Reviews by Vivienne Dunstan
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Time looping around Valentine's Day, December 19, 2023This 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.
Well written but very difficult to win hostage negotiation game written in Ink, December 18, 2023This 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.
Atmospheric setting but too little player control over what happens, December 18, 2023This 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.
Intriguing tale of a sculptor and his work, but too limited in player choice, December 18, 2023This 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 funny sea-based Lovecraftian horror parser game, December 18, 2023A 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.
Moving tale of current events that might have been better as a parser piece, December 17, 2023This 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.
Well written interactive retelling of ancient historical characters, December 17, 2023Going 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.
Clever and funny mystery puzzle that needed fuller implementation, December 17, 2023Now 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.
Unsettling Texture piece set on a mysterious ship, December 17, 2023Next 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.
Promising relatable interactive story that could be polished further, December 17, 2023This 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.
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