Ratings and Reviews by Hyacinthos

Without a doubt, this is the best parser the author has released until now. The take on Lysidice's character on the Minotaur mythology was a unique and enjoyable one.

What I mean by "unique" take is MC's (Lysidice's) relationship with the Minotaur. In the original myth, she is one of the sacrificial victims sent to Minotaur, and interestingly enough, Theseus's aunt, the hero who killed the Minotaur. In the game though, their relationship could literally be called the "Beauty and the Beast", with the Minotaur helping and "protecting" her.

Unlike, other parsers, due to the setting being a literal maze, an escape room-like "technique" is used not only to introduce the maze puzzles (which work similarly to "The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt"), but also to introduce characters like Daedalus and Eriboa, the labyrinth's creator (Icarus's father) and the "Alôids' jealous stepmother who snitched on them about the location where they had jailed Ares".

Interestingly enough, her step-brats, Otus and Ephialtes's names are translated as "ear" and "he who jumps upon" (nightmare also), which could be linked to the whole passage on how MC struggles and solves the last obstacle to her freedom. These brats symbolize the scary surrounding of the maze which was confining Lysidice (here) similarly to how the brats tried to capture the goddesses (failed) and confined Ares in a bronze jar for thirteen months.

To be honest, the story was quite good, but I feel it was kind of a missed opportunity not introducing more characters from greek mythology, as the character explores the maze, making it kind of a "Explore the Greek Mythology" kind of maze.

Note for future players: If played on a Firefox browser on a phone, there's no problem with the UI, but on PC I recommend using Chrome or any other browser other than Firefox.

I'll have to emphasize: The game is still a Work-in-Progress and will be updated further in the near future apparently. It's an entry coded with choicescript, part of the "Less than 15 minutes" playtime. Even though I'm reviewing it, there's not much that can be reviewed, considering it's incomplete.

The title is self-explanatory enough for those wondering what the story is all about. It's about finding the culprit behind the glasses stealing case and solving the mystery of where MC's glasses ended up.

The story is centered around MC running around, trying to find the other members of their club, the Literature club, so that they can question them about their precious glasses. Their names are Minh (terrible pun and toublemaker) and Jaime (the picture-perfect student with a hidden past (Spoiler - click to show) she used to be some sort of delinquent who led or better yet is still leading a... gang of bike racers from their previous school. Nickname: Boss), 2 out of three potential romance options. There's also Red, the "gangster" who is having quite the interesting conversation with Jaime if MC decides to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Can definitively say the author has successfully managed to make use of a hook, choosing to start with the scene of MC waking up and not finding their glasses, showing, rather than telling, the emotional attachment MC has with their glasses. Something seemingly trivial from an outsider's perspective, is made to be felt much heavier from a reader's perspective who knows the anxiety MC is going through. They use the second-person POV narration, a wise choice considering how the game is designed. The writer has the tendency to have a clear and straightforward writing style, making use of descriptive language effectively, managing to set just the right pace. I can't help but think of the loss of glasses and the journey of finding them as a symbol of uncovering the secrets being hidden.

That, being said, there are small grammar mistakes here and there as well as bugs:

1.on Jaime's scene where if you don't decide to eavesdrop, or if you run, the story loops again, repeating the same scenes.

2.Achievements don't trigger even if you follow the guide to the letter. This could be a problem with the html file or the website where it's being hosted.

The game is a cute concept with a simple plot in hindsight, yet if the author decides to develop the miniplots further, it would add more depth to the story overall.

Playtime: less than 7 minutes
Rating: 3/5 because it's an incomplete entry. Will re-rate it after the full version is out.

This is probably one of the most addicting and pointless tapping games I've ever played. It's an entry to the french jam "Partim 500 numéro 7".

The gaming part is quite simple yet genius at the same time. Using both the human tendency of clicking or tapping buttons wherever they see one along with the contrarian mindset. Now what will happen if you tell the human not to click that button in the middle of the screen, over and over again? Of course I'll click/tap it! You can't tell me what to do mx. game system! (You fell into the trapper's trap)

The game title is in the middle of the screen, with the button right below it. You can tap and click and tap, and every time you repeat the same action, in the upper right-most corner, sentences are appearing so attention should be payed to them too. There's a limit to how many times the clicking and tapping lasts. For me it lasted about less than two minutes.

It's not a game where you have much to read compared with the other ones you'll find on the archive, and it's most certainly not a traditional interactive fiction game, but it's short, cute and appeals to those who are into point-and-click/tapping games. You do have to know French if you want to understand what you are reading, but that's not a necessity if you are in it for the sole purpose of clicking that button which trigers the sentences and Christmas lights (if you click hard enough).

Overall rating: ~4/5

The extensive and highly informative review posted before this one, provided almost everything one needs to know about the game, so in this one, I'm going to be writing my thoughts and impressions on the overall story instead.

IFComp 2023 has started a few days ago, yet unfortunately, I didn't have the time to check any of the entries. Fortunately, yesterday was my day off. While perusing the entries, the unusual name on the title and Socrates caught my eye first. When I read the description, then it was an insta-"Play online" for me.

I'll have to admit: I failed the first playthrough on reaching the main objective. Following the usual logic of games in the romance genre didn't work. Had to get creative and think out-of-the box, meaning: Searching on google who Xanthippe was and hopefully learn of her personality/relationship with Socrates. Surprisingly, it said Socrates liked her difficult and contrarian personality.....

To make a long story short, I decided to choose the most spiteful options one would expect to start a fight, along with the appreciation for philosophy. Managed to both achieve the main goal and get into a philosophical debate with the famous philosopher, Socrates. That's a win in my book.

Lovely concept the author has here. Seeing the last night before his death from the wife's POV. It was both a touching farewell and a good exploration on Socrates' possible psyche.

Playtime: 3 hours

Would I play it again: Yes, if not only to see the rest of Socrates arguments towards the second half of the game.

IfComp rating scale: 8/10 A great game which I'm pleased to have played, and which I'd recommend to others.

It was both the perfect depiction of an Europian who goes to a French cuisine restaurant for the first time (no offense to any french peeps who read this review, but you have to enlarge the portions you serve on your restaurants a bit more) and that of a food critic eating his last unsatisfactory dinner.

Being a short one-choice game entry to both "Single Choice" and "Orifice Jam", it's as linear as one would expect for now, but the immaculate descriptions paint a vivid imagery on the reader's mind, pulling them into the main character's mind/POV. Excellent narrative overall.

The sinister ending was surprising but not unexpected considering the warnings.

There were no grammar errors nor bugs,at least I didn't encounter any, so that's a plus too.

Even this short, the story holds its own. There can be made more additions of course. Maybe alternative epilogues for the choice and achievements for reaching them?

Overall rating on scale: 4 or 5/5