Ratings and Reviews by Max Fog

The second chapter in my sequence of "review mathbrush games that haven't been reviewed", I review *9 Secret Steps*. It's a curious game, with a lot of things that seem dark at first, but slowly become slightly funny. At least to me they were. The first time I played, (Spoiler - click to show)I didn't click any of the red links (I didn't know they were links!). This ended up with me playing through the game, seeing a dark, shadowy, very cult-like version, which I thought had a nice mood to it. And then as I reached that final story page (before the song lyrics themselves), it flipped on its head and became a good game with a twist ending. Replaying after, I noticed you could click the red bits earlier, which on subsequent runthroughs is really cool but for a first runthrough it makes the game confusing.

Despite the positive vibes, I couldn't help but feel that the nodding didn't ultimately affect the outcome, though I'm pretty sure it did. The randomised messages were so similar, I couldn't tell whether the choice of object-location actually affected what was printed, and if so, why. This led to the feeling I could optimise the outcome of the game. But I didn't actually know how.

Overall, I liked it quite a fair bit for such a small game, but the limitedness made me feel there was something missing. Worth playing through once without clicking the red links, then once more clicking them. Then don't overthink it. You may have a more positive reaction.

For a game that's meant to be not one of his best, Barroom Brawl really packs a punch. Pun(ch) intended.

This may not be an informative review for many, but it's an interesting game with fun mechanics, and the directions are probably the most interesting bit about it. They all take the story in a different direction altogether, and for something done in a very short amount of time, it's worth playing. Even with the error:

Sally ducks left, jabs, jabs, and uppercuts Sally!

But at least it's funny!

Also, not only do K.O.d people keep fighting, but you can pick up their body...