as a being from another world allows us to examine SNAP and its infrastructure with a more neutral, straightforward manner. The player is made more aware of real-world issues.

However, the most compelling aspect of this game is how it considers the protagonist’s actions as being potentially problematic. They choose to participate in these missions because they want to "experience alien cultures directly." They are well-meaning and make the vital observation that for a system that is meant to help people, it is not designed with this objective in mind.

The game also name-drops some of the protagonist’s colleagues, but they have no greater effect on the story.

Visuals
Keeps it simple. It uses the default Twine appearance of a black background, white text, and blue links. Everything is easy to read and neatly spaced.

Final thoughts
I'm glad this game exists. It's an equal blend of light-heartedness and seriousness to convey important ideas about food insecurity and the bureaucracy that gets in the way of addressing it. Plus, the alien character adds flair.

As a social worker, the author brings valuable insight to this game, and I enjoyed their concise yet descriptive writing. They nailed the bathroom scene with its dwindling liquid hand soap and germy hand dryer.

I do wish the game was longer (or at least less linear) and allowed the player’s choices to have a larger impact on the story’s trajectory. That way, we have a chance to see the impact of our choices. And what’s up with (Spoiler - click to show)Skrzyyyyt? The protagonist doesn’t seem to like them.

Nonetheless, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration is well worth your time.