Ratings and Reviews by Hanon Ondricek
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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.
Games have needs too!, March 4, 2021Highly 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.
A short combo, February 7, 2019Using both Twine and Bitsy. A neat idea that I'd like to see expanded.
Is this a bogus entry?
This game is dysfunctional..., December 8, 2018And that's part of the fun. Worth 10-15 minutes - I was smiling the entire time.
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