Ratings and Reviews by LoquySSS46

First, I would like to acknowledge what genuinely interesting things the game had going for it: Descriptive quality prose, a somewhat immersive atmosphere and a very fun and neatly designed walkthrough! A well, I did enjoy some its themes and the puzzles fit nicely in that regard. Otherwise, my first gripe with it is that the entry's introduction on the comp site is hardly related to the game itself. Although it was a nice attempt at giving the game a "meta" context, not much if anything at all in the game in itself tied back to or gave such an introduction any meaning, which made it feel a bit superfluous. As well, the puzzles didn't really work for me, unfortunately. I felt that they were just all a bit "fetched"; Even though they seem logical in retrospect, I just find that they either quite easy or much too specific.

This was not bad at all! I first want to highlight how interesting and clever the simple implementation of interactivity the author used to convey the inner struggles of the main protagonist(s?), which lives with something akin to borderline personality disorder, in real-time. Specifically, how some words are clickable and bring you to a page of dialogue occurring between Jan and Maria as they react to what is happening around them. Otherwise, it still remains a rather simplistic story, but I quite enjoyed this as a short story (in the sense of the literary genre). That being said, it's ending also left me wanting more and felt a bit sudden, so I do have certain issues with its pacing a little bit. To note, I felt slightly confused at times about who was talking between Maria and Jan, though I think that was kind of the author's intention, so that was neat!

That was quite charming! Though not quite at the level of Eikas, it was rather reminiscent of it, in a sense, stylistically. For instance, I appreciated the quality of each character's writing, and the entire structure of the game's lore, atmosphere and gameplay was sown with remarkable coherence. Of course, I wasn't left with a profound emotional impression, which is why I didn't rate this higher, but I don't hold it against the game as I don't quite think it is the author's intentions. It very skillfully achieved what it set out to do in an entertaining and mature manner: To take on a simplistic journey of peace and healing

It was cool in certain of its implementations of gambling, of music and display, of having two words that flickered between each other where both fit (e.g., referring to the Dealer as both the "Thing" and a "person") and the whole file repors as storytelling tools. It also effectively set an atmosphere of horror and dread that the , so I think I have to acknowledge the author's ability for immersive and atmospheric storytelling. That said, I can't bring myself to rate this any hire because I didn't enjoy this, as much as I would have wanted to. I came in expecting psychological horror, and I got what I wanted, but things were taken a bit too "gorey" to taste. And sometimes I felt like I was waiting for the author to get a point across and not always getting the revelatory pay-off that the game's mystery was foretelling.

I want to preface this by mentioning that I'd been wanting to rate one of the author's entries on IFComp for two years now, since their first entry! I had played after the end of the competition and was quite pleased by the style of IF, which is quite idiosyncratic and very fun! Though my hunger for humourous wordplay was thoroughly satiated, I must say this was unfortunately not as good as its predecessor from two years ago "Why Pout?". While I appreciated the addition of the graphics, I felt that some of the puzzles weren't very clearly indicated and I had to roam around the rooms quite a few times wondering what was left to do before realising, for instance, that I was suppose to find the solution in a room's name, somehow (that said, I quite liked the hint system of "THINK" and the Face Tats). Perhaps it is the novelty effect wearing off, but I'm still quite glad I played it and would highly recommend Andrew Schultz's games to any IF enthusiast, as the quality of their work never fails!

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! I had kept my eye out for LampPostProjects, as many of this author's entries have featured in the top 10 of previous IFComps, of which I didn't get the chance to play or evaluate (especially with I think 2 or 3 separate entries making the top 10), and they did not disappoint! The game made great use of its magic-centric gameplay mechanics to quite artfully support the narrative premise, itself written in thoughtful prose, behind regaining lost memories gradually by revisiting certain locations and examining certain items once other memories have been retrieved! The ending was also well done with its split regarding you end up deciding to write once the everything is revealed to us. The ending also that the self (in the magical universe) is comprised of four facets, with the four actors we encounter being their respective physical embodiment: Self-image/identity (the woman), emotions/passion (the chimera), relationships (the couple) and ambition (Napoleon). Brilliant!

That said, I did feel that, at times, a few of your actions as well as a small handful of the puzzles felt a bit disjoined (namely, the horse/Napoleon ones did not make much sense to me). I think this is mainly what prevents me from giving it a perfect score (though I do laud it for being darn near such a rating)!

This was neat and, as a musician myself, I appreciated the topic and themes discussed. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like many of my actions nor reflections brought up throughout the ordeal really gave as much meaning to it as I much as I had hoped. On one hand, I was pulled by the notion of what music can mean to and provide you when it comes in your life at the right time; indeed, at a moment's notice, you may gush over certains songs and have them consume your every thought, for them to soon fade into subconscious appreciation or indifference at time's whim. On the other hand, None of your actions impact much of the story and I didn't feel like this slice of life had much direction or momentum going for it. I just wished the author had explored that more deeply, as the experience felt quite limited!

For the most part, I enjoyed this. However, my main gripe with this entry I feel is that its format of having dialogue interspersed in between your actions a bit annoying to read through. Albeit it makes perfect logical sense for the ongoing nature of a conversation to line up alongside your actions through time, I just felt that it made things clunky and hurt the game's pacing more than anything else, as I had to constantly flip between puzzle-solving and reading endless and sometimes "filler" dialogue. That said, I was able to appreciate the setting and the narrative colours in spite of that, granted some ideas for the characters' secret identities felt a bit underexplored, and the central mechanic of having to figure out how to distract the butler using the different crew members skills was well done!

First off, I am thoroughly impressed by this entry!! Though I find the implementation of the parser as a simili-Choice-based format a bit finicky at times and a bit frustrating as I felt that it slowed me down occasionally, I think it was rather effective at streamlining some of the experience. For instance, it lays out everything you can examine more saliently, which gives the reader the brain room for actual puzzle-solving as opposed to sheer memorisation. The missions were all quite compelling as well as the whole purpose for the adventure reeling you in. I absolutely loved the historical setting that made the whole universe very grounded and immersive, along with the pacing and the puzzle difficulty landing just right for me to get sucked in for far more than two hours straight. The impressive ASCII visuals were also quite nice to have without giving up too much information (as minimaps tend to do in a lot of games). Notably, I especially appreciated the subtle differences in the characters' designs that genuinely made them distinct from one another and added to their charm. All in all, the author crafted this quite masterfully.

That was loads of fun, especially on the very night of Halloween! The author truly succeeded in depicting the atmosphere a kid perceived when going around a neighbourhood trick-or-treating, and reminds us all of the magic that can take place when adults actually buy into these holidays for themselves and for the kids; we all need to stay young at heart. This brought back a lot of great memories! :^) Happy Halloween

First of all, this was beautifully written! I was humbled by the sheer vividness of the descriptions and the depth of its vocabulary, which is notably something I quite admire in Lovecraft's writings (which are quite obviously a source of inspiration to this piece of IF. Indeed, the game succeeded at its primary task: Filling me with dread and engrossing me in its post-post-apocalyptic atmosphere. I've only played through it once, and it took me about two hours, so I have no idea which parts of the game are linearly scripted and whether or not there truly are multiple endings, but I still felt like I was given a sense of agency and my decisions impactful. In any case, I have two specific points to bring up. Firstly, it felt somewhat strange that the game sort of suddenly brings up your dead colleague again, and the sorrow and anguish you feel for their death and how it affects your sanity, your morale, so much only after you reach the objective. It was an issue right after their death, but I was surprised by how much it was mentioned after the vanishing point. Finally, I appreciate, though, how, at the end, the description of the community’s reaction and your rise to fame for your success is also scattered with short descriptions of how you are still very much tormented by what you witnessed at the objective. I might enjoy this so much because of my bias toward Anchorhead, but so be it!

Easily deserving at least a 9/10 in IFComp metrics, it VERY strongly executed its plot. Though fairly easy relative to the level I'm more used to with IF, the puzzles and riddles provided just the right amount of challenge to be rewarding (and sometimes quite humorous) and not hamper the flow of the plot and worldbuilding in any way! It really felt immersive with how everything seemed to happen at the same time (namely your tasks and the narrative intrigue springing up quite dynamically). As well, everything was very well thought out and meticulously planned with foreshadowing and hints that were very well integrated into the text itself! (Spoiler - click to show)I especially liked how you needing to write "quit", a common command in IF, to stop using the compass made it extremely natural for the player to quit their job as valet at the end after fiddling with the complass for the last time.

I thoroughly enjoyed; It was right up my alley with the likes of Zork. In contrast with its predecessor, however, narrative elements, aside from the obviously "plot-heavy" prologue, are even sprinkled here and there throughout your exploration of the site, itself pleasantly interlaced with decent atmospheric descriptions that sucks you in. The game also offers a great sense of purpose and has quite the enjoyable personality.
One thing I will lament is that, given the short nature of this game, I felt that the very abrupt ending leaves the player out to dry, with no satisfactory resolution and leaving several elements and objects unexplained. The latter rings particularly true in regard to the glowing sphere and the relic-glasses, which were not explained and hardly used, if at all. At once, there was an intriguing battle mechanic only used for a single short-lived occasion. Still fun, though, and deserves to be elaborated upon!

This game finally opened my eyes to what Twine IF is all about. Until now, I had mostly ignored anything not parser-based as it just didn't seem like my cup of tea or didn't feel as interactive as I would like. However, this game just stepped it up to a whole new level! It finds a way to make you thoroughly and wholeheartedly invested in the wellbeing of the community and its members. Indeed, as you get to know and befriend a few, you quickly get quite attached to them and yearn to learn more about their life stories, which are given out very naturally and charmingly whilst exploring different facets of identity and grief. YET, it's ALSO a friggin' cooking game, and it's a blast making up and planning out different meal combinations for each community supper and exploring all the small things to do. The game itself was somewhat easy and I only managed to finish the last side character's story line in the nick of time before the end of the game. It was just marvelous all throughout and made me stay up 'til almost 3am! Truly, the endearing way everything is presented makes you grow very fond of it all!

Very enjoyable! The way it tells the different family members' stories and how it lays out the structure of the family tree are really interesting! It really managed to make the characters actually feel human and bring you vivid and relatable images easily found in the real world! I have to admit that some of the writing was perhaps a touch too nebulous for it to really flow like it could've and I was left perplexed about what the situation actually was at a few instances, but nothing too severe, honestly.

The setting was well implemented and lively. Characters made sense and felt natural; I especially liked the fact that characters sometimes randomly tell you pointless information just to make conversation and make you feel like you are actually well acquainted with your colleagues where they are just able to talk to you like that. What was also really interesting was that they included a whole (though small) separate area to give hints when you type "HELP". I will have to emit a small caveat for this game, though: I found that the final puzzle (which was extremely big and very elaborate) was a bit too ambitious in its scale... Maybe I didn't take the time to slow things down, reflect, and write everything and all the clues down, but I do feel like it was too finicky to be considered a fair puzzle (I had to consult the walkthrough too often to my liking, it was frustrating). That said, it was a very rewarding one and I very much enjoyed the hints and foreshadowing proffered by the game!!

As you mourn the loss of a family member, you are left to collect a number of their art collection, as per their will. Left with this difficult and emotional choice, you will relive the spent with them, sharing their passion for painting, and figuring out what it means to you. What they meant to you.

The game touches on and explores, through the lens of art, very real and personally relevant subjects for me such as grief, specifically through the loss of a loved one, one's personal struggle with choosing a career in art or not, the meaning of memory (and the meaning of art in life), and much more. I also greatly appreciated the unique gameplay which was central in the concluding portion (when you paint the last canvas) when "combining" all seven paintings.

All that being said, I was still left frustrated by the fact that the memories conjured by each painting you selected were NOT tied to a specific painting... I felt that this undermined the significance of the paintings themselves. The memories still somewhat lined up with the paintings' descriptions, for the most part, but I really would have preferred if it had given a specific memory/meaning to each artwork. Regardless, I would recommend it!

Very esoteric (and sometimes flat out weird), but cleverly designed! I liked the way it played around with colours and pronouns to take on an enigmatic and slightly puzzling taint (pun intended). Its weirdness, in a way, reflected the strangeness surrounding humans' search for meaning and identity (in other words, this was absurd art well done), especially by sticking labels on everyone and everything. The world was small and the puzzles were somewhat straightforward but, interestingly enough, I wasn't left wanting more from them, nor from the (few) characters, map, etc. I tried comparing how this IF made me feel to one of similar calibre, *Focal Shift*, and concluded that this one feels like it ends on a significantly more satisfactory and final note.

This was rather pleasant and I suppose plucked on my heart strings, since camping is one my family's traditions of which I am particularly fond and nostalgic. As for the game itself, I find this was simplicity done the right way! The way the prologue (whilst waiting to leave work) is set up pays off really nicely into the simple yet curious choices you are asked to make regarding what things you will pack and what activities you will do. 🙂 The descriptions were short yet thoughtful, and it's just made me ache for nature once again, as I find myself getting lost in all this constant, droning technology!!