Reviews by Sorrel
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Hilarious, Really, June 28, 2012I was a little skeptical when I downloaded this game, if only because I knew my laughter would be at the expense of a defenseless, two-nosed chicken. The humor is not subtle. There are no puns. There are no pop-culture references. It's just funny - utterly, lough-out-loud funny. You're trying to kill a two-nosed chicken. That's the entire premise and as far as the game goes. But the game really runs far with that premise. Apparently, you can't just strangle the chicken. You have to find a more creative way.
The puzzles are perfect for IF beginners and provide very little challenge. But it's worth playing for the jokes (which is something I usually never say about an IF game). Even the hint-system - or lack thereof - is written in an amusing way. Just type 'hints' once. I promise you won't get any.
Play The Evil Chicken of Doom to brighten up your day. And don't worry - the chicken will be avenged in the end.
Short and simple, but not as sweet as it appears, June 25, 2012Let me start by saying that I've been away from IF for a long while now. I don't think I've touched an IF game for at least a year. So, choosing to play Under the Bed was much like choosing to play my first IF. I picked it because it seemed short, sweet, and simple. And I'm happy to say that I don't regret the choice.
You're a child tasked with one goal and one goal only: to kill the monster hiding under your bed before it has the chance to hurt your newly arrived baby brother. It's an interesting premise with a lot of potential, and while Under the Bed doesn't quite live up to all that potential, it certainly gets a few things right.
The environment is rather under-implemented. There aren't many objects for the player to interact with, and the setting itself is limited to three sparse rooms (not counting the closets). But, given that we are presented with a single, straightforward goal and given until midnight to achieve it, an expansion on the environment may be unnecessary. It's worth noting that the time limit is more than generous, allowing you ample time to make preparations for the monster's arrival.
Now, onto the puzzle itself. Yes, there's only one, and no, it's not particularly difficult or time-consuming. Because there aren't all that many objects to interact with, the only difficulty comes not from collecting and using multiple items, but from deciding how to use the limited resources that are readily at your disposal. My actions were, for the most part, intuitive, though I admit to being a little baffled by one particular step in the preparation process: (Spoiler - click to show)how to prevent the monster from using the closet as an escape route.
I'm fairly sure that I got all the possible endings, which range from absolute failure to absolute success, with a couple of not-quite victories in the middle. While the game starts out cutesy - a little boy trying to protect his brother from what is probably an imaginary monster - its endings reveal a much darker side to the story. On one play-through, I simply waited around for time to run out, and was rewarded with a very jarring ending. While there's nothing outstanding about the writing of the room and item descriptions, the tone of that particular ending was quite gripping and left me wanting to read more of the author's work.
Another thing worth mentioning about Under the Bed is the hint system. It's integrated seamlessly into the game and comes across less like a series of hints and more like a natural part of the story. Even though it becomes apparent quite quickly, I feel obliged to put its description in a spoiler tag, if only because it was so satisfying to discover it on my own. (Spoiler - click to show)The talking duck was a nice touch, both as a way of introducing hints to the player and as a story element. I do wish that the duck's personality and dialogue options were further developed. Once the novelty of the talking stuffed animal wore off, it began to feel more like a gimmick than a character for the player to interact with. But quite frankly, it's adorable.
My biggest complaint with this game is that it just didn't seem to go deep enough. I would have liked to be able to wander through more of the house, interact with the child's parents, and maybe construct a more elaborate trap for the monster. Having more extensive conversation options with the one talking character in the game would have also been nice. As it stands, the game is very linear, has almost no NPC interaction, and won't provide more than 10-minutes worth of entertainment. But, I enjoyed the story, and it certainly reminded me why I got into interactive fiction in the first place. I'd say those 10 minutes of entertainment and the satisfying feeling of vanquishing a monster from under your bed are worth a play-through.
Promising beginning, but puzzle-less and painfully short.., September 25, 2010The first line of Argument placed the PC as “standing in front of a broken mirror just after midnight.” It was a promising first line, brimming with unanswered questions. Already, I was hooked.
Turns out the broken mirror is the result of an argument with the PC’s wife. That took away from the originality I had envisioned at first, but the writing was still good, so I continued on playing. After exploring the first few rooms (which I found to be grossly under implemented), I was hard-pressed to find any puzzles. There were no locked doors, nothing lost, and nothing in need of being found. Except, there was still the matter of the wife who had left in a fit of fury. So, I assumed the puzzles- less beginning was simply a prelude to the action to come. Oh, how I was wrong.
There is nothing to be done beyond the house and there are only two objects that actually serve to advance the story somewhat. I found the objects in logical order, so the ending I received made some sense. Then, I replayed the game and purposefully passed by the first object - (Spoiler - click to show)the receipt -, receiving the same exact ending. Without knowledge of the first object, the ending was logically impossible. So, there is only one ending and the only thing you need to do to get to it is to pick up a single item.
The ending itself is painfully cliché. Yes, it may be true to life, but it’s also true to soap operas. However, the writing is error-free and rather smooth. I’d like to see future games from the author that are longer and better-implemented. Unfortunately, this one was a flop.
A Misguided Sci-fi Adventure Masquerading as an Ethical Dilemma , August 6, 2010I wanted to like this game, I really, really did. It started out well-enough, with a drunken man looking for his lost son. There were elements of raw emotion and philosophy, good writing and okay puzzles. All in all, it promised not to be a bad game. I solved the first puzzle with ease and felt a jolt of anticipation to see the story's continuation. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.
The game has three difficulties and I played it on the default one, which is medium. So, I expected the puzzles not to be overly hard. However, when the difficulty calls itself medium, I expect medium. What I got was painfully easy. But I got over that, since I wasn't really playing this game for the puzzles. I wanted to find out how it ended, because it actually intrigued me. The first few scenes promised the PC wrestling with morality and the ABOUT section warns the player of graphic material. So, I was prepared for some disturbing stuff.
The next scene did get pretty disturbing. However, it was only physically so. Mentally and emotionally, it felt dry. I would have liked to see some more depth in the writing. The player is presented with ethical dilemmas, in which they don't actually have any say. There appears to be only one answer to each dilemma that will move you forward. Light up deals with concepts like free will and memory, violence (in some descriptions, hinted to be of a sexual nature) and social hierarchy. These are serious topics, deserving of serious thought and better implementation. However, it seemed as if the author took up a bigger chunk of philosophy than they were prepared to work with.
The writing had its highs and lows, including some grammatical and spelling errors. The puzzles did not get any harder (even though the ABOUT section promised that they would). There were some glitchy puzzles and descriptions (presumably due to the limitations of ADRIFT). There were also errors that obviously resulted out of plain negligence on the author's part. (Spoiler - click to show)At one point, examining the chains results in a response stating that the chains are not there. However, you are still able to break them. But, I overlooked that at first, because I was still excited to see how the game would progress. Stupid of me.
Things quickly took a very sci-fi turn. What I presumed to be a bleak foray into the world of ethics and morality turned into hack-and-slash other-worldly linearity. The author obviously took some time to develop a back-story for this other world, but I simply did not like it. Too many things were left unsaid and too many issues were not dealt with extensively enough. The game became terribly linear and then, there was an entire episode of pure battle. A battle system complete with health points and a weapon which you had to pick up every time you used it. I must have grit my teeth a few times as I suffered through that particular chapter.
And then came the end - the end which I had been waiting for throughout the whole game... The end by no means lived up to all the build-up leading to it. I found it to be extremely unsatisfactory, even though most of my questions were answered. Overall it was a let-down for me. It was as if the author came up with a great concept for a sci-fi world, but needed a way to work an adventure into it. So, they slapped together a misguided man looking for his son and some surreal, little elements. Light up did not feel complete to me and frankly, I found it to be a waste of my time.
And it indeed it did make a statement... when it was a flash game called Every Day the Same Dream by molleindustria. The events described in this "game" are a blatant copy of the aforementioned flash game. The scenery, the NPCs, the objects - everything is absolutely the same. Except that in the flash game, the player was actually able to interact with the environment. This textual version is painfully sparse and under-implemented. There are tons of bugs - the elevator doors not opening once the player is inside, for one - and poor writing.
I really appreciated the flash game by molleindustria when I played it and I makes me mad to see a copy of the original author's work put up under slightly different trappings. Of course, the author might have gotten permission to rework the game into an IF, but I very much doubt it. Besides, I believe a reworking of the game as an IF has already been done by Luis Gonzalez, who actually credited the idea's original author. I didn't have the patience (due to the many bugs) nor the incentive (since I know how the original game ends) to play through this. So, I might have missed some form of end credits, in which case I apologize. If the author of this game actually had permission to rewrite the flash game as an IF without adding any new elements to it, then I would very much like to see the original author credited in some form.
I honestly didn’t know quite what to make of this IF. You have a few turns to get out of a trench as a soldier fighting in World Was 1. After your number of turns is up, you are brought into another trench which looks and feels exactly the same as the first one. Then, you do it all over again – and again and again… Personally, I could not manage to find a way to end this cycle. I have a strong suspicion that it was not meant to be ended. The vicious cycle if a single soldier’s battle and a metaphor for the entire war is clearly represented in Over the Edge. Even with writing that is only average, Over the Edge manages to carry across a haunting feel. From the actions of the PC’s captain and fellow soldiers to the gray, hopeless atmosphere, Over the Edge rings with something raw and bleak.
There is something to Over the Edge that caused me too feel a building sense of dread and desperation. The repetitive nature of the game - which so often fails in other IF - actually works here. There are a lot of bugs, some of which can be interpreted as intentional gimmicks.
It left me frantically thinking of a way to free the PC from the treacherous cycle and yet, nothing I did worked. Perhaps, it was not meant to work, which would justly serve to highlight the bleakness and inhumanity of war. In any case, I have not managed to finish Over the Edge in any meaningful sense. Its under implemented setting, bugs, and lack of an actual conclusion work against it. And yet, I feel that something that elicited such a strong emotion without using extravagant descriptions and strong puzzles does not deserve a one or a two. But because of all its errors and limitations, it by no means deserves a higher rating. In the end, I still don’t know what to think of Over the Edge. Give it a try and judge for yourselves.
A Short and Solid Piece of Fantasy , August 2, 2010Wearing the Claw is everything I look for in a fantasy game and more. The premise is simple enough, but contains a lot of interesting twists and turns. You are a young man from the cursed town of Bex. Apparently, an evil wizard has placed a spell on the town's people that slowly has them turning into animals (you included). Now, you must journey to the island of Georgs and stop the wizard. (At least, that's what your task seems to be at the start of the adventure.)
There is no out-right scoring system, but there is a very original method of checking whether you're on the right path. The wolf paw that has replaced your hand will either continue to become...more wolfish or start to change into a human hand once more. I liked that feature a lot, as it managed to relay some sort of scoring information without bringing me out of the story's atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere: Wearing the Claw is set in a well-described, if slightly under-implemented setting. A mixture of detail and use of sensory information manages to immerse the reader in the story. The prose is well-written and has some really poignant moments when I could almost feel the wind or the water droplets on the PC's back. In the later part of the game, the setting draws on the mythological perception of Hades. And while that interpretation of hell has been used in IF many times before, Wearing the Claw puts a new spin on it.
The puzzles are very well-clued and I don't believe I've ever had to refer to the in-game hints. Once I finished the game, I did take a look at the hint system and I was pleased to find that the hints are well-paced and give away just the right amount of information at the right time. There will be times where you might inadvertently put yourself in an unwindable position, but the game will hint at the fact right away and a simply UNDO will ratify the problem. But even if you do play ahead for a few turns without realizing you've done something wrong, it won't take you all that long to restart and play the game again. Actually, that's my only problem with Wearing the Claw: it's too short. I would have liked to spend much more time solving puzzles in each location, but the story seemed to rush me on. Some of the puzzles are quite clever and bring about descriptions and sensations that can only be described as magical.
Yes, there are a few glitches, but there are so nonessential that they do not take away from the game's overall feel. Yes, it could have been more descriptive, featured more items, more locations, and more NPCs. There's a lot of things that could be done to flesh out and improve Wearing the Claw, but I liked it for what it is - a smooth, well-written game with fun puzzles and a great story. If you want a solid fantasy game with none of the long dungeon crawls and endless puzzles of so many epic IF games, give Wearing the Claw a try. I guarantee it will be worth the download.
An easy, witty game, July 18, 2010I rarely enjoy Speed Ifs, but I must admit that this one was pretty good. Garden of the Dragon has an interesting little story that is implemented well. I found no grammar or spelling mistakes and that’s a big plus for a Speed IF game. The puzzle is very easy, almost too easy in my opinion. This game isn’t laugh-out-loud funny like some of the author’s other games, but it’s witty and entertaining. I definitely recommend it if you have a few minutes to spare.
Flipping Through a Simple, Oriental Tale, July 18, 2010The 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.
Whimsical Break From Routine, July 18, 2010Intro 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.
Touching and magical. , July 17, 2010I 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.
Solid combination of storyline and puzzles., July 16, 2010The 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.
Gleeful, entertaining, and simply delicious. , July 7, 2010Gossip 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).
A Comedy of Errors, July 5, 2010The premise isn’t a bad one and has potential for a quick, light game. You're on a quest for a costume to wear to a protest against the dredging of a river. Unfortunately, the premise gets lost in a host of parser errors and bad writing. Reading over the text a few times or having a beta read over it might have helped the author iron out those mistakes. There are also attempts at humor that I found either a little patronizing or plainly unfunny. Instead of trying to immerse the player in the game, the author breaks the “fourth wall”, constantly reminding us that this is all actually a game. That might be funny in certain circumstances and if done correctly, but here it was just plain annoying. A car is referred to as “the only car in the game” and when attempting to wade into the sea, we get the response of “This is a GAME. You can’t swim.” Really? Because there are plenty of IF games where swimming is very possible and even encouraged.
It’s that slightly patronizing, off-hand parser tone that ultimately drove me to dislike this game. It’s as if the author wasn’t serious about it when he was writing the game. And in my opinion, even a good joke game needs a small amount of care and serious work to be put into it.
The puzzles are easy, but come complete with a lot of glitches. For example: (Spoiler - click to show)When the PC successfully puts something into the panpipes and examines them on the next turn, we get the response of “Panpipes is empty.” Never mind the poor grammar. Apparently, there is a black-hole within the panpipes that eats up everything you put inside them and then magically teleports the items back to your inventory. This would have been very easy to correct, had the author taken the time to have this properly playtested.
Some plot devices seem contrived and some just don’ make sense. (Spoiler - click to show)If Shelly traded in the key for drugs, it must have some value. Why would the shady man under the fig tree just give it to the PC for free? After completing a task for a character and going to talk to him afterward, there is no change in his responses or actions, even though his problem has been solved. He just keeps saying the same thing over and over again.
Perhaps I’m being too hard on this, since Along the River does have a few moments of genuinely good humor and writing. I think that if a second version were to be released with some improvements, Along the River could become a really good, fun piece of IF.
Thought-provoking, July 5, 2010Internal Vigilance is an extremely thought-provoking game – one where every action and its possible impact should be thought through twice. It starts out routinely enough: You are an agent for The Agency, which serves The Union, which apparently restricts the people’s freedom in exchange for keeping them protected. You are tasked with interrogating a terrorist suspect. At first I was intrigued with the many conversation possibilities for this interrogation. However, that’s the one part of the game that left me disappointed. The suspect appears to be well-characterized in the beginning, but some of his actions become a little perplexing when he breaks very abruptly. From the initial impression I got of this NPC, I expected the interrogation scene to be a bit lengthier. It seemed as if the author was trying to move the story along faster than it would move naturally in favor of the events that are waiting for the player in the next few chapters of the game.
That speeding up of the first scene turned out to be at least partially justified, because the events after it are indeed worth exploring in more detail. In the beginning of the next scene, I got the impression that Internal Vigilance was trying to give itself a surreal feel, where none was necessary. Fortunately, I was mistaken. What I mistook for a surreal, little gimmick is actually a clever metaphor and plot device. In fact, at the conclusion of the game you will learn just how much your choices during this part affect the outcome. Throughout Internal Vigilance, there are many choices that will drastically affect your ending and there were times where I stared at the screen for a few minutes before making one of those choices.
Unfortunately, there are some implementation errors in Internal Vigilance. They don’t take away from the general enjoyment of the game, but they did annoy me a bit in the beginning.
>Take papers
The desk it too heavy for that.
Little errors like that made me think that the author didn’t care enough to iron out the game before publishing it. In fact, there are even some minor grammar mistakes and typos that could have been fixed with a thorough read-through. But all of those mistakes can be forgiven, because the premise of the game serves as a brilliant, thought-provoking experiment into concepts like freedom, government stability, and patriotism. There are nine endings in total and each ending is affected by the little choices the PC makes as a solitary agent. And those little choices sometimes affect the entire structure of the world around the PC.
Internal Vigilance made me think – really think deeply before each step in the game. Going through the story didn’t feel effortless or instinctive. Every action was deliberate and laced with a small amount of bitterness for all the doors that closed when one opened. This isn’t a game for a lunch break or a relaxing afternoon. This one has a high replay value and you might find yourself going back and back and back and frantically trying to change your responses to change the final outcome.
But no one outcome feels completely victorious. There is always that one grain of doubt in every ending that makes you want to go back and change things for the better. And I loved that about Internal Vigilance.
Under implemented but with an interesting premise , July 4, 2010I tend to be wary of ADRIFT games, because of the many parser imperfections and glitches that often come with them. But once in a while there comes an ADRIFT game that turns the stereotypes associated with ADRIFT games on their heads. This is not that game.
We are coming to get you! has a host of parser confusion and crudely implemented actions that take a lot of the enjoyment out of being a germ bent on infecting an unsuspecting human. And that’s a pity, because I actually liked this premise and I think that there is a lot of potential here for a great game. It’s a neat, original idea that just happened to be under implemented. The puzzles are all extremely linear, but great for IF beginners. If said beginners can get past the sparse environment, We are coming to get you! can become a good learning tool for those new to IF.
Some of the descriptions are just a little nauseating, but one would expect that since the PC is a germ. I didn’t mind playing through this game (which should take you no longer than three minutes) and I would like to see more from the author.
A perfect example of a great conversation-based game., July 2, 2010Shadows on the mirror is a great example of a story-based conversation game, with a few little puzzles thrown in. This game does require a bit of fiddling with before you can work out how to break away from that "point A to point B' pattern. However, I found that fiddling to be very enjoyable. The prose isn't anything special, but it gets the job done in a nice, simplistic way with some humor thrown in. Some of the endings are also written quite beautifully and give the game a very surreal feel.
The PC is well-characterized and once you come in tune with her personality, figuring out he next step becomes a lot easier. As for Galen, I found him to be a rather interesting personage. He has that unapproachable-macho-but-really-sweet-inside vibe about him. Shadows on the mirror is a game with a dash of romance in it, so you should treat it as such. Flirt with Galen and act the way the PC would act if she liked a young man. If you really get stuck, you can always take a peek at the topics list provided in-game. Also, (Spoiler - click to show)examine everything, ask Galen about everything, and tell him about everything. Sometimes, very nonessential things turn out to be the key to the next step. Do things that you would no normally do in an IF. You can touch Galen, steal Galen's possessions, and if you get the timing right, even kiss him.
Once you get Galen on your side, you'll find that there is a wide array of endings to the game - some more romantic than others - outside the linear story progression. And if you really, really want to know how to get Galen on your side: (Spoiler - click to show)Take off that pesky necklace from around his neck. Things should develop a lot easier after that.
I love conversation games and I found this one to be a real treat. The atmosphere is perfect, the NPC is lovable, the PC is believable, and the storyline is interesting enough to keep you reading for more.
A haunting piece of humanity, April 24, 2010This is one of those games that you either love or hate. Personally, I loved every word of it. The PC is a doctor euthanizing patients in a hospital amid a widespread outbreak of smallpox. The atmosphere is colorless and numb – a fitting metaphor for the numbness one feels after being injected with antibiotics. The game moves at a perfect pace, allowing the player to mull about the hospital and take everything in before continuing on.
Mercy makes you think about death, humanity, life and yes…even love. The prose really pulls on the heart strings and combined with the subject matter, it makes the game almost too painful to play. I know that this may sound terribly sentimental, but at one point I could feel tears gathering in my eyes. There are so many directions this game can go and I wouldn’t say that there is really a “winning” ending. There are several endings which I would consider a better outcome for the PC than others, but ultimately it’s interesting to try out every branch of the story and read every ending.
There are moments of Mercy that are truly haunting – presenting death in a way that is beyond a corpse or an illness. Mercy deals with the death of the soul – a complete lack of feeling in the PC that becomes quite alarming toward the middle of the game.
Puzzle-wise, Mercy is nothing special. There are no puzzles, per-say – only choices. The game progresses at a set pace, giving the player the option of making certain choices in the process. The thing is – those choices actually matter. Every little choice you make will impact the ending you get in some way.
I strongly recommend that you play through Mercy several times to really get the full experience. The imagery sets the scene perfectly, but to get the full story, it’s best to visit all the locations and examine everything available. You won’t be able to do that all in one play-though.
But be warned: the theme of death is a very prominent one in the game and you should not play it unless you can handle the emotional impact. And believe me, there is an impact.
Short 'n sweet, April 20, 2010Couch of Doom is short, sweet, and simple. The aim of the game is to get yourself off the couch – seriously, it’s that simple. Except it’s really not. Turns out taking the first step away from a life of laziness is harder than it looks.
There are two main puzzles which are relatively easy and don’t require too much ingenuity to solve. Take things at face value in this game. If you want to get something done, don’t think of a series of actions to accomplish it – chances are one verb will do the trick. That’s one of the downsides of Couch of Doom. The puzzles are so straight-forward and easy, that they take away from the overall feel of the game.
The writing is light-hearted and the excuses the PC gives for not standing up are amusing (and at times sad) to read. This game will take you no longer than ten minutes to complete and you’ll get a warm, fuzzy feeling when you do. In short, Couch of Doom is by no means a great work of IF. It is, however, a great introduction for those new to the genre.
An emotional shred of philosophy, April 20, 2010There is something surreal about this game – something that kept me reading (and sometimes rereading) every line of text. I will say right away that this game is not for those looking for a puzzle or an adventure. In The End doesn’t have a sophisticated conversation system, a complicated puzzle, or deeply interactive NPCs. What it does have, however, is a deep philosophical edge that will really get you thinking.
In The End starts out at the funeral of your friend, as you think upon death and life and where you fit into it all. From there, you must simply do what feels right. The endings which you can reach vary only slightly on the surface, but the feeling you get from them are vastly different. Proceeding through the game is easy and at some point, becomes instinctive.
In The End creates the illusion of a greater world beyond the parameters of the game. When in reality, there is very little depth to the actual environment and few descriptions for examinable objects.
One other thing that I found really interesting: Upon trying to save the game or undo a move, I was presented with “Life doesn’t work that way.” That single phrase adds to the realism of the PC’s situation. He is caught in a moment of life where walking away from the computer screen isn’t an option.
If I was rating this game purely on its emotional impact and philosophical spin, I would give it the full five stars. Rating it as a regular IF game, I would give it three. But, keeping in mind that In The End is really not quite one, nor the other, I will settle for a four.
So, if you have five minutes to play a short, meaningful game, then open up In The End.
Badly-written and painfully easy, February 25, 2010This is perhaps the worst IF game I've ever played. Dancing Even Him? lacks any real plot and contains a series of the simplest one-move puzzles I've ever seen. Going through the game, I felt like I was in some warped, five-minute version of an Indiana Jones movie. The puzzles (if they can even be called that) consisted almost exclusively of climbing and pulling levers. There is some atrocious grammar in the descriptions and it's obvious that the author didn't proof-read the text more than once (if at all).
The only good thing I can say about the game is that I rather liked the revelation about the title in the end. It made me chuckle slightly (in that depressed way people chuckle when they realize they just wasted three minutes of their lives). If the title interests you at all, you should devote five minutes to Dancing Even Him? to discover its meaning. Otherwise, don't bother with this game.
Bland and easy, but with some potential , February 17, 2010Terminal is short, way too easy, and has very little artistic merit. The premise of the game shows potential, but the storyline is never fully developed. Basically, you play a computer-based entity who must build himself a body to escape his present situation.
The descriptions are short and contain grammatical errors. Descriptions of certain items could have been embellished a little more to give the game a better flow. Much of the scenery cannot be interacted with, nor examined. That leaves the player with the ability to examine only the objects necessary to completing the game.
There are two ways the player can win the game and both are very well-clued; too well clued, in my opinion. The puzzle becomes way too easy with all the hints that the player receives throughout the game.
However, despite all its drawbacks, there is some potential in Terminal. Perhaps the author's second game will fare better.
Quirky and endearing, February 16, 2010Party Foul is not so much about solving the puzzles, as it is about keeping them solved. As you try to accomplish the three main tasks in order to leave the cocktail party of doom, you will be constantly swarted by the hostess. You must time your actions accordingly with those of the hostess, so as not to have her undoing everything you've accomplished. That aspect of the game infuriated me to no end, until I realized how to hold off the annoying woman: (Spoiler - click to show)Make a mess that will keep her occupied for a few turns. Once I got around that issue, I found the game to be rather enjoyable.
The conversation system wasn't too extensive, but it got the job done. What I found most endearing in Party Foul were the responses of the hostess to the PC's blunders and attempts at carrying sharp objects. The responses varied and got more exasperated and humorous as the offending actions were repeated.
The puzzles are well-clued and not too difficult. All in all, Party Foul is a polished, but rather mundane game. I would have given it three stars if it wasn't for the well-characterized NPCs. They each have their own personal quirks and witty responses. The tidbits of information the player learns about them brighten up the experience and in some cases (Spoiler - click to show)-Frank's drinking problem, for one-add a refreshing dose of realism. Party Foul is no masterpiece, but it’s a good way to spend twenty minutes.
Engaging, surreal, and relatively easy, February 10, 2010Dual Transform isn't a hard game. I don't think it was meant to be hard. It doesn't take too long to figure out how the game works and from there, it's just a matter of using logic to complete the next puzzle. Once you become immersed in the game, logic is replaced by a kind of instinct where you understand what to do next even before you comprehend why it has to be done. The puzzle system creates an environment that is unlike anything I've seen previously. Your surroundings are ever-changing and you must find a way to manipulate them to get to the next "room".
After playing the game for a few minutes, I felt drawn into its beautiful world. Each "room" represents a physical property and the more time you spend in the environment, the more immersed you become in the sensation of said property. The back-story of the PC is never fully explained, but
I didn’t feel a need for more information. The PC is a researcher, trying to design a three-dimensional, sensory workspace. The story behind the puzzle is intriguing, but simple enough so that the player doesn’t get lost in an overwhelming amount of data.
The "one object only" concept was implemented well and simplified the game at some points, while making it harder at others. The descriptions were well-written and used plenty of sensory information to create a realistic atmosphere. The ending puzzle brought the game to a beautiful, surreal, and somewhat surprising close. Hopefully, the author will follow up with a sequel like the ending implies.
Whimsical and pleasantly evil , February 6, 2010The Devil Made Me Do It places you in the role of the devil, who tries to tempt two little kids into going into a forbidden yard. It's refreshing to play an evil character once in a while and coming up with a plan to corrupt the children is quite interesting.
The writing is error-free and the descriptions are short and to the point. The puzzle itself depends a lot on timing, which is its only downfall. In order to understand how to time your actions, you really have to get into the devil's head and that can be a little hard at first.
The story itself is original and whimsical, making for a fun gaming experience. There are some fun "hidden" commands that will make you chuckle if you discover them. For a SpeedIF, this game is definitely a good one.
A Good Way to Spend Ten Minutes , January 7, 2010Gleaming the Verb is not one of those deep, immersive IFs that will take your breath away. It is however, a very interesting way to spend ten minutes. The game is set in a bare room. You are naked and carrying absolutely nothing, your only companion in the room is a cube. And so, the puzzle begins. There is only one puzzle and it’s rather short. Once I understood the mechanics behind it, I was able to solve it relatively quickly.
I wouldn’t call Gleaming the Verb a full-fledged IF. It’s more like a brain teaser set in interactive fiction format. The idea behind the puzzle is quite clever and you will definitely feel a pang of satisfaction at completing it. I would love to see more games of this kind from the author in the future.
Atmospheric and dark, but not challenging , December 8, 2009The Lighthouse has a moody, dark atmosphere, with a few plot surprises that might make you shiver a little if you've been reading carefully. You start of as a tourist, heading to see the famous lighthouse in the midst of a heavy rain, with a broken arm, and a hill to climb. The plot itself isn't very original. The scenario of tourists stumbling onto dark secrets in creepy buildings has been done before. However, the author does put a new spin on it. There are some poignantly scary seems that have been written well.
Unfortunately, the puzzles (if you could call them that) are quite easy. There are no codes to crack, no mazes to explore, no and no hidden doors to find. The procedure is routine and the only interesting thing about the "puzzles" is manipulating your actions to find an undiscovered ending. There are multiple endings you can reach, but (from what I've seen) only one can be considered moderately happy.
I wasn't quite sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. In the end, I settled for 3. The writing is good, but then again, if I only wanted good writing I could have read a book. I want some challenge out of my IF games and I didn't get it here. (Of course, I might be missing some important piece of information that prevented me from reaching another step of the game, but I doubt it.)
So, if you're looking for a short, atmospheric game that will put you in a dark, slightly paranoid mood, then play The Lighthouse. However, if you're looking for challenging puzzle games, move on.
The Djinni Chronicles is unique and immersive , November 29, 2009The Djinni Chronicles creates an other-worldly atmosphere in which you must think and act like a djinni. The plot is original and implemented very well. The game makes you feel as if you’re playing out a small episode in a large world filled with magical djinni lore.
The puzzles are logical and well-clued. After completing certain puzzles I felt a pang of satisfaction that encouraged me to continue with the game. The puzzles serve to immerse the player deeper in the djinni’s world. Most, if not all puzzles, use certain concepts that are unique to this game. For example: common actions like “take an apple” are replaced with channeling the apple’s essence into your own. That essence is known as Purpose throughout the game. Purpose is an interesting concept that you will have to grasp in order to fully immerse yourself in the djinni’s world. Fortunately, the concept is well introduced and indirectly explained (as are other new concepts in the game).
The game is very well written, with the descriptions being neither too long nor too short. The characters of the three djinni are painted well with just a few sentences.
The author did a superb job with this game. It’s unique, well written, player-friendly, and contains puzzles that are just the right level of difficulty. I will definitely be replaying this game in the future.
Beautiful and surreal, a must-play , November 4, 2009 I lost track of time as I played Snowquet and that’s not something that happens to me often. The writing flows effortlessly, drawing the player in right away. The descriptions are beautifully written, without being unnecessarily long. I found the dream sequence wonderfully surreal, to the point that I no longer felt like I was typing away on a computer.
The puzzles were well-clued and didn’t keep me guessing for too long. When I did have to resort to using the built-in hints, I found them to be well-paced, giving me the perfect nudge in the right direction.
A big part of Snowquest is exploration of the environment. There are times in the game when only very close examination of your surroundings will reveal what must be done next.
The plot seems rather straightforward at first, but there are definitely twists up ahead. At the first of those twists, I found myself staring at my computer screen for a few seconds, trying to take in the new development. The most interesting thing about Snowquest is how well the storyline comes together in the end. Even all the minor details that seemed out of place before fit it nicely in the last few scenes.
Snowquest is a must-play for everyone, whether you’re just discovering IF or have been playing it for a long time.
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