Ratings and Reviews by Something Moving Under The Bed

A succinctly written but atmospheric story, where you must make decisions to survive a boat journey in a fallen world. The very limited resources work well to create tension (despite options being somewhat limited over a short story duration), keeping the journey gripping.

The setting is obscure, but unlike some stories is not overreliant on this to the point of being obtuse; here it works to remain intriguing.

A well-written and characterised story, which is mostly linear with a few choices.

I found the build-up and scene-setting chapters actually much more engaging, giving a real sense of the people and especially the place. It was almost a disappointment in comparison to this when the story got to its main focus and quickly ended.
There is some problem with stories where you can select from multiple endings, which can cause them all to feel somehow less 'tangible' and lack the same closure.

This one is a real shame - It has a lovely style & interface, including great sound & other effects to enhance the atmosphere (though the sound volumes seem to differ a lot). The writing is good (despite some spelling errors) and the story seemed genuinely intriguing leaving me really keen to see what was going to happen...

I like the way the author doesn't feel it necessary to describe *everything* in room descriptions, just the impression pertinent to the story.
Although, it could do with more descriptions of objects that can be examined, to make immersion richer.
The author has attempted to get away from using n-e-s-w directions, though oddly only for indoor locations.

Sadly though, from a technical point of view it has some game-breaking errors; In some places the directions seem to break leaving you in weird 'non-locations' or unable to progress. Some players couldn't even progress past the car at the beginning; I tried both browser and downloaded versions, and from the comments upon several sites couldn't find anyone who had been able to progress further than the village garden.

Less seriously, there are some errors where you can answer the same phonecall twice or 'open' doors already caved in; error messages appear for some unexpected commands and it reacts very badly to commands like 'look in'. It is also VERY picky about which verbs work for things you can do- For a sheet over an object you cant 'take' 'pick up' 'look under' 'move' or 'lift' the sheet - though you can 'remove' it! The same goes for other situations.
Some room descriptions are different the second time you enter, with different directions available, which the game doesn't respond to... whether this is an intentional part of the eventual storyline is impossible to tell.


Clearly a lot of time was put into what seems like a really engaging story; but as it stands it's a tragic testament to the importance of error-testing after all the hard work... Here's hoping some day a version comes out that can be experienced fully.

Lots of presentation touches and a brief writing style. (While the presentation's a nice idea, all the extra bits overwhelm the story a little).

The author clearly made effort to include some ghosthunting terminology (which is clarified in the game)- But the story really needed proofreading/spellchecking, which is very distracting in a minimalist story like this. Some good ideas, but it feels like it needed to develop further and it becomes more cliched as it continues.

Options which kill you can be fairly random, and the choices of restart point are pretty confusing...
If you play I'd recommend the downloadable version, as I got no sound in the online one.

A short and simple tale, varying depending on your actions. Strong presentation helps the interesting concept to work a lot, and as your actions repeat the changes build up nicely.
Not overly complex, but well-crafted for a short experience.