Ratings and Reviews by gruelove

Not a great deal to say about this one really; because there's nothing to it. You enter a maze and find that everything about it is randomized, from directions, to dead ends, even your own death is a random event.

I can only think that the author was conducting an experiment to see how many suckers he could get to play it, and then proceeded to laugh up his sleeve at us.

Anyway. Don't bother with this. AT ALL!

An entertaining little piece which left me a little dis-satisfied. I tend to get tired quite quickly of IF that leaves me high and dry. I personally didn't find the hints offered much that I hadn't already thought to try anyway(to no avail). Being more of a story oriented player than a lover of puzzles it may be that I am being a little harsh.

All things being as they are, this is an amusing piece of IF that I will no doubt do battle with from time to time. Would have given it 4 stars if not for the lack of 'useful' hints.

Enjoyable.

Emily Short seems to have a knack for producing quality IF no matter what the genre or circumstances. This is another of her speedIF entries. Short and very easy to complete, it's no less enjoyable for that. The humour is natural and unforced and the piece is highly amusing from beginning to end.

Very well worth while playing.

I'm always a little doubtful about just how enjoyable a speedIF game could be, and therefore have invariably overlooked them in the past. If this little gem is anything to go by, I've clearly been missing out. It's a sweet little scenario involving an imminent date and the banana and rocket pants of the title. I have a weakness for comical situations in fiction and this piece of IF doesn't disappoint. In fact, if I find myself disappointed that I have reached an end, I can be quite secure in my high opinion of the work.

Only one little point of note(which stopped me giving it full marks) was the use of CAPITALS in seemingly random places. They almost gave an indication of something more to be discovered but were, I assume, meant simply as emphasis. This aside, I very much enjoyed this piece of IF and played it over and over again.

An excellent example of what can be achieved with a short piece.

Blue Lacuna is one of those pieces of IF that will take it's rightful place in the history of the art. My own experience of any IF is one of lesser or greater interaction with the fictional setting. Upon walking down the street, I don't for one moment think, ah! a tree, 'x tree'. I simply think 'tree', and there with all the glory of my senses, I see the beauty of the tree. This is the methodology of Blue Lacuna, and it is one which I believe will become more and more prevalent in the future. It may seem like a minor detour from the traditional and accepted 'x tree' to Blue Lacuna's 'tree', but it does undoubtedly make a very significant difference in the way the interactive experience plays out.

The world of the title is large and expansive, allowing interaction with much of what you see around you to the extent that you are able to taste the berries growing on bushes and smell the flowers etc.

In many ways Blue Lacuna is one of the few pieces of IF that could be described as a novel in the truest sense of the word. That's not to say it's the perfect example of IF of course; I'm not a great lover of the idea that we might choose the sex of our character for example. It reminds me too much of the old RPGs, and I think that it sometimes leads to a dilution of the character that invariably adds little or nothing to the work as a whole or the experience of the reader, no matter what sex they themselves may be.

My overall opinion of this work is one of great hope for the medium of IF in coming years, particularly since so many notables are investing so much of their time to push the boundaries of what is at present a wonderful and exciting area of fiction, and hints at so much more in the relatively near future.

And a very impressive and expressive future it may prove to be if Blue Lacuna is anything to go by.