Ratings and Reviews by iaraya

An excellent cosy sci-fi game, albeit one that ended on a sudden note. You play as a lone captain of a spaceship, spending your days tending the ship and browsing the internet. I love atmosphere here, the slow life of an old but well-loved ship, the repetitive daily routine. Especially love the internet pages, glimpses of a society that, despite being in space, feel so human and similar to our own. People are still arguing about the superstition against buying your own first tarot deck!

The incorporation of the occult and tarot in general, but transformed into a more sci-fi lens. The tarot deck that can project card meanings, ritualised electric lighting. It's very cool and I'd love to see more of it.

“I want to see more of it,” is my main comment about this game in general. I like the second half of the game, which had the same great writing and atmosphere as on the ship, but it left me with many questions. We get a lot of tantalising details about the backstory here — the cult (?), the protagonist's relationship with their father, and why they want to leave. I expected more of an explanation, and the way it left off was a bit unsatisfying.

What we do have here is really enjoyable, though — I'll keep an eye on it if it ever gets an update or an expansion.

A really fun puzzle game, one of my favourites from the 2024 IFComp. This is an escape game, of two teenagers escaping the underground bunker they've been raised in.

It's a parser-choice hybrid — you navigate and advance the story through links, but there are points requiring text input (passwords and such). There's areas to explore and revisit at any time, plus inventory. I really like this setup. The navigation felt smooth, the UI clear and understandable. Love the little quality of life touches as well — the ticking off rooms when you've finished with it, the symbols showing locked doors, the station lists on every computer. I didn't even need to take notes!

The puzzles are really fun to figure out, and felt naturally intergrated into the world/narrative. The two protagonists Aiden and Vee are separated early on, a lot of the progression consists of them opening passages for each other, finding hints and passwords for the other to want to use etc. At any point you have multiple avenues of investigation and areas to explore, which combined with the quality of life stuff made the game feel quite smooth. Aiden and Vee can contact each other and their exchanges act as a diagetic hint system, which I appreciated.