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 22 Sep 2024.

This is a very strange parser game, with a bizarre almost scifi story. I’m still not entirely sure what was happening. I did understand the simple “get coffee!” goal at the start. Though I’m more of a freshly ground coffee person than the character in game who drinks Nespresso made from capsules.

On plus the world is intriguing, and odd, in a way that drags you in, almost in spite of yourself. It gets quite gruesome quite quickly though, and I think heftier content warnings would be appropriate in this case.

On downside it’s extremely under implemented. I had many “You can’t see any such thing” when I tried to interact with objects in the game descriptions. Coding more synonyms for objects would have helped a lot e.g. (Spoiler - click to show)“paper” for what must be referred to as “ticket”. And implementing more of the mentioned objects full stop would be good. It did feel frequently that I was fighting the parser and the game. Against that the text descriptions are perhaps overly long. Some judicious editing may have helped smooth things here.

I also found the clueing inadequate. I was doing without the walkthrough, until I got stuck, not realising that I needed to do something very extreme ((Spoiler - click to show)kill someone). Even when I read the walkthrough and saw that I needed to do that I wasn’t happy about that action. The content warnings - or lack of - hadn’t prepared me for this.

Another area of under implementation is in:

>examine me
As good-looking as ever.

Which without going into detailed spoilers is rather under selling things.

So a game with an interesting premise, and an intriguing world, but it needed much much more polishing. This is probably a case where more playtesting by others would have helped a lot. Because there’s a really nice core idea here. But the playing experience, at the moment, isn’t smooth enough.

Note: This review was written during IFComp 2024, and originally posted in the authors' section of the intfiction forum on 22 Sep 2024.

This is a tightly written crime mystery set in an Antarctic research station. Implemented in Twine, and running over a taut 10 days of investigation.

I liked an awful lot about this. The writing is strong, building a palpable increasing sense of tension as you play. The emotional stakes for solving the crime are high ((Spoiler - click to show)I had terrible fears from the start of the game). And the constantly advancing time, and the knowledge that you only have a tight time limit to work within, was gripping.

There are some neat tricks in the game interface. Just at the point where you start investigating, and the game says you’d better take notes, a notes section appears in the web interface, which updates as you find new information and clues. There is also a handy character list you can refer to.

I did find the running around from location to location a little exasperating. I’d often be looking for a given person, but unless they were in the obvious place I seemed to spend a lot of time going searching. Which, to be fair, maybe represents how it would feel on the spot in this setting. But was a bit frustrating for this player. Though on rechecking a save file I seem to have missed the location schedules for the characters, which are provided in game in (Spoiler - click to show)the notes section. How did I miss those previously?

There are resource management issues to contend with. You need to look after your welfare, but that uses up time and opportunities for further investigations. What to prioritise becomes quite a decision, and can influence later outcomes.

At the end of the ten days - if you last that long - you get a chance to accuse someone of being the murderer. I am moderately astonished that I got this right at first go. Though I had saved just before, so tried reloading after to see what happened if I chose someone else. Even if you accuse correctly, I think the nature of the ending will vary, depending on choices you made earlier. Which is nice.

But yes, a very good game. Highly recommended.

Note: This review was written during IFComp 2024, and originally posted in the authors' section of the intfiction forum on 25 Sep 2024.

That is a lot of capitalisation!

I run my Mac in dark mode. This is a very white screened game, with black text … more awake than I often like to be!

However that aside, this is an evocative short choice-based piece, where you are a ruler, looking after a fantasy kingdom, in the face of oncoming strife.

Initially it took me a while to adapt to the rather over-written text. So many “throng” references in the opening portions! But it does capture the feel of the piece, and helps you get into the mindset of the ruler you are playing.

Prompted by the idealistic impressions at the start I was already questioning the narrator, even before the first main choices, none of which were ones I wanted to make, or thought might have good outcomes! Not least for the workers.

More ornate words appear. Is “postulates” even the right word in the context used? You definitely get the feeling of a ruler with an inflated sense of importance.

Then things really kick off. I was especially struck by the series of quick fire reports that appear on screen at one point. It reminded me of timed text in interactive fiction, but in an opposite way. The effect here was immediate, impactful and built tension, not slowing it as timed text often does for me. I could still click through in my own time, but the impression was almost of a series of slaps to the face of the ruler, as more and more things went wrong, in quick succession.

And throughout this there are still bad choices on offer. There is very much a sense of helplessness. Sadly the later portion of the game has an increasing number of typos, which I did find distracting. I don’t know if these sections were written late on, and not checked so much. But proofreading - especially by others - can be such a help, even in a choice piece.

Then things come to a climax, in a satisfyingly helpless way.

I liked a lot about this. The writing is strong and emotionally effective. The world building is imaginative. And the story moves relentlessly on. Just a shame about the typos.

Totally trivial and shameless point: though I should probably be thinking of Samuel Taylor Coleridge more, or at least the real life Shangdu, the game’s title couldn’t help reminding me of Olivia Newton-John’s Xanadu film which I watched fairly recently.

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 richly implemented parser game, full of NPCs and an incredible number of things to do. You play a valet, dealing with an eccentric employer, and have to contend with the drama that occurs during a fundraising party at his manor.

I just loved this, and laughed so much. It is extremely PG Wodehouse esque. As the valet so much was going on that I needed to deal with, and I was constantly struggling to keep up with everything and what to do next. But I was enchanted.

The game has a very limited parser. THINK to see what tasks you need to do (and yes, this list just grows so long), ATTEND TO X (or just ATTEND X) to attend to things, including picking them up and putting them down, and also helping people (including your employer) with problems and talking to them. And you can additionally use EXAMINE, as well as compass directions to move around.

It was chaos, and so much fun. I’m a very lax parser player in that I very rarely ever consciously map. But in this game that wasn’t a problem for me. I quickly learned where enough of the locations were, and could run around manically otherwise.

The need to run around was compounded by an incredibly tight inventory limit. Which initially I was exasperated by, as I’d constantly need to drop something I desperately needed to get something else I needed both hands for. But then I relaxed, dropped essential things in fairly repeatable places, and enjoyed the sheer bonkersness of it.

I think this game is tight for managing in a two hour play through. There are a phenomenal number of puzzles to solve, including ones that can only be solved after others. Apparently you can’t get into an unwinnable state. But there are an awful lot of things to do. Fortunately the THINK command helps keep you on track. And the author has kindly provided a walkthrough, which is helpful if you get stuck.

The NPCs are numerous, almost too numerous initially. But they settle into their roles, and are well differentiated character wise. They also take on different elements of the barmy plot. Having a large cast helps a lot with that.

The game also introduces a particular game mechanic which is just sheer genius. And I was pleased to see it gets heavily used in later portions of the game.

As for the ending, well I wasn’t surprised by one thing ((Spoiler - click to show)who the thief was). But I adored the absolute ending.

Thoroughly recommended, but expect to have some exasperation at least for a while as you grapple with the inventory limit. And ideally budget for more than two hours to play right through.

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 short Twine piece where you have to figure out what’s going on. And the word “weird” in the genre is highly appropriate. Which drew me in. I like weird things!

On the downside the opening portion is very linear. Lots of clicking to move on to the next text, with no choices at all.

Also the visual emphasis using colour of every “you” in the screen text, e.g. “you” and in “yours” etc. starts to become exasperating after a while. And distracting from reading the text. Because the writing is pretty good, and atmospheric.

However after this opening portion the game opens up, with a world you can explore, and objects and creatures that you can interact with. And I was a lot happier as a player. With light puzzles, working towards an ultimate end point.

It is a very very odd gaming experience. In a good way though. Reminiscent of both Lewis Carroll’s Alice books and their stranger moments. But also of the Dreamlands stories of Lovecraft, and the strange creatures encountered there.

In some ways it feels like a Twine game that might more traditionally be done as a parser game. There are object manipulations and interactions with the physical world that feel more like the parser form than Twine based. However it does work, and this is what the author chose to use.

The ending felt a little anticlimactic, but I liked that it had space to tell its ending. I went back to replay making a few different choices, although the endings were largely similar.

I think I’d like to have had a bit more of the world and its inhabitants to explore. Because the writing was imaginative and strong. But I did enjoy what I played through.

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.