Ratings and Reviews by Vivienne Dunstan

Note: This review was written during IFComp 2024, and originally posted in the authors' section of the intfiction forum on 15 Sep 2024.

This is a charming game where you take a short walk around a park, immersing yourself in the countryside, while looking out for birds and learning about them.

I really like the textual descriptions for the images of the birds and locations. Even with images turned off in the browser (which i tried as a check) it makes the game playable for people who can’t see pictures.

I also liked the in game links to external resources about where you are exploring. All real places, and by following the links you can learn more about them.

Best of all for me was encountering lots of different birds. Extremely different birds from those I’m used to in Scotland. For example an American Robin looks dramatically different from a British Robin. The game teaches you about the birds in the game in a fun yet educational way, while also giving you a relaxing virtual experience out in the countryside.

On the downside the game has issues on smaller screens. I was playing on my laptop, using the downloaded version in my Mac Safari browser, which was fine. My husband - an extremely enthusiastic birder - had tried the game earlier on his iPad mini, but the very large resolution images blew up massively on the screen, meaning that the rest of the user interface was unusable. Another reviewer has mentioned this problem. But it did mean that I knew to use a computer.

That aside I found it a charming and educational experience. I felt as though I had been exploring a new area and spotting and learning about birds. Which was fun.

Note: This review was written during IFComp 2024, and originally posted in the authors' section of the intfiction forum on 12 Sep 2024.

This is a 3-part Twine piece about a series of conversations between a person seeking mental health support and an AI mental health chatbot. Initially the person is the one seeking help, but things take a different turn as the game ensues.

This raised lots of thoughts for me about AI chatbots and whether the chatbot seemed real or not. But also about the appropriateness of such technology in this setting. As someone with a significant mental health diagnosis I can see advantages and disadvantages of such technology. And this game does address the issue of how well things are controlled.

The game - going into bigger spoilers here - also raises the issue of reprogramming the AI chatbot. Which I found concerning on two grounds. Humans can’t be reprogrammed so easily. And I liked the personality of the AI chatbot, and worried how much it would be like itself after reprogramming.

Which is reallly quite an achievement of the author to get me to think like that.

So a thought-provoking piece. Even if I am somewhat alarmed by such use of technology in a mental health setting.

Note: This review was written during IFComp 2024, and originally posted in the authors' section of the intfiction forum on 11 Sep 2024.

This is another ChoiceScript based game from the author of last year’s Bali B&B and the memorable Fine Felines.

It’s a very Harry Potter esque game, where you are a young person going to a magical school. But much darker themed than Harry Potter. There are many new people to meet, mysteries to uncover, and big decisions to make. Will you survive to the end?

I liked a lot about it. There’s even a cat! But I did find the text over lengthy in places. I was playing for about 40 minutes to the end. Under the estimated 90 minutes. I’m a fast reader! And yes, a lot of text in places, especially early on. I also at times found the number of new characters overwhelming to make sense of. Though to be fair that would reflect the real life experience in that setting.

However I felt engaged in my choices. It felt like I was playing a form of a roleplaying game, and getting into character helped me decide what to do in places. And there was very much a sense of tension in key moments.

Not as big a hit for me as the author’s other two games that I mentioned above. But enjoyable, well designed, and a fun experience to play through.

Now for a detective hunt, where Egyptian king/deity Osiris tries to figure out who killed him. I knew who did this according to Egyptian mythology, but approached the game afresh. Though I was willing to deploy that knowledge if necessary!

It’s a fun exploration, where you interact with Egyptian gods and royalty, to try to figure out what happened to you. There are light puzzles to solve, and different locations to go to. And I found it a nice intro to Egyptian mythology.

I liked the ending that I got, but I ran into a big bug with the text display. I use Safari on my Mac, with an effective 1024x665 resolution to make text big. Then I zoom into it in browsers more. After a certain late point ((Spoiler - click to show)when I had challenged Set to be my murderer), the screen would fill with text but be unscrollable, and the next click buttons would be out of reach. I was able to work around it initially by reducing the text size, and also changing the resolution to have more pixels. When that stopped doing enough I found that using save/load would give me a temporary respite, refreshing the display at each load. And that way I was able to play to the end. But it was a pity it finished that way.

But apart from that I enjoyed it a lot. I played for half an hour, exploring most options.

(Note this is a review of the game version available part way through the competition)

This is a fantasy parser game, where you’re a court wizard, and have a number of tasks to complete. It’s an ADRIFT game, so on my Mac I ran it in FrankenDrift.

I liked a lot about this. The task list for the player was a big help, though I missed completing one ((Spoiler - click to show)watering the plant, which to be fair I hadn’t even really registered) on my play through. It’s nice to get a sense of progress as you play. The parser was solid and there were helpful in game hints available if you got stuck. Which I really appreciated when I struggled a bit with the words for one puzzle ((Spoiler - click to show)trying FILL MUG and POUR KETTLE IN MUG before the H hint command suggested POUR INFUSION INTO MUG). The world is richly described, and although you only use a small number of rooms it’s immersive, generally smoothly coded, and your interactions with the various NPCs work well.

But it was just too short for me. I wanted so much more! It felt like the opening teaser for a game, rather than the full thing. Indeed as I was rattling off tasks on the to do list I realised this wasn’t going to take me very long at all. I played well under half an hour, and apart from one lingering puzzle played it to completion and the end of the game. To be fair it’s the latest in a series of games in this world. But give us more to do! I enjoyed playing this character. And expected a much more time heavy game from the hour and a half estimated play time on the competition listing.

This game is coded with Gruescript, so memorably used by Robin Johnson to write Detectiveland which he won IFComp with. As a result this game too is a sort of parser/choice hybrid. At the bottom of the screen you get a status section, showing where you are, exits you can use, objects you can interact with and verbs you can use on them. The main response text of the game appears in the upper part of the window. And neatly there’s an in game map you can show if you want to. And that updates as you play more.

In the game you’re a young child exploring the forest on your own to gather samples and photographs for a school project. And the game is about exploration. But also light puzzles. You find objects that you want to photograph and/or collect for your school project. But equally you find other objects that you can interact with, and puzzles to overcome.

I really liked a lot about this, though I don’t think I played it as deeply as I could have done. At one option I was given the choice of continuing exploring or returning home. I went for the latter. Quite a number of scary things had happened before this, and “child” me wanted to get back to the safety of home! So maybe there’s more out there that I might have uncovered. But I really enjoyed my exploration of the world. And the interface was neat.

Unusually for this author this is a Twine piece, though using word puzzles and limited locations. It also has neat inventory management, and quite a streamlined interface.

However I wasn’t someone who could really understand what was going on. The game is based around spoonerisms. I had to google what that was again. And even then I still didn’t find the word manipulations at all natural.

The game starts “You’ve heard legends of a valuable trail stash 'round these here parts.” Was “trail stash” a spoonerism? Because I don’t know what that is either. Not a great start! Oh and I tried googling it, but that didn’t help.

After that I did a pretty extensive exploration of the branching puzzle tree, picking up objects as I found them, and trying using them in different rooms. This unlocked more parts of the game, and the map pieces I needed to collect to guide me to the treasure. As I got further in matching objects with the locations became easier. Though I’m still sure I wasn’t getting any clues from the spoonerism side of things.

In the end the game ended a little surprisingly. But I did quite like the ending.

But I don’t think this is a natural game for me to be comfortable playing. I have dyslexia type problems and other huge cognitive issues from my progressive neurological disease. So anything based hugely on word play is just a big problem for me.

But it was neatly implemented, and a quick play. I liked the way it marked off locations as you solved them. And if you do like these sort of word puzzles it might click more. Just not for me sadly.

Next up this parser game, which turns out to be a tight time-based puzzler about how to survive a sinking ship, and successfully throw a lot of pirate loot overboard despite the wishes of your pirate Captain and so much else.

I liked a lot about this. The writing is really funny. I also had a lot of “Aha!” moments (e.g. when I realised I could type (Spoiler - click to show)BAIL - yup a bit slow here!). For a one room game it’s remarkably full of detail and content, and so much that is amusing. I had honestly thought I might find the pirate stuff a bit much and overwhelming (!?!), but it was so amusingly written, and the balance of it all is perfect. The anguish of the Captain each time I managed to successfully throw something overboard was just a joy to read.

There were a few things that made the game extra tricky though, trying to find the right command to make the parser understand. For those I ended up having to use the HINT command to figure out exactly what to say. There was some frustration there, including sadly at the very end of the game.

But overall it was a really strong game. I didn’t realise there was another one in the same series (a sequel to this!) written long ago. I need to check that out now too …

Also kudos to the author for including one of my favourite musical instruments in this game. One day I will own my own. Oh yes!

This choice-based piece coded in Ink sees you try to fix your mum’s printer problems, remotely, via video chat. There are lovely graphics throughout accompanying the story, and also showing your mum’s facial reactions as you work through the process.

This was really heart warming. My octogenarian mum has never used a computer and never will. Or a smartphone. So it’s not a situation I’d find myself in. But I instantly felt at home as the player character. You could choose to play it various ways e.g. be abrasive / offhand, or try to be more helpful. I went for the latter option. And I really wanted to solve the problem. Which I managed in the end. Phew!

It was nicely done. I played it through in about 15 minutes, very quickly. The writing was strong, and worked well with the graphics. And the balance between parent-child interaction and problem solving was very nicely done. Thanks to the author!

(Note this is a review of the game version available mid competition)

This parser game sees you as a clown - armed with clown car, bendy balloons and custard pies - trying to beat a mysterious Phantom who is messing up the circus shows.

This was a lot of fun. Full disclosure: I used the walkthrough a bit to speed through some of the puzzles. There are also comprehensive in game hints. And it’s really smoothly coded.

The core part of the game centres around 3 main puzzles, which can be tackled in any order. After that there’s more to play.

The NPCs are neatly written and characterful. Interaction generally works well with them. And there is clever use of a limited number of objects scattered around the circus. One of the big puzzles especially is just sheer genius ((Spoiler - click to show)the goose one).

Nicely done. I do have a soft spot for a comedy themed game. Thanks!