Ratings and Reviews by Sorrel

The Lesson of the Tortoise has a simple eastern flavor, with none of the bows and whistles of many modern-day IF games. You're a man who happens upon a tortoise on his way home. Upon your return to your house, you witness a terrible betrayal by your wife. The puzzles are quite linear, making it very clear that you should get from point A to point B. The puzzles are relatively easy, but allow for a lot of ways to die if you've forgotten to do something or pick up an essential item earlier in the story. Fortunately, the UNDO command will allow you to go as far back as you want.

The writing is clear and concise. The game is short, but polished, with a classical,interesting narrative. Playing through the felt like reading a storybook of old Oriental fables. I think that quite often, all the new ideas, unique implementation, and break-through mechanics allow us to forget what an old, unadorned IF plays like. It's a great relaxation game, where you can focus on the story and the atmosphere, while giving minimal effort to the puzzles and simplified conversation system.

Intro to Jabberwocky is based on Lewis Carroll's poem "Jaberwocky". So, if you never much liked Carroll's universe or his writing, you might not like this game. I, however, rather enjoyed Carroll's books, so I warmed up to ITJ right away. The PC must complete some tasks around his "farm", which is populated by creatures from Carrol's poem. The animals are described with fascinating detail and the location descriptions are concise and well-written.

ITJ has a very original approach to setting up puzzles. It's not even that the puzzles themselves are very original, it's just that they are presented in a very unique way. In order to figure out your objectives, you must read the first stanza of the Jabberwocky (only the first stanza, because ITJ is only an intro) and pretty much do what the poem tells you to do. Have no fear - the full poem is provided in-game. Just type hints and choose the 'read the poem' option. As you manipulate the PC's world to fulfill the poem's conditions, the poem will be filled in a blank tablet which you will find in the very first scene.

That particular technique really grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the game is only an intro. The puzzles are pretty clear-cut, but the environment is cute and whimsical, carrying the essence of Lewis Carroll's world. A rather mundane "finish-a-list-of-tasks" premise is taken for a pleasant spin with very nice results.

I wish every SpeedIF was constructed with this much care and attention to detail. This game was very surreal, very easy, and very touching. Actually, it may be the best SpeedIF I ever played. But, I'll try not to fawn over it too much and give an one objective opinion. The premise if very original: you're a star getting ready to leap from the moon (hence the title).

Since Leap Time is a SpeedIf, the puzzles are easy, but hardly anyone plays SpeedIF for the puzzles. It's very atmospheric and sweet. Once you get down to earth, you're faced with granting a certain wish to a little girl. There are two ways to do that and there are three endings in total. One ending is heart-wrenching, one is depressing, and one is "happy" (in quotation marks because I felt like there was something important the PC didn't get to do).

Leap Time isn't emotional in the sense that it will make you cry or laugh, but it touched me in that little "aw" kind of way. Play it for a few minutes for its magical sensation, but quit only once you have all three endings. I don't think it's possible to truly appreciate this game without completing it in all three ways. And to help you with the part I myself was most confused about: (Spoiler - click to show)To figure out how to grant the wish, look in the dumpsters or look at yourself.

Leap Time is magical, it's touching, and it just has that I-wish-I-believed-in-fairy tales vibe. As a SpeedIF, it gets a five in my book. I only wish it were a full-length game.

The Orion Agenda is one of those rare games that combines an engaging plot with varied puzzles and fascinating NPCs. The PC finds himself in a deep hole in the ground. From there, he begins to remembers that he is a rookie field agent sent to check on an outpost on a foreign planet where his colleagues are supposed to be observing the native culture. He is traveling with another field agent who is more experienced and also happens to be a beautiful woman. Of course, things don't go as planned once they arrive at Orion 3. The way the game is structured eliminates the need for ever saving your progress. If you happen to die (which you will do quite often), the PC just realizes that he is still alive in the hole, so that's not how things must have happened. While this is a great mechanism to ease game play, it also makes it very clear that there is only one predetermined ending. I normally prefer games with a lot of varying paths and conclusions.I'm also not someone who reads science fiction or enjoys playing sci-fy games. However, The Orion Agenda drew me in to the point that all be skepticism about the genre and the game construction melted away.

Even though the plot line isn't very original, it's crafted and written beautifully. The writing is well paced and spurs you on to finish the puzzles to progress the story. The puzzles themselves are of varying difficulty. If I had to rate the average difficulty of the puzzles on a 1-10 scale, I'd give The Orion Agenda a 5.5. While not as challenging as I might have liked it to be, The Orion Agenda compensates for its relative easiness with an engaging storyline and an interactive NPC.

That NPC is the PC's beautiful female partner, Rebecca. Unlike so many other sidekick NPCs in IF she actually has a mind of her own. She'll explore the area on her own, wandering away and returning to the PC at random. She also possesses knowledge that the PC does not, making her invaluable in certain situations. She never serves as a damsel in distress or as comic relief and always has a purpose.

The Orion Agenda is polished to a tee, with no bugs that I could find. The puzzles are well-clued and the environment expansive and engaging. Ideally, I would give The Orion Agenda 4.5 stars, but there was still something missing there for me. It's a solid game, but it didn't have that ah!-factor that I tend to look for. The Orion Agenda is well-balanced, highly enjoyable, and great for one play through.

Gossip feeds on the player's desire to learn more and more about the characters involved in an intricate web of rumors. The PC is a journalist for a gossip magazine, sent on various assignments - from snapping pictures from behind a hedge to mingling at a party to eavesdropping by someone's house. At some points during the game, I felt just a little guilty for getting the PC so deeply involved in other people's business. But any feeling of guilt don't matter here, because after all, Gossip is only a game. And it's a very fun game at that. The more you learn about the celebrities surrounding you, the more involved you become, and the more involved you become, the harder it is to quit.

Gossip was written for the IntroComp of 2009 and to my knowledge, it remains only an intro. But it's a sufficiently long intro with enough game play to keep you occupied for a while. The puzzles are light and well-clued, giving the game an effortless feel. Just settle yourself comfortably in a journalist's shoes and it'll be smooth sailing from there.

As far as the writing goes, I played the English translation which isn't all that smooth. The prose feels a little choppy at times, but that's to be expected. Good writing is one of the first things I look for in a good IF, but it could be easily overlooked here. The prose is sufficiently well-written to set the stage and create the appropriate atmosphere.

Gossip is a solid, polished piece of work that will have you smiling gleefully (until the very last scene, that is).