Reviews by Vivienne Dunstan

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!

This parser game sees you as a barbarian king, try to avenge the loss of a friend, and defeat an evil enemy.

This was really something special. The implementation isn’t flawless, but the way that it uses a special gameplay command to change the narrative - without going into spoilers any more about this! - is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a piece of IF before. Initially I was a bit puzzled about what to do at a certain point, then went “aha!” and carried on. And it was enormous fun. I played right through to the end, in about an hour.

Because you are a barbarian you have special commands like SMITE and LOOT. That reduced verb set worked well. But I was most wowed with the world building, the playing with the narrative (which I want to talk so much about, but am trying to stay spoiler free), the use of locations, and the writing of various NPCs.

There’s no detailed walkthrough included with the game itself, but if you get stuck HINT will be a big help. Though at a key point you still have to figure out what to do for yourself.

Yup, that was good! Oh and there’s a story mode you can turn on to step through the game at any point if you get very stuck. I didn’t turn it on though, and enjoyed solving for myself.

This is a choose your own adventure piece exploring the experience of having a psychotic episode (or more than one …) and how you might deal with it. It’s presented as a PDF with active clickable links. Or it can be printed out and read that way.

It definitely made me think about things in a new way. Each time you experience a psychotic episode in the game it feels like an escalating situation, despite much that you try, where the panic is visceral, and it’s not clear what to do. Ultimately time and experience gives the player perspective, and I was eventually able to break out of the loop and get a better ending. Though I’m very unsure how representative that is of real life generally. I’d also have felt more comfortable if the game’s information was coming from a mental health professional (apologies to the author if I am mis-representing you here).

It’s a quick read anyway, and worth your time, either in the PDF version or printed. And it’s likely to make you want to read more about how you might help someone in this situation. Thanks to the author, and to artist Gina Fringante, whose drawings in the PDF were delightful, and really captured the mood.

This is an atmospheric horror parser game, where you play a film actress, and end up caught in a bizarre series of events in 1970s Venice. If you’ve seen the film Don’t Look Now it absolutely has the feel of that. And the terror is real. Especially for me as a woman playing. Yet it was still an appealing world that I felt happy to be immersed in, as much as I didn’t want bad things to happen. Venice is one of my favourite places in the world. We go there in the depths of winter, when it’s so spooky. And quiet.

Where the game falls down is in the implementation. Timing is critical in many scenes, so it’s a special problem if you run into fight the parser problems. So many logical alternative commands are not supported. It makes it less smooth to play than it should be. There are also quite a lot more typos than I expected. I wonder if the game writing time was a bit tighter than the author might like. More playtesting could definitely have helped.

However it was a very atmospheric game. It captured much of the Venice I recognise. And I enjoyed playing. I just wish the implementation had been a bit smoother.

This Twine piece sees you stranded in the wilderness of Africa, threatened by lions, and recounting time rescuing a young lion cub. I don’t know if there is a “good” ending to be got. I couldn’t get out of a loop in the game, which I’m not sure was intentional. (Spoiler - click to show)I’d released the lion, and seemed to get the car started, and it looked like an ending. But then after clicking on “You manage to get the car started again, and drive on.” it restarted again. Maybe it was meant to loop like that? I was honestly puzzled. But I did enjoy looking after the young lion cub that I rescued. I spent ages picking a name for it ((Spoiler - click to show)Pawamba!). Or (Spoiler - click to show)imagined I rescued it, because the game seems almost hallucinatory.

This ChoiceScript piece is a simulation of a cooking competition, that’s seriously inspired by Lord of the Rings, but is slightly twisted sideways. So eg you have a fellow competitor called Sour Ron, you can play Froyo with life partner Samfool, and so on. The writing is really funny, and I enjoyed playing through, including picking which mix of ingredients to go, and how to balance cooking and interaction with fellow competitors.

However the balance between volume of text early on and interaction wasn’t good for me. There was far too much of essentially reading masses, then clicking “next” or equivalent. Then repeat. There are significant choices to make later, but early on was a bit much. And even when I replayed - which I wanted to do - and played quickly, and was able to skip the intro (thanks authors!) there was still an awful lot of early text to wade through.

So I don’t think the balance was quite right. But it was very funny, and I enjoyed it. It definitely merits replaying. It will work best for people who know Lord of the Rings (either book or film versions) and also competitions like Great British Bake Off. I just wish the balance had been tweaked a bit more.

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

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run this parser game. The competition listing gives no clues re interpreters etc. The game file is AGT format. But luckily Gargoyle and Spatterlight on my Mac will run it. Gargoyle coped best with visual layout, so I used that.

This is a very short game, nowhere near the hour and a half playtime suggested on the competition site listing. You have to gather a set of ingredients to cook with, and that’s it. They’re not hard to get, and it’s nice to get to the end. I would like to see the game finished. This is very much just a taster - an “amuse bouche”! - for the planned full story.

However the game is plagued by unimplemented objects that are referred to in the description. And that makes it quite frustrating to play. For example in my second location as I started to play I had this experience:

> w

My bedroom
My bedroom, with its large, welcoming double-bed (welcoming not only
for me, that is...) is against the west wall, and a round table is in the
centre. Two doors lead east back to my lab and west to the backyard,
and stairs lead down to my closet.

> examine bed
I don’t understand the word ‘bed’ as a noun.

> examine table
I don’t understand the word ‘table’ as a noun.
The same thing applies elsewhere, far too often. For the author please implement objects like this. Even if they aren’t necessary to complete a game on a simple run through some players will try interacting with them. And it breaks the player immersion when you can’t.

In another location I had a similar problem:

Garden
The garden, which is also the common green, is not only where the
zarnest trees are, it is where the people relax; there are many benches. I
can only return south to the upper plaza.

> examine benches
I don’t understand the word ‘benches’ as a noun.

> sit
I don’t understand ‘sit’ as a verb.
Fair enough maybe that it didn’t understand SIT, though can it be added in game? But the benches are right there, and I’d maybe like to do something with them.

There’s a more serious problem with one object that you need to do something to after you get it. I’m going to put this in spoiler text. (Spoiler - click to show)You have to soak the yardvine in water in the pond. I tried SOAK YARDVINE, PUT YARDVINE IN POND (or WATER) [either gets response “I can’t move the blue yardvine.”] and DROP YARDVINE. No good. Only THROW YARDVINE seems to work, which to be fair is in the walkthrough, but wasn’t intuitive.

The fantasy world setting is intriguing, and I was happy exploring it. The author is clearly putting effort into developing the ideas behind it. But constantly being unable to interact more with elements was very frustrating. Please, please in the full version of this game flesh out the objects in locations more. People will try EXAMINE X where X is lots of different things. And if you can support this it can make for a much better player experience.

So yup, folks may be like me initially thinking they can’t run the game, but very possibly can. It’s a short, simple game. But needs a much fuller implementation. And I don’t think that’s a problem of the Magx system, but just more author coding that was needed.

This Texture piece sees you as rather a jaded musician who’s got secrets and finds that things are catching up with you as you go to make another performance.

I liked the core setup, and what you uncover about your past. But it didn’t feel as though I was in control enough, or had enough agency. There’s one particular point where you are offered two choices, and I wanted to choose one, but the game wouldn’t let me make that choice, even as I try dragging the verb word over the highlighted noun. It just wouldn’t register that option. I’m assuming this is a deliberate choice by the author, to force you to take the other approach instead. But it was frustrating.

Shortly after that section you have a two-way choice, one of which leads to a sudden game end, where you need to restart and replay to try again if you want to. The other choice leads to a slightly longer bit, but then ends abruptly with “To Be Continued”. Which felt like a very abrupt ending, and felt too unfinished.

So problems with choice/agency, and a feeling of being unfinished. I think this could be smoothed with more work. There’s a good idea there, but it’s not polished enough.

Also minor-ish point, but every time the game referred to “crewmember” (or “crewmembers”) I kept wishing it was two words with a space.

This is a warm-hearted ChoiceScript coded simulator where you have to temporarily run your grandparents’ B&B in Indonesia, and get through a week of surprises that pop up in the process.

I liked a lot about this. The writing is strong, and I felt immersed in the game world, and also the culture that it was depicting. I don’t know if this is at all autobiographical, but the tale of an Australian grandchild negotiating their relationship with their Balinese roots and grandparents was nicely handled.

There are a lot of choices to make in the game, and I felt in control. Albeit with a lot of jeopardy to contend with. And yes there were cats - thank you again to the author for another year of cat content! The animals in the game were all well written. But so were the humans, and you have to negotiate your way through lots of interactions, not least with the B&B’s guests.

I was relieved to make it to the end of the week in just about one piece, and very much enjoyed the experience. I now want to read more about Balinese culture and society. So that’s good.

(Note: this review was based on the mid competition version of the game. Some issues it refers to may have been since ironed out in the latest release.)

Ok my longest game played yet in the competition. This is an old style parser game, that’s a direct sequel to Infocom’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game, which I know well. I’m not sure how well this game would work for people unfamiliar with the Hitchhiker’s universe, but would be interested to hear!

I played for two hours and nearly got to the end, but ran into a bug with an object that kept disappearing ((Spoiler - click to show)the heatproof tray has a horrible habit of disappearing at times after you’ve got it) so couldn’t finish it. The game has some bugs, over and above it being traditional old style. To be fair it would be an almighty task for playtesters to work through thoroughly! And I do admire how so much has been coded by a modern author in ZIL.

However ... I was wowed by the imagination, and the use of Hitchhiker’s locations, and characters, and jokes. And I just had a very happy two hours of play time. Again I’m not sure how well this would work for someone unfamiliar with the Hitchhiker’s world. But this Hitchhiker’s fan was very happy. I also liked the hub like structure based on a classic Infocom puzzle, which was rather forgiving, albeit with so many more spokes than in the original Infocom game that sometimes it could take you a while to get to where you might need to go next, and you could be cycling through a lot.

The game has a comprehensive walkthrough which I peeked at at times, especially one place where I was ridiculously stuck ((Spoiler - click to show)the philosophical word), but wanted to play on. And in game hints, which are appreciated. You also have the Guide that you can look things up in mid game, which is a lot of fun, and like Infocom’s game.

I’d like to see a polished version of the game produced in future that irons out some of the bugs and also adds a little better object handling re disambiguation. But this is very good.

(Note: this review was based on the mid competition version of the game. Some issues it refers to may have been since ironed out in the latest release.)

This is a rather wacky Twine choice piece, where you set out on a daring mission to recover lots of puppet figures, before the studio where they were used to make programmes is destroyed. Note I played for about an hour (there’s no time guide on the competition website), including replaying a view bits from saved files.

I liked a lot about this. You are on an abondoned studio lot, split into four sections, and you have to explore each one, including figuring out how to gain access, while dodging scary monsters that are after you. It was really quite spooky. The author in the notes at the start describes it as a bit like Pac-man in these bits. Though to be honest it felt more like Hunt the Wumpus (or rather Avoid the Wumpus!), very IF appropriate.

Your goal is to collect and save as many puppet characters as possible. Each one when you put your hand in it to rescue it responds with a unique character. It was quite hard to put the puppets down safely in the getaway van for safety. The puppets can help you in situations, but carrying a puppet near the monster is risky. I took a pretty low risk strategy of whisking them to safety as soon as possible. And saving a lot.

I didn’t manage to rescue all the puppets, especially in the last quarter segment of the game, where I couldn’t get past a puzzle ((Spoiler - click to show)getting the light on in the final setting). I also seemed to run into a bug mid game - but not a killer one.

But otherwise I really enjoyed this. I also liked the nicely written epilogue (note: I didn’t see some stuff other reviewers mentioned, but I don’t think I unlocked the relevant part of the game i.e. (Spoiler - click to show)didn’t rescue the relevant puppet). I feel as though I’ve had a real adventure, high stakes, and did good. Thanks to the author.

(Note: this review was based on the mid competition version of the game. Some issues it refers to may have been since ironed out in the latest release.)

This is a really creative parser game, clearly IKEA inspired, that sees you fight dangerous foes with only the power of flat pack furniture. It’s a very amusing concept and largely well realised. If you’re flat pack phobic avoid this game, but for everyone else it is a lot of fun, with some neat puzzles.

However there are some downsides for me. Early on you see quite a lot of items of flat pack furniture, with their descriptions. I did not take proper notes at this point, and you need to remember what the names represent visually later. Take notes folks!

The other downside is there were some disambiguation issues, not least between flat pack assembly instruction booklets and the flat pack items. I had a particularly difficult time at one point trying to physically manage the parts of a flat pack item.

The game is also lacking other characters largely, apart from some rather anonymous ones. And that’s a slight shame. Though there are plenty of flat pack items to interact with.

The ending also feels a bit abrupt. It has a big build up, but then, well, it’s over in a flash. As a player I’d have appreciated some kind of epilogue, or notes on amusing things to try, or author notes. Something for me to decompress with.

In a nutshell this a great game, but one that could have been made a little smoother to play. But a really neat concept, and entertaining. Thank you.

This is a really thought-provoking Twine piece about speech impediments and specifically stuttering. It puts you in the shoes of a chronic stutterer, trying to get through a busy day, and experiencing lots of problems as a result.

First of all I need to address the timed text issue. It’s used throughout. Timed text is a bit of a nemesis for me. I read really fast, and hate waiting for text to slowly appear on screen. However given some of this timed text was capturing someone struggling to speak and get sounds out I feel guilty for saying I didn’t like it. In fact I think that particular use of it was fine, and appropriate. I just wish that the rest of the game’s text e.g. the descriptive sections in between hadn’t been often timed/slow too. Let people who want to read those quickly.

The story is a mix of the current busy day and flashbacks to younger you. Initially there aren’t many real choices, but later they are more numerous and significant.

Colour coding is used to indicate how approachable different things you might say are. The default colours could have problems for colour blind people. Fortunately there’s a setting at the start of the game that can switch them to a better palette. Though this is still likely to be problematic for someone who can’t actually see any colours. At first I thought showing the colours before you make a choice was revealing too much too early. But then a chronic stutterer probably has a good idea of which phrases might come out most successfully.

Overall I found this really evocative, leaving me with lots of thoughts and a better understanding for what someone in this position experiences. I wonder if it was semi autobiographical. It definitely felt as though the author knew what they were writing about, and communicated the feelings of the stutterer so well.

This is a comedy parser game of a pact with the Devil, written very much in the style of Hammer horror movies of the past.

This was enormous fun. The game is well implemented, both parser responses and rich objects and locations you can interact with. There’s a helpful grimoire to look things up in, and the conversations - including with the Devil - were coded well.

The puzzles are generally pretty easy, but if you get stuck there are built in hints (which work well) and also a walkthrough.

The game isn’t very long, but feels very rich - like having a big dark chocolate cake or something (hey, I’m veering onto food reviews!). I liked that very much.

This Twine piece sees you reliving the same Valentine’s Day over and over again, repeating the time you find your partner has left you, and trying to change things.

I’m going to be honest and say that I wasn’t sure what was happening. For example was this in the player’s mind as they repeated, or a literal time loop, or a mix of the two. I’d favour the former, and it being a case of coming to terms with their life.

I certainly found most peace in the game as I engaged more with the world around me, rather than rushing home to get there in time. The little vignettes of life that you encounter around were fascinating, and intriguing how they altered between loops.

One thing I found frustrating was how you would often only see part of a message from the partner who leaves. That message also changes. The incomplete picture made it hard for me to understand them, and what had happened. it felt like a selfish view of the world from the player’s perspective. Which of course everything boils down to in the end. But for a game where loss of another person is so fundamental I felt that person was too far out of reach, not defined well enough. Equally though that was also rather poetic, as the player struggles to attain a new sense of self.

So yup, not quite sure what was happening. I often miss allusions and metaphors, and benefit from things being spelled out plainly. But the writing was otherwise strong, and I found it quite a moving piece. Though something was still just frustratingly out of reach.

This is a tight hostage negotiation choice piece written in Ink.

First thoughts are there’s a lot more text than for the estimated 15 minutes or less play time. I read very quickly, and estimate the play time as at least double that, possibly up to an hour. However the text is well written, and gripping, and well worth reading.

Next thought: I’d make a rubbish hostage negotiator in real life! I’m sure there’s a good ending or two to find in here somewhere. But safe to say I didn’t find one, despite replaying several times. However the fact that I wanted to replay shows how well written it is. And how rubbish I am at the set task!

A good - if extremely hard to win - piece, but definitely budget for a significantly longer play time than stated on the competition site. And don’t be surprised if things don’t go well.

This Texture piece sees you fall through a long fall, encounter other characters, and reflect on your life.

It’s an atmospheric setting, but often I was frustrated with the lack of control re what I could do. For example at one point there’s another character who appears, but I wasn’t given the chance to interact with them at all, and could only think about stuff. I wish the story and interaction possibilities had been fleshed out more. There were so many other things it could have responded to.

Ultimately the story seems fixed in its destination, it’s just a matter of how you get there. Though as reading I was thinking more of it as a metaphor for life in general, which was an interesting thought. Thanks to the author for conjuring that for me.

This is a Texture piece, where you’re an aged sculptor, near the end of life, wanting to craft one last superb sculpture.

The story is quite linear, but gives the player options of how to proceed along the way. For example they may choose to reflect on the past, or focus more on their art, or a mix of the two. There are some nice interactions with other characters, though again I felt as though these were a little too predetermined.

Ultimately the story boils down to one key choice. I played twice, to see both ending options. I preferred the first one that I got.

So a promising piece, but I felt a little too forced down certain routes. I did like the feeling of creation, of being an artist at work. I did feel as though as I was taking part in that process. Albeit with a generous serving of melancholy along the way too.

A parser “horredy” - well that sounds fun! Note I played this offline in Lectrote with my preferred gigantic font.

It’s a Lovecraftian inspired horror, where you’re a captain of a fishing vessel, start off by just wanting something to eat, and then things get more problematic. And some very disturbing - albeit comedic - imagery kicks in in places as the game goes on!

I liked a lot about this. The writing is snappy and funny, and has the right balance between user interaction and length of text. I loved the way the player gets awarded achievements ((Spoiler - click to show)I got 8/27 of them - really curious about the other 19!), in addition to scoring points. The achievements are an extra incentive to keep playing.

I do think the game and puzzles are a bit unevenly balanced. There’s an awful lot of running around between locations and levels early on, which feels unrealistic. And then at the very end there’s a puzzle ((Spoiler - click to show)the sake / safe / combination code) which I don’t think is adequately clued at all ((Spoiler - click to show)I only found one place the code might be - far down the ladder. Where are the others?). However I was happy to go to the walkthrough for that bit. I just think the whole now do X, without any extra clueing, even chatting to the obvious NPC, needed a bit more smoothing for the player.

However that aside I liked a lot about this. It definitely lives up to the “horredy” tag. So well done to the author. Oh and thanks for some of the after game stuff. Though as a suggestion maybe list all the amusing things to try in one go, rather than individually.

This is a Twine piece, where you play a teddy bear I think (EDIT: correction, no, it’s a toy hare), and have to save your person from a very dangerous situation. It is translated from Russian.

The storytelling is imaginative and apocalyptic, and inspired by the current war. Kudos to the author for the end of game comment on that.

However as a game with locations and objects and puzzles, I couldn’t help feeling that it might have worked better as a parser game e.g. in Inform or TADS or something. Or that the choice interface could have been streamlined to be more user friendly.

The problem with the interface is that the ways in which you can interact with objects require a lot of digging down through the choices. Typically in a location, even one you’ve visited before, you will have to “look around” to find the objects you can interact with. Or you need to choose something from the “inventory” section, which lets you operate your front and hind paws, and offers different choices within it over time.

This all meant that I felt I was having to dig down through the user interface hierarchy far more frequently than I wanted to. And it also rather concealed the options available.

However as a game with light puzzles - and forgiving to the player - I liked the storytelling. As the stuffed toy you explore an increasingly scary world, and I genuinely felt the scares.

The translation from Russian is a little rough in places, and could have benefited from more read throughs from native English speakers. But the writing is charming, and the characterisation of the player character and how they feel about their person is moving. The artwork is also very atmospheric.

I’d like to see more from the anonymous author, but maybe rework the interface a bit so there’s less repeated digging down needed by the player?

And thanks again for that powerful end comment. The game itself is a powerful reflection on current events. Thank you. The feelings this raised will stick with me for a long time after.

Going into this, and apart from it being about Socrates and his wife I’m happily clueless. I did a joint honours classical studies and history bachelors degree. But far more emphasis on the Roman side than the Greeks, apart from lots on Homer and Troy. So yup, pretty clueless. It’s an Ink piece. Note I don’t usually go for romance pieces, but intrigued to see what this author does with it.

It’s definitely not something for people troubled by sex references. Content warnings absolutely apply. It is quite explicit in places. But I enjoyed the exploration of a couple’s relationship in a fateful meeting, mixed with bigger philosophical questions. I suspect that someone more familiar with the philosophy of Socrates and the wider Ancient Greek context might get more out of it. I was just going where the story took me. But I did enjoy it. And it certainly didn’t assume or require any wider background knowledge.

And now I want to read more about Socrates and definitely Xanthippe. And read about the philosophy. Which is no bad thing. Thanks to the author. The writing is extremely strong. Oh and I really liked the author’s dedication notes at the start, which explain and justify the approach he has taken to the historical characters in this work of interactive fiction.

Now time for my first parser game of this year’s competition. Starting with a short one, and happy to be back in Sugar City to uncover some shenanigans and dastardly deeds. I played a downloaded version of this in Lectrote, with my preferred gargantuan sized font.

There’s rather a long info dump at the start, and then you start in a setting which I had trouble visualising. It wasn’t as instantly conjuring up pictures in my brain as the last game in the series. However the main location once you reach it is well described. Also shouldn’t “windowpanes” be “window panes”?

The game is a rather clever mystery puzzle in a small set of locations with a limited set of objects. But it’s seriously under implemented in a lot of places, and I was playing fight the parser too much. Far more in depth playtesting could help here.

For example there’s a location where you have to get through something with something else. But the game only seems to understand X [VERB REDACTED FOR SPOILER REASONS!] Y AT Z, and not any version I tried of BREAK, HIT, using “WITH” etc. It made it such a struggle to play.

In another location you might get a sensory clue, but can only interact with that in a particular way, not the other common verbs I tried. Again I felt as though I was banging my head against a wall.

Much of the writing is very funny though, for example when I found something very untoward. It was almost Taggart level, but with people made of candy and ice. This Brit was a bit confused by what Taffy was though, and had to google “What is taffy”.

The ending is fun, but depends on what you’ve uncovered. I replayed that part a few times to get different results, fortunately being able to restore from saved versions in my interpreter.

So a nice mystery, but it needed much deeper implementation. Much fuller playtesting could have helped a lot. But it made me laugh. Thanks to the author. I would be happy to see another entry in this series. Just less hunt the verb please. Because that wasn’t fun.

Next up for me, and this Texture piece, a horror/mystery set on the sea, in an unspecified time and place, but my mind imagined almost Napoleonic Britain.

Starting this up i’m reminded how I find Texture somewhat tricky to use with my neuro illness hands. Also as i uncovered more chunks of text in the middle of existing text the font size on screen got smaller and smaller and harder to read, which isn’t great for accessibility. However it’s the author’s choice. And it does work differently from conventional choice based pieces. Instead you effectively have a set of enigmatic verbs at the bottom of the screen. Selecting one shows which nouns in the body of the text (which can change as you interact) can be used with that verb, which you then drag above the noun. There are sometimes verbs that seemingly don’t work on anything, e.g. often “Take” in this game. It’s a curious interface, but quite evocative in of itself, with a sense of unplanned discovery more than player control. I rather like it, even if I find it a bit difficult physically to operate!

The writing of the game is strong, as you can uncover a mysterious ship and the stories behind it. There is exploration, with numerous options for how you approach things. At no point did I feel rail roaded. However I was puzzled by the ending I reached, though not inclined to replay, given my physical difficulties with the interface.

But I’m left with an eerie unsettling sense from the story, which is a credit to the author. It is well crafted and nicely written. I would replay if it wasn’t so tricky for me physically.

This is a choice / Choicescript based game where you have lost your glasses and need to figure out who has taken them. This is a scenario I can relate to only too well. Though I don’t usually lose my glasses I lose multiple things multiple times daily. Though not because other people have stolen them to play a prank on me!

I liked a lot about this. It’s a good concept, with a small group of NPCs nicely defined. I did feel the interaction wasn’t quite strong enough, and felt there were too few ways to find the glasses in the end. I went to the walkthrough to figure out what do to get that ending. But I happily replayed several times. And was immersed.

A couple of slight linguistic things threw me. Glasses for me is plural, but the game referred to it as singular. Also there’s a reference to climbing into a classroom on the first floor. I guess that’s first floor as in the US i.e. ground floor. This Brit was somewhat confused! Here first floor is one up from ground level.

Anyway a fun game to start the competition with. Thanks to the author! I’d like to see the interaction expanded a little bit. At the moment it is a little too on rails. But it was a fun read through, and I was encouraged to keep replaying and try other options.

This was a delightful parser game, where you, a witch’s crow familiar, have to save your mistress. There’s a light touch to the writing, and it’s friendly to beginner parser players. The reduced parser helps, though I struggled with it in a few places. The fantasy worldbuilding is strong, and a series of fetch quests takes you through the story, plus extremely well written and nicely implemented conversations with various characters. Things got really frightening at times. In a good way. I’m still feeling relieved that I got a good ending and not a bad one as things played out! I was also grateful to the author for including a walkthrough (two versions). Oh and the artwork throughout is gorgeous.

This is a set of 4 game books by students in a creative writing event in Slovakia. In this quick review I’m treating each one separately, as well as giving overall thoughts at the end.

Lilian Lalonder

This starts compellingly with a strange mirror, and then takes you into another place, and some really bizarre and creatively written outcomes. It’s good. And the English is strong. I played all the endings, and was glad I could see them all. This was probably my favourite of all the pieces.

Mihi

This doesn’t use the theme “mirror” so immediately, and it comes later, and is used in a very clever way. It’s rather a neat tale of how you handle unexpected news. However it resists the player following certain paths through, which left me feeling a bit cheated. I wanted to see the outcomes of those decisions, even the ones I doubted were wise. I replayed several times to try to explore different routes. The core idea is really strong, well done to the author, but let us play through things. Don’t steamroller.

James

This is a multi part story, and feels more like a Twine version of a parser game than the others, which are more traditional Twine interactive stories. You start in a room with various objects you can examine, quite minimally described. And then see where you can get to. It’s quite a short piece, multiple branching narratives, but a quick fun explore, and an intriguing world. It also left me pondering at the end, which is good! And I was keen to replay, and explore different choices. Original use of mirror. Thanks!

Dr John

This one starts in all capitals, which was a bit of a shock to me. A mix of lower and upper case is generally friendlier for readers to read. It seems to be set in a strange world of reflections and observers, and stuff that is hidden. However I struggled to get a good outcome. At one point the game suggests you click randomly on every bit of blue text. I was exploring lots of options for ages, then suddenly had an idea of something to try. And got to a good outcome! So phew. It was very hard though. The scifi like setting was a nice contrast with the other three works.

This was an interesting set of micro short Twine stories. Each was unique in its approach, and together they showed a variety of ways the system can be used. Two of the games included input boxes asking you to type text in, and this was nicely used, especially in one of the games. And I liked the different approaches and genres e.g. fantasy, real world, slice of life, horror, sci-fi and also branching narrative versus geographical world model versus philosophical puzzle. So thank you all! I hope that there might be more from Senica Thing in the 2024 Spring Thing. New voices in IF are always welcome!

This is a short and beginner friendly parser game, set in a quasi fantasy world, with a very cute cat that you have to get to know better. It’s really charming, and I enjoyed playing through the light puzzles. There are in game hints if you get stuck. You can get the game into an unwinnable state. I recommend saving frequently.

There are a few things that could be polished more to make the playing experience smoother.

And make sure you read the ABOUT text info about the background to the game. It is quite charming.

This is a short - but not too short - Twine piece of the end of the world and family relations. I expected it to be shorter than it was, when the author said they’d had to cut it short due to Covid. But it’s a good length. The big downside for me was the general lack of interactivity. Often there would be big chunks of text and then just one link to click, so not really a choice. Though it got a bit more branching in places, and during some NPC interactions.

If I was to make a suggestion to the author it would be to think of ways to increase the interactivity. Because as a reader I want a sense of agency. I liked exploring in the house, even if in practice it was just effectively ticking off a bunch of options.

I did like the use of flashbacks, as you go back into your past life and relive events, which shed light on the present. That was nicely handled, and added depth to the story.

But it needed more interaction. But a promising piece. I got one ending, but didn’t reply, because I’d have had to back to the start. I noted quite a few typos. But it was intriguing.

This is a LGBTQ novella adapted into multiple ending Twine form.

There’s quite a lot of interaction with your partner, and a lot of choices about how to speak to them. But often early on I felt it wasn’t offering me the chance to explore difficult choices. There were things I wanted to say or do that weren’t offered to me. Which is maybe not surprising if it’s adapted from a novella.

However it does something narrative wise part way through that totally switches around, and I found extremely satisfying. I only played through to one ending. There are multiple choices you could make and change how it ends up. But i felt interactive, and exploring the characters, and reaching a satisfactory resolution.

So yes, initially I thought this was going to be far too linear and not interactive enough. But then things flipped, and it took a totally fresh approach. Well done to the author!

This is described as a short game in the competition listings, but I’d say it’s medium length at least, and possibly longer.

It starts as a visualisation game among four young girls, where one sister guides another sister through a stream of consciousness exploration of a strange imaginary world. It turns into something much stranger and darker.

The implementation of the parser game world is light at best, a series of well spread out rooms, with scattered objects. Initially it does feel as though it’s insubstantial, a meditative experience that you could just step out of. But then things take a turn.

I think there are several endings. I got a bad one. And played through trying to get to a better one. I had a clue I think re the (Spoiler - click to show)meat and horsefly and the tower but I couldn’t find the solution to (Spoiler - click to show)picking up the meat. Even though I had a plastic bag, that I think I should have been able to use.

The game has no hints or walkthrough. This was a problem for me. I play for fun, and although there’s a marvellous old tradition of hard parser games, nowadays people tend to like to have the option of clues to fall back on if necessary. Some of us very much so. I would ask any parser game competition entrant to consider including a walkthrough at least, if not a full blown hints system. Because for me banging my head against a puzzle isn’t fun any more, even if it’s something I was willing to do in the 1980s.

However, that said, this is a highly intriguing work. I loved the commentary and chat between the girls early on. And some of the spooky stuff is so effective. Just leave some clues for players.

This is a short but entertaining Twine piece set at a party where through social interactions you need to try to get a job. It’s branching, and there are bad outcomes, and then others where you can get on better, and move the plot on. It is also possible to go back to previous choices, and try different routes. The writing is fun, though there are quite a lot of typos, including in the game blurb on the competition site. But that aside it’s briskly written, amusing, and I felt a sense of immersion within the story. And I was happy exploring different endings.

This is a Twine game, that’s a mix of historical, crime and social niceties. It’s the latest in a series featuring gentlewoman thief Lady Thalia. I can’t recall if I’ve played any other others. This game is perfectly playable by people unfamiliar with the others.

I really enjoyed it. The writing was strong, and the mix of game play elements worked well. There are four acts to the story, so you get a sense of progress. It took me about an hour to play through in total, and I read pretty quickly for reference.

Some of the elements involved social interaction, and conversations. And this was very well implemented. Others were more of a traditional crime heist. Even almost a maze element at one point. Which I didn’t make the best job of, but had fun. Everything leads up to a dramatic ending, but along the way there are unexpected developments, new foes to encounter, and intrigue to uncover. Even during the heist you have many options of how to approach it, e.g. what route to take, how to interact with things, how to respond to problems that occur. It’s just delightful.

If you like Jeeves and Wooster stories, or Arsene Lupin, do check this out. And even if you’re not familiar with them but enjoy a good interactive story it’s a good one.

This is a moderately long (I wouldn’t say “short” as the game card says) Twine piece, that is gothic horror and very spooky.

When it started up with "You are sitting in the office of an official" I worried how the writing would go. “Office” and “official” felt too similar to be effective writing. But you are a child at this point, and the opening captures that characterisation well.

As the story goes on you get drawn into a dangerous world of mysteries. And it’s really compelling, and disturbing. Quite horrific in places, but not so much gory horror as spooks.

There must be multiple endings. I got a not great one, and the game doesn’t allow you to step back, and I didn’t want to replay all the way through. But I very much enjoyed the experience. I also liked how it offered multiple choices re gender in places. And how later individual choices already done are differently coloured (though this may not work for players using screen readers).

This is a very wacky short Ink piece, where as the opening says:

"Today is your first day as a mutant hog farmer in the wild wastelands of Arizoona."

It’s bonkers, but highly entertaining. Surprisingly effective at world building. And it does have depth in terms of being a state management game. You are limited in what you can do each turn, and always need to do more than you have time for.

I only played through once but really enjoyed it. I didn’t encounter any bugs, and it was solidly implemented. I was pleased to see in the credits at the end that there were a lot of testers. This game certainly made me laugh a lot. Thank you!

This is a time-limited parser game where you have to escape from a very dangerous situation. It is briskly written, with lots of atmosphere, scares and tension. However I found that I was often fighting the parser. The experience could have been smoother. I don’t know if it being in PunyInform was a factor, but e.g. if I had a key for something that it obviously fitted UNLOCK X wouldn’t smoothly work. I had to type UNLOCK X WITH Y KEY. There’s also quite a bit of juggling tools, where again you need just the right command. So I think this could have benefited from deeper playtesting. However it was exciting to play, and the concept is strong. I got a good ending but also had a look at what happened when time runs out. So good stuff, but playtest more, and if possible smooth the player experience.

Wow. I’m not quite sure what to say about this. It’s a parser piece, which can be played to an extent as a traditional parser game, episodic in this case. But it’s also metatextual, highly experimental, and in places for me was profoundly affecting.

The metatextual side is perhaps the least spoilery I can go into. It adds a guide you can interact with, that expands, and provides hints. You can also read in game footnotes. This is reminiscent of some discussion on this forum a while back about how old games could be effectively bundled up in a wider package, providing extra contextualisation etc. It’s really neatly done here.

The traditional parser/puzzle side is arguably the least interesting element. But it’s well done. And uses a neat mechanism throughout, that I won’t spoil.

There is also something very interesting about the narrative structure that the game does. But again I don’t want to spoil it!

But it was how the game affected me that I found most impactful. This relates to something that happened in my own life almost a year ago (spoiler: (Spoiler - click to show)my dad died). And I feel quite shocked after playing the game to be honest. But in a good way.

Kudos to the author for a powerful and innovative piece.

P.S. As I said to Drew elsewhere I could have written so much more about this in my review. I sort of wish I had. But I feel very strongly that this is a game best discovered by each player afresh. And I absolutely didn’t want to spoil things. If anything my review underplays how good it was. There are many more things I could have acknowledged. But that way lies spoilers. And I wanted to avoid them! Try it out anyway folks!

This is a Twine piece where you try to escape from a cult. It feels more like a parser game than Twine generally does, with geographical locations, and objects that you can manipulate, and verb and noun pairings. Plus inventory management. Oh and it’s partially point and click. It’s an intriguing combination, and works well with the puzzles of the game.

However I found quite a lot of problems. There are a number of typos, and also I ran into a runtime error. I replayed several times, but couldn’t get past (Spoiler - click to show)the room below the swaying cultists. I had pulled the lever 4 times, rating “Psychopath”! Also I am very much not a fan of slow timed text, which happened in the opening of this game. I read very very quickly. I do not like text playing out very very slowly.

However the story and puzzles were intriguing, and fun, and I’d be interested in seeing more works using the game engine.

This is a curious parser/Twine combo. I admire the author’s bravery for trying to implement a parser in Twine. Though I found it more often than not somewhat frustrating.

For example there’s a point where you are asked your name. Rather than just type that into the entry box you have to type e.g. “name Viv”. Which felt unintuitive.

Often I would struggle to get the game to respond. Not helped by the screen also often not scrolling down to show me when new text had appeared if I did type something recognised, so there were frequently times when it felt like I’d had no response but I just didn’t always see it before trying other commands.

There is a crucial choice moment where again I was running into a parser brickwall. I tried something different, and got an interesting outcome. Then replayed and managed to get a bit further through the choice, to get another ending. Then tried one last time and got a third ending. But I did not want to replay further. And ran into a bug when I tried to use BACK at the very end to go back to a previous choice.

The underlying story is interesting, intriguing scifi-esque, but I think this game might have been better if written as a more conventional Twine piece. Often I would be repeatedly typing C or CONTINUE to move the story on, which felt like little more than clicking “next” or “continue” in normal Twine. And then when I needed to use the parser I would struggle.

This is a short Twine game with multiple endings. I liked the intro explaining (especially for newcomers to Twine) how the interactive story and clickable links work. And I really appreciated the option in the game to go back to the last checkpoint if you reach an ending, rather than go back to the very start every time.

The writing is amusing, but I was initially wondering if I would explore too far, if things got too repetitive. But in the end I played through to see all the different endings. It’s a branching narrative, so they’re not too hard to reach, but it just takes time. The writing is a good reward though. Lots of amusing scenes played out, multiple genres, neatly written.

As an insomniac I could also relate to so much of this, albeit with more amusement than tossing and turning. Thanks to the author!

This is a Twine piece with branching narratives where you are a legendary elf hero, tasked with saving a kingdom.

The writing is amusing, and I replayed quite a lot to see different endings. I never got a successful outcome one. However I ran into a bug. After (Spoiler - click to show)facing the ogre single handed I got a mostly blank screen, just the red background, then two horizontal lines. The game had totally seized up.

I was also frustrated that at least in my Safari on my Mac I never saw the stats (e.g. HP, EXP etc.) on screen again after the opening. Given I was doing things to affect them I really really wanted to see them! That may just be me though.

But it was an amusing fantasy piece. Nicely short too. I’d just like to see it polished a bit more.

This is a combined parser/click game, where you can interact with elements of the text as well as type in parser commands. The game is set in Ancient Greece, and sees you try to uncover what is going on, including a journey into Hades. I definitely recommend playing it online because you will get images there. The images don’t appear - or at least didn’t for me - using the downloaded game file and an offline interpreter.

There’s a lot to like. There’s a lyricalness to the storytelling. However being relatively unfamiliar with the setting and the ancient Greek myths I found things quite incomprehensible in places. I also had difficulty understanding the geography and the directions. For example early on I was trying every direction to move things on, even though the game suggested I was following a clue character. This repeated trying west/north/east/south broke the immersion for me. I think clearer clueing would help.

I got to an ending where I think (Spoiler - click to show)my character died, after dreaming of his wife for many years. Which was satisfying, but overly abrupt. I’d like to see that smoothed. I would also have liked to see some after game notes that you could read after finishing. There are also a lot of unimplemented scenery objects that are mentioned in the text but don’t respond to EXAMINE X. A fuller and richer implementation covering those would be well worthwhile

This is a fun spoof version of - no it isn’t, yeah right! - Star Trek The Original Series, where you are presented with a series of mini puzzles, and have to figure out the right word to use to solve the situation each time. Or you can type “pass”. I laughed so much throughout this, but I think it would work best for any fan of the series it obviously isn’t (yeah right!) based on. The characterisations of Scotty, Bones and Spock are nicely captured by the author. And there is a tongue in cheek humour throughout.

I did have a few problems with the interface. On Safari on my Mac it wouldn’t initially play the opening sound. I switched to Chrome, but after the first puzzle that no longer left the current puzzle paragraph clear to read. But that aside it was fun. Recommended, though especially if you’re a fan of Star Trek. I especially liked how it let you type “pass” if you got stuck, and that isn’t a game killer. And you can view the surprisingly readable source code to see how it works. An interesting system. Thanks to the author!

This is a Python piece, that combines ruminations on the process of writing (which could be any form of writing, but in this piece is chapter-based text) and some numerical tricks. I enjoyed the earlier parts of the experience more. I’ve written enough - including a very long PhD thesis - that I have lots of thoughts about writing myself! And indeed the balance that works or doesn’t for me between reflection and writing. The game captured that early on very well. However as it got further in and became more of a numerical puzzle I found it less satisfying. But I did get to a rewarding ending. Worth checking out anyway, if you can get the Python to work. It set me thinking afresh about how I relate to writing, and for that thank you very much Andrew.

This choice-based piece is a Victorian-set detective hunt, where you play a female detective. The writing is strong, the mystery intriguing, and as I played I felt thoroughly engaged in the investigation. There are some things that could be smoother. Eg when you are asking lots of questions it might be nicer if questions where you won’t get any new information weren’t presented again as choices after you have asked them. But it was remarkably good fun. Recommended to any fans of mysteries, detective hunts, Victoriana and Sherlock Holmes. And nice to have a female protagonist! Oh and I adored the cab mechanism.