Ratings and Reviews by ChrisM
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Aerial Amusement for kids and grown-ups alike, July 22, 2020A clever, absorbing game quite deceptive in its simplicity: the things that you need to do are very straightforward but you'll find yourself hooked for hours trying to reach the next level. The player input is very stripped down: there are few words needed and often the activities can be completed by just entering a single letter or two. The gameplay is progressive, requiring completion of an entertaining variety of mini-games to earn rewards that can be cashed in to elevate you to the next level, where ever more elements are unlocked. It feels as though a lot of thought has been put into making the game as accessible as possible by eliminating the usual barriers that parser-based IF presents to inexperienced players. I playtested this with a 7-year-old and he could pretty much do it on his own, which is more than can be said for almost any other text adventure I've come across - but there is enough here to keep adults pleasantly diverted as well. Recommended.
Satisfyingly not-too-hard escape room, July 19, 2020A solid escape room game with puzzles that are just about the right level of hardness if you want something to think about...but not too hard. I did it in about 45 mins with a full score and didn't need any hints along the way (but they are there if you need them). The story isn't hugely germane to the gameplay but nevertheless, it is there and the revealing of it in snippets and flashbacks as you progress through the game is quite effective. The writing is good and does what it needs to do in relaying tension and a feeling of impending peril, with a minimum of flashing lights and blaring sirens. Give it a go, get through to the end and be reassured that you will know exactly what to do the next time you find yourself in a fix in low Earth orbit.
Retro fun beneath the waves, July 19, 2020A fairly typical Quilled text adventure from legendary ZX Spectrum publisher Zenobi. This one is set on the Greek island of Thira, putative location of the Atlantis of fable, where you have decided to go on holiday and accidentally stumble upon a fabulous underwater kingdom during a quick dip in the sea just down the road from your hotel room. It's a fun little run-around with some amusing writing in the usual droll style of 8-bit text adventures. Thira itself is a small but lively place, populated mainly by shifty mule-vendors and sandal-proffering youths who are just after your trousers, whereas Atlantis itself is so sedate that most of the inhabitants have fallen into suspended animation! But in spite of that, there is still some puzzly fun to be had if you're looking for a retro-flavoured diversion to fill an hour or two.
The parser is more or less what you would expect for a game from this era: mostly two-word, with a couple of occasions where a multi-word input is required. There are the standard 'guess the verb' frustrations in a few places (although the right words are not that difficult to work out, for those players gifted with more than minimal patience), and a couple of unexpected sudden death scenarios (I was arrested for (Spoiler - click to show)indecent exposure in one instance, and (Spoiler - click to show)burnt my feet on a hot beach in another. Part of the normal daily routine for the average British holiday-maker, but seemingly enough to make you give up your quest for Atlantis in this game). Naturally, this being a classic text adventure, you have to spend a lot of time examining objects and locations, most of which yield nothing much but occasionally prove essential to completing the game. If you’re feeling really lazy then you might need to glance at a walk-through, but there is nothing too perplexing involved here and there is even the (very occasional) built-in HELP prompt to assist with the more obscure puzzles. The ending feels a bit as though the author is running out of ideas, with the Atlantan royal family snoozing in rooms next to one another (yet desperate to be reunited) and separated by a slightly odd locked door puzzle. But that doesn't really matter as the player has probably had enough by that point and the end is in sight! And duly arrives, after a rather pointless-seeming return to your starting point.
Judged by the standards of the time and taken on its own terms, this isn’t a bad little game at all and should certainly provide a brief and mildly fantastic diversion for players interested in such retro stuff.
Easyish linear game with a well-realised historical setting, July 17, 2020This is an amusing little game with some strong writing and a well-drawn player character in Ariadne, a sassy novitiate priestess who gets caught up in a little light espionage after a night in the sack with a couple of local goatherds. The map is fairly small and the story very linear: you are more or less trundled along from one scene to another with quite a lot of heavy hints and signposting to help you along the way. That being so, the puzzle coefficient is pretty small, but the whole feels immersive and convincing enough (thanks to the writing) for that not to matter too much. If you're in the mood for something not too taxing then this makes a pleasant diversion for an hour or so.
There are a few typos in there, and some other minor issues (for example, at one point you're told that you converse with a character while you walk to another location, but you don't actually leave the location that you are in), but nothing too egregious to distract from the overall experience.
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