Reviews by tggdan3

This was kind of a cute game. You are a cheater as a character, so as a player you cheat too, you use (Spoiler - click to show) use the debugging commands to get through the game .

Not really worth a lot of playing, and if you don't really program with Inform you won't get very far.

Still, it was a cute idea, and one of the better joke entries I've seen.

So there you are, the hot girl with the car out of gas. And you need to find your way home.

There are apparently several different ways to get home, and deal with certain NPCs, which range from the tame to the raunchy. To be fair, the game doesn't start getting R rated until you make it that way.

The game is well written, and though you might get frustrated with how easy it is to die, that just goes to show why it's dangerous to be alone in the desert all day.

I was really surprised with the level of detail everything got, while still maintaning the very simple task of getting home. Definately NOT like photopia, by the same author, which I had played first.

Worth a playthruogh, and another, and another, as you try to find the multiple ways to get home, and there are plenty of little "easter eggs" to find. Things are well implemented- I don't run into too many situations where the parser had trouble, though carrying capacity is kind of low, it's realistic (you aren't AFGNCAAP, after all!).

PS. I wouldn't reccomend the game to children.

I admit, I read the reviews first. I walked into this knowing that there would be little in the way of interactivity.

I've seen few IF games that are more IF, and less GAME. This is one, and it was done very well. Even switching amongst several POVs, the game ties it up nicely. Unfortunately, I figured out what was going on early, and tried to "defy fate", and found it was impossible.

The subject matter itself was varied. I found myself really interested in the space-travelling character, and found myself laughting at the things I took for granted about the character, only to discover that (Spoiler - click to show) she was an angel, not a human . The "other side" concerning Abbey, I found myself upset about, as the author clearly intended. It is a story that is told time and time again (Spoiler - click to show), the warning against drunk driving , but this one told it so well.

There are no puzzles in this game. The conversation is menu based and pretty straightforward. You can't NOT get through it, since it's more reading and less doing. Still, this is a wonderful attempt to use the medium of IF for storytelling, evolving it past the kleptomaniac adventurer puzzle solving that I see it in so much.

Definately worth a play, I mean read, I mean, definately worth looking at.

Shade is one of those games that is hard to discuss without spoilers. It's a one room game. The game includes your bathroom, kitchen, and apartment proper.

Now at first I thought it was going to be pretty boring, with the sparsely decorated apartment being done a million times before, but the writing is so great it really put me back in my days after college. The little details make the game come alive- the old 386 computer, the pile of papers that represent your life's work of writing that you don't even thing are worth looking through, the shower that isn't working...

Then we come to the game itself, which really rewards you for sticking with it. Your key to the game comes in the form of your to-do list, which changes as you accomplish things on it. (It might not change- just your focus seems to change). As you start mucking about your apartment, little subtle clues are given, though it might not seem relavent at the time- the game deserves a second playthrough.

Finally, the issue becomes distorted, as you realize (Spoiler - click to show) you are in a dream , as things start going awry in your apartment (Spoiler - click to show) as everything starts turning into sand . The writing gets excellent at this point, as you try to figure out what's going on, and finally the realization hits you.

It's definately a mind game, much like the movie Identity or Fight Club.

But the gameplay- it's not really puzzle based, it's go no NPCs to speak of. It's exploratory if anything. You're basically moving through the plot, which makes the game linear, and sometimes difficult, since you aren't always sure what you need to do next. There is no onboard hint system, except checking your to-do list, and that can be very vague at times. Still, you can't get permanently stuck, just frustrated as your key actions seem to be looking at and messing with the mundane issues in your apartment, such as the sink or shower.

This is the game's big shortfall, as the actions are arbitarty. Sometimes sitting on the futon triggers something, sometimes it doesn't. That can get pretty frustrating, but the positives of the game outweigh the negatives, if you're in to the mindscrew type games.

There is one part of the game (Spoiler - click to show) where the helicopter flies by that I wish was more interactive. Once you find out what's going on, it implies that (Spoiler - click to show) the helicoptor may represent your rescuers and it would be nice if you could signal the helicoptor for a different ending. That might wreck the appeal of the game, especially if you accidentially do it on the first playthrough, but it would be nice.

I love this concept- you are an AI, your power failing, who has to make a body to inhabit. There are 2 paths- an organic body and a robot body.

Then there's the problems.

First, guess the verb (and noun) is huge here. There is a drone, and it's clear you need to use the drone to move around, however, "access drone" (or "access [anything]") gives no feedback, just another prompt. (Apparantly you need to "activate" it).

Then so many things are not named as they should be. The room describes "vats" that can only be referred to by their proper names (which you learn by accessing people's computers". The names of objects change as you examine them.

Building the android is tricky, too. "PUT x ON CHASSIS" does not work. You must "FIX x TO CHASSIS". Also, "android" isn't recognized. Some parts of the androids are "hidden", not described at all- the walkthrough implies you can find them, but even with it I was unable to find some objects.

The story is nice, and you can learn a lot about the characters by reading their journal entries, and it really had me feeling for the AI- but when the AI is named "Abe" and the game doesn't understand "ABE" or "AI", you have problems.

I feel I would really like this game, except for the poor implementation. In fact, the game isn't really hard at all, except for trying to figure out how to get the game to understand your commands.

The game is relatively straightforward- you are so lazy that you need to find ways to motivate yourself to get off the couch.

The puzzles are kind of fun, involving getting at things out of reach without getting up (though I wonder if it would have been easier to get up and get them then the puzzle solutions).

The problem with this game is implementation. Your cat, Shay wanders around and is relevant to the game, but the game does not understand "cat". Nor does it understand "mouse" (uses "mousie" instead), nor does it understand "cushion" for the couch. In a dream sequence you can see flying cars and robots but the game tells you that you "see no such thing" if you refer to cars or robots.

If you try to repeat some actions, you are given no response. For example, there is a puzzle involving getting a box that requires a certain action. The first time you do it, great. But if you try to do the action again, you get no reply, just an empty command line. These things need to be corrected.

Other than that, it's a unique and clever idea, finding ways to boost your mood to get you off the couch. For a first time game it's good, but if you were just starting to play IF you could easily be confused when the game tells you you can't see any "cat" when "Shay" is right in the room with you.

Here you are, stuck in your cubicle, alone. You have abandonitus, as you cannot get in contact with anyone in your office. And you can't leave your office. And you have 1/2 hour to go and you're bored. And you need to look around for things to manipulate so that you can accomplish little goals.

Luckily the coffee machine acts as a hint box.

The game is very fun and challenging. It doesn't get too hard, though, since there are hints. The hints themselves almost require some puzzle solving, as they come in the form of a hallucination you have.

The game has some interesting functions, such as folding paper into various origamis, or mimeing to people to far away to hear you.

The puzzles come at you one at a time, and the game rewards you (in the form of easter eggs) for doing standard "ESCAPE THE ROOM" tropes (such as looking underneath things).

The game is very challenging, since the room isn't very well described. Well, it is well described, but not all the available manipulatable objects are easily identified as such. For example, there are 3 cubicles, but you don't know how to refer to them until you say go to cubicle, at which point the game asks you which one you refer to.

The game has some conversation bits that are more like cut-scenes, as your choice of words has no bearing on what happens, and the game overrrides your ability to say your chosen phrase by having you interrupted or saying nothing instead.

Still, I am a fan of these puzzle based games, and I found this very fun, if challenging.

Very rarely do I find a game where the description of the first room blatently displays the company's website in its room description. This is what I have to work with here.

Your goal is to help Cole figure out his forgotten password. He lost it because he was so excited about his company's new products! (As you should be!)

So you wander the office looking for scraps of paper. (He wrote down the password and shredded it and apparently through the pieces around randomly).

You can talk to many employees (the game takes place at the site of the company who made the game). The employees are excited to tell you about what they're working on, but even the administrator can't get into Cole's file.

Things are under-implemented. One person tells you that the password is likely related to Apple or Steve Jobs. Cole does not respond to either topic, especially irritating since it should be relevant. The map is also fairly huge for such a simple task, as you go from office to office and meet each employee and see what they're working on.

The game seems like credits for another game, and perhaps would have made a fun easter egg in some grander product, but as a stand alone, it couldn't keep my interest long enough. The parchment system it used was very slow, and items were dropped around with no reason (a trombone in an office just sitting there). The game is one puzzle stretched out, though I couldn't bring myself to finish it- which is saying something.

The NPCs are one dimensional. Even Cole, who is at his computer and has forgotten his password wants YOU to enter in the password so you can see the exciting products his company has to offer.

This reminds me of the old NES game MC Kids which was one big McDonalds commercial, but at least that was more fun to play.

The game is very simple. It's a flash game that speaks to you in a conversational manner. "Hey, Llama! Welcome to my room. Why don't you look around?" Key words are highlighted in colors to make the text interface easier. The parser is terrible- unlock lock with key, open lock with key, unlock door, unlock lock, open lock, open door etc do not work when you are put up against a door and you have a key.

The game seems more like an introduction to typing and reading for young children then a serious game. If you are used to IF and above the age of 10, you probably won't get much out of this game.

That's how I feel about this game. In it you are a baby. You can't talk. You can't walk. You can't even go to the bathroom on command. (Hence the diaper). Yet you're mind is active- you know the diaper is just the MAN'S way of keeping you down.

The writing is very cute, and the plot puts you in the mind of the child. People don't take you seriously, there are in-game reasons why PUNCH NPC doesn't get you a result. You can only carry a couple of items at a time, the smallest inventory limit I've seen, yet still makes the game fun and make sense.

And you have to be smart to figure out how to get at that toy and make sure the little red head doesn't get at it. Very clever!

The writing is great. The parents have silly conversations with each other, and the descriptions of people are great. Definately a fun game with more thought behind it than you might originally think. Long live Alphadog!