Ratings and Reviews by mattlaschneider

This is a fun, relatively short game with a great sense of humour and a lovely writing style. The puzzles aren't too tricky (although I occasionally felt that I'd come up with a valid solution that simply didn't work), and the in-game hint system is great at nudging you in the right direction without spoiling too much. The game embraces its light-hearted quirkiness, resulting in puzzles that are a joy to solve. The story is slightly more poignant than I'd expected, which was a nice surprise.

This instalment in what I can only call Veeder's Rat Cycle is a short and fun game, one that players new to IF will be able to complete with relative ease, but that will also reward players of all skill levels with Veeder's typical sense of humour. The players tasks are fairly clear, although the reasons for them remain fairly obscure until fairly late in the game when the player character's motivations are made clear.

While the game is simple and can be completed in 15 minutes or so, players are rewarded for exploring the various nooks of the game (both on the map and in the conversations), and players who take the time to feel out all their options will be rewarded with interesting descriptions of art and snappy dialogue.

This a a good introduction to a lot of the basic elements that players will encounter in a variety of parser-based IF. Veeder's strong voice works well here, as it makes the sometimes-daunting idea of IF into something fun and conversational. I found the game to be a bit shorter than I would've expected (by no means is it anything like The Dreamhold), but some new players might appreciate being able to complete this game relatively quickly. Seasoned players will be able to enjoy a lot of the small touches Veeder puts into the game, such as the status line updates.