Reviews by Hanon Ondricek

Progression is a dungeon delve into the underworld that seems to borrow a bit from Andrew Plotkin's Bigger Than You Think in that it seems that the player is meant to fail multiple times in order unlock new options to move further in the game. There's even an XP display that does not reset during multiple play throughs.

The "die to proceed" mechanic can be interminably frustrating in most games. Many Twine games are filled with these unhinted arbitrary choice clicks leading to an unpredictable game-over as a way to add the illusion of choice without the work of actually writing extensive choices that are meaningful. I remember a particularly egregious Ecto-Comp entry where the character has a choice of "Proceed down the sidewalk" or "Cross the street". Since no specific goal or direction had been given, it was infuriating to choose "Cross the street" only to summarily be told "You have been hit by a car, try being more careful next time," when there was absolutely no clues that the player could have made use of to know that was a death-end. Bigger Than You Think used dying abruptly as a gimmick - you died but were able to drop a rope into a chasm where it remained for the next incarnation of your player to use it and proceed further so "bad" choices could lead to new interactions.

That *seems* what's supposed to happen here with the XP count. Progression's text is evocative but sparse, and there are passages with several links that the player cannot choose since the preceding paragraph dims out when one is chosen. A few repetitions, therefore are not unwelcome. The problem here is some choices provide only a few words in response or a slight text variation, and then new links not seen before appear later on with very little to clue the player why. (Spoiler - click to show)Three scenes in I had to choose an answer to the Sphinx's riddle from about four provided. Each time I was wrong and had to replay the previous scenes. I steamrollered through them, restarting each time. At one point I was given a *fifth* choice, ostensibly based on what I had done before. Since I didn't try that one immediately, and didn't remember what slightly different sequence of clicks led to that choice appearing, I wasn't able to proceed.

I was hoping that the XP meter was the games way of keeping track of this and would offer greater and greater explanation of what's going on and more choices in each scene, but this didn't come into play in the sequence of the game I worked through - even though I got the XP count pretty high. Is it just a matter of grinding XP to make the game winnable?

The succinct writing style is good since the text must be read multiple times, but even then I was eventually just clicking hard and fast to get back where I was. Early on, the player is plunged into darkness with just two words "torch" and something that's not the torch. You're not told what the torch will do, but having the screen fade then from black up to deep blood red was a nice bit of styling. Despite being short, Progression quickly becomes tedious. There's no save/reload mechanism that might make this less frustrating because that would defeat the game of setting all the right flags so progress can be made.

This is unfortunate, as I genuinely liked the scenario. It seems like a step toward creating a larger puzzle in a choice-based adventure besides "Choose A, B, or C", but I grew quickly tired of it after about nine times through. Better feedback when the correct choices are made would go much toward improving this. Also some more extensive variations of the opening sequences so the player feels like they actually are "progressing". A way to review the choices that were made previously with a hint or nudge in the right direction after the death screen might help. Maybe this all happens later in the game past where I gave up after trying every response to the Sphinx.

There is no "about" or "hints" option, and no setup other than "You descend..." which could come off as pretentious, but works into the mysterious impenetrable-ness I think the author wants to evoke. If this game wasn't tested, it should have been. Perhaps if the player made enough correct choices, they could be returned just to before the incorrect one to save some tedium. I liked the game, I just didn't like repeating the opening ten times and not knowing how I could improve by taking different links. Appropriate and clear feedback is a must in a game like this. If you like experimenting and trying to find every nook and cranny that a Twine game provides, this will keep you busy a while.

(Spoiler - click to show)
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Your descent is over.

This place is changing you.

You have died 6 time(s).
You have killed your brother 1 time(s).
You have eaten 2 sandwich(es).
You have incorrectly answered the Sphinx's riddle 4 time(s).
You have earned 175 experience points in total.
---
This is not true. These results are from one extra play I did to check things while writing the review. I may have restarted without a death several times, but I earned a lot more XP than that in my initial playthroughs. Apparently there's a cookie to remember some bits of your play but not others.

Perhaps I am too stupid to understand this game. Am I really that old that I can't appreciate a deep character study? I didn't comprehend large parts of Mentula Macanus either, and supposedly that was loaded with witty cultural references. Maybe it's because I've never heard of Slajvi..Slaovo...Who the heck is this guy? <clicketyclickety>

Wiki...pedia...copy...paste...

Slavoj Žižek (Slovene: [ˈslavoj ˈʒiʒɛk] ( listen); born 21 March 1949) is a Slovene philosopher and cultural critic. He is a senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities and a professor of philosophy and psychoanalysis at the European Graduate School.[1] He writes widely on a diverse range of topics, including political theory, film theory, cultural studies, theology and psychoanalysis.

Hanon sits, face propped in hand, wondering if we've finally run out of compelling topics for interactive fiction. Ah, he thinks. Perhaps it's a very meta in-joke.

Hanon moves to the kitchen to refresh his coffee under the watchful iron gaze of Gilligan, the imperious pomeranian. The dog is not happy about his irregular feeding schedule.

Hanon sits back down, coffee steaming, prepared to forcibly absorb the concept or possibly oblique humor this game contains. Just because he has a penchant for AIF doesn't mean he can't be entertained by a Slovenian professor's antics.

(Spoiler - click to show)I did chuckle when Slavij...Zlavis...when he wondered "what the fuck a Porpentine" is. And when he didn't grok variables. I can understand variables. I shouldn't feel so inferior to this piece and it's subject. I'm smart too!!

I liked the background color. And the action photos were a great addition!

Huh. (Spoiler - click to show)Okay, I'm obviously not the audience for this. Why did I review? Catchy title.

I felt there was some dodgy tense shifting at first, like the author may not have been sure if the action was happening now or in the past when they started the story. This is a CYS joint with a handful of choices that branch widely with no recursion or variation like a printed choice narrative (not a complaint; it just means any playthrough will be brief and by nature will end abruptly on certain choices to avoid time-cave combinatorial explosion.) The opening scene is funny, if just for the exchange:

And why exactly do we hate the dwarves?”
“It’s canon. Don’t ask questions.”

Then there's a scene about unicorn farts.

I can tell the author at least has a good sense of comedy writing and you may vibe with this story if you're into gory cartoonish mayhem with a "Van Wilder" slant.

Highly recommended. Not what I expected in a very good way.

It’s not porn, so play it if you are of age and are up for an exploration of the concept of horny.

(Spoiler - click to show)Horny Game is horny for you, and I’m not kidding - games have needs too. It’s a game, and it’s horny. So horny, you’re gonna bang. Of course you are. But first, there ensues a labyrinthine conversation about consent and highbrow knots of double negatives and making boats and spiraling in a loop of reversals and counter-denials that become manipulative in a way that, in my experience, defuses any desire to bang… The kinks get meta and spiritual.

The game is horny, but also a little bit off. What it’s asking for is something you can’t do and - you can’t bang the game really and have to explain that in no uncertain terms eventually if you want to stop looping. I really enjoyed what it had to say. I believe I found the ending, but the path is tricky, I wouldn’t put it past the game to have hidden secrets I didn’t explore.

One potentially missed opportunity:

I wish there would have been a more specific reaction if I had typed in “bang” when deciding on an activity other than banging.

ChooseYourStory (CYS) is a website that allows users to write simple choice-narratives. Most of these tend to take the form of linear "time caves" without variable-tracking nor text variation - much like the "Choose Your Own Adventure" branded physical books that were printed on physical pages and thus couldn't keep track of any world-state beyond asking the player "If you have seen what's in the closet, turn to page 23, otherwise turn to page 15..." I'm unsure if the CYS software allows these sorts of options that would make them work like RPG GameBooks with dice-rolls and light stat-keeping to maintain a world-state and inject randomness into the proceedings.

As with printed CYOA stories, you read a couple of pages and then flip to another page to continue based on given choices. 331 Oakmount Drive follows this format closely, allowing the reader to click on the next choice to move the story forward. This is perfectly legitimate type of IF and many people enjoy this format, but it tends to be more prose-heavy and there are frequent single game-over choices that really don't foreshadow in any way the reader can predict. Late game, I chose a direction and died by falling in a pit that wasn't predictable in any way, but that's a common CYOA and time-cave trope. Luckily CYS stories allow the reader to use the back button and choose again, similar to keeping your finger in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book at the last choice page in case you need to "reverse time" to make a better decision.

This entry follows that format. The protagonist and a friend are cleaning a house and get locked inside, meeting the man of the house and his creepy maid(Spoiler - click to show)-who seem to be on a killing spree after murdering the wife? Much of the interaction boils down to "Go Left"/"Go Right"/"Enter the Lounge". Choosing the correct sequence results in (Spoiler - click to show)escaping the house and being set for life by selling the rights to the story as a book deal.

It's a simple and uncomplicated example of CYOA and, despite being in the horror genre, eschews any lurid descriptive violence. If you're interested in understanding the CYS format and play style and seeing what it has to offer, this is a good entry to sample.

Using both Twine and Bitsy. A neat idea that I'd like to see expanded.

Is this a bogus entry?

And that's part of the fun. Worth 10-15 minutes - I was smiling the entire time.

"Monster Fucker One: Vampire is the first in a series of text-based interactive fictions in which you attempt to seduce various beings of myth and legend." I only played the demo. For $2 on itch.io you get "seven different encounters, more than a dozen unique endings, and about 23,000 words of text."

This is a decent choice-based adult story about a protagonist who is horny to get bit by a vampire. The game offers a binary choice of gender (anything more nuanced may be outside the scope of what the author is doing here) and gets right to the hookup process without futtering around too much with an atmosphere or description beyond the surface anatomy of potential paramours. This is fine - it's not trying too hard to be much more than vampire fanfic. I appreciate the gender choice and that the game doesn't lock out your partner's gender based on that. As far as I can see here, consent is observed and the protagonist desires to be bitten, so it's a bit of harmless smut.

The writing is fine. There's no conflict except finding which vampire is DTF; some are skittish, some are haughty, one is just right. You choose whether to take the lead or be passive in a quick hotel room encounter and the deed is done. There's nothing special about vampire sex either and no discovery or surprise - they have sex just like everyone else, save the extra penetration one might expect at the end. The comments on itch.io seem to be positive so this might be what some people are looking for. There's no suggestion that as a vampire the protagonist might gain any "superpower" sexual prowess based on what's here, but I might be wrong.

This is a Twine game where you have three hours to learn the lead role in the Scottish play...only it's a wacky heavy-metal musical version with pyrotechnics and a flying harness.

Thus ensues budgeting the time you have to learn as much of the show as you can before the curtain goes up. You can't choose everything, so there are decisions to be made: Should you polish the lines, should you learn the music, do you talk to other actors in the show, should you make sure you eat or is it really important to make sure your costume fits?

Then the show begins. The choices you did and didn't make help or hinder you to fumble through the entire production. This is accomplished with some nice text effects and timing. The game assists you with the stuff you rehearsed and leaves you flailing for what you didn't. You can learn the show by memory a bit on repeated plays, and it's possible to get a standing ovation - or be taken out in an ambulance.

This is a great use of Twine, a lot of fun all around. The author has obviously been through this before, and a lot of the situations ring true. When an understudy is thrown onstage at the last minute, there really is a lot of triage: "Just stand on the side instead of learning the dance, because it's more important we take this time to teach you how not die by getting eaten alive under the turntable during the set change in this blackout..."

Having actually lived through similar theatrical shenanigans, including being part of a concept recording for a Macbeth rock musical, I can tell you Understudied is an absolute blast.