Reviews by Vivienne Dunstan
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Intriguing tale of an African lion but unclear if game is working as should do, January 3, 2024This 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.
Fun mash up of Lord of the Rings and a cooking competition, January 3, 2024This 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.
Intriguing fantasy world but needed much deeper implementation, January 3, 2024(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.
Strange tale of a jaded musician, hampered by limited choice and agency, January 3, 2024This 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.
Simulation of running a B&B in Indonesia, and finding so much more, January 3, 2024This 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.
Ambitious sequel to Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game, December 19, 2023(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.
Daring rescue mission and puppet puzzler combined, December 19, 2023(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.
Powerful game about living with a speech impediment, December 19, 2023This 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.
The feel of a Hammer horror film in comedy parser game form, December 19, 2023This 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.
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