Ratings and Reviews by Tito Valenz

I did not win

For a while, this game appears to be a very straightforward quest to gather ingredients for baking. I got pretty far just using common sense, and since I hadn’t read the description, I didn’t know what genre it actually was. When I discovered another layer to the proceedings, it came hard out of left field. I didn’t make it to the end, so on my second playthrough, I was more conservative–which means that I didn’t make any choices to intentionally upset the locals. That worked. Then came the climactic finale. It was pretty satisfying–I would like to keep replaying just to see all the different possibilities in this scene alone. Also, I enjoyed going back to make bad choices, because even though it can cause the game to end early, some of the best moments came on these paths. And a third reason to keep replaying is that you can unlock “bonus endings.” There is a sentence that appears when this happens saying, “Seems like there’s more of these [bonus endings] than actual endings, doesn’t it.” I would recommend Let Them Eat Cake. My only wishes are that you could 1–save/load a game, and 2–have the game keep track of the endings you’ve found (the website will keep a count, but resets if when you leave the page).

No One Else Is Doing This by Lauren O’Donoghue

This was something different. It is a timed text adventure in which you are going around a neighborhood asking for donations. You have to pick which houses to approach, and then make choices about what to say. You also have to manage restroom breaks, and warm up from the chilly weather occasionally. Can you raise your target goal of funds?

SPOILER: (Spoiler - click to show)The description suggests that the experience is meant to feel like someone losing their passion for something they believed in, but it felt to me like a metaphor for any experience that was once enjoyable, but for whatever reason, it begins to sour. Kind of like how Disney World used to be fun, and now you have to pay for fastpass. It’s really hard to get someone to answer the door in this story, let alone hear you out long enough to convince them to take any action. Maybe the author has had bad experiences with community service projects, but it seems like the game was made to discourage you from getting involved.

Blood Island by Billy Krolick

I think this might have been the most entertaining entry from the 2022 comp I’ve played up to this point. The premise is pure Tito Valenz catnip: you play as an entrant on a reality dating show–set on an island, yabish–with a selection of hot singles being stalked by a killer with a cake knife (not a spoiler–the cake knife appears very, very early). The scenes flowed into each other effortlessly with no wasted moments. I was completely engaged, start to finish. When I was done, I immediately played through two more times to look for different results. I do wish there was more variety as far as what you can make happen–especially since there is HEAVY emphasis that EVERY choice matters (not all do). This is also another choice-based story, and you know how I much I enjoy that convenience. It’s a longer game, but the mechanics help it breeze right along. I also appreciated that the author is clearly a student of the producer manipulation these shows are known for: when you take another character on a date, there is a seafood lunch set out, but of course, the couple is NEVER allowed to actually eat the food. That’s for display only! So I will be rating this one highly and I give it my recommendation. Unless you don’t care for dating sims. Or horror trope deconstruction. Or slasher films. Or really, just talking about horror movies in general.

Inside by Ira Vlasenko

In this game, you play as a witch inside the mind of another witch, and many of your choices consist of things to say to your host. It was interesting playing as the main character but existing within the NPC at the same time.

Over the course of the story, you are trying to escape from some unknown place you have found yourselves in. There are some light puzzles, but I would expect every player will navigate them easily.

What I liked: Written in Ink, the game makes it easy to progress, make decisions, and eventually replay it. I feel like the majority of the games I’ve tried for this year’s comp so far have been in a click-the-link style, which I am really preferring. It’s great for when you don’t feel like spending a long time on one passage.

What I wish were different: I always enjoy it when I can experience different content by playing the game differently. On a second playthrough, I made a different choice at almost every opportunity, but almost everything unfolded the same way. Also, I would have liked to have more characterization. However, for readers who just want to get to the action, this story moves along at a brisk pace.

Nose Bleed by Stanley W. Baxton

This one made me squirm. It is short and economical, but still descriptive enough to tap into a fear that nightmares are made of. It uses some clever effects to enhance the repulsion, but the writing is what makes this entry so transporting. Except–who can I recommend it to? Considering that most of us who enjoy text adventures are able to place ourself in the game so effectively, what would motivate someone to want to go through this???

(Spoiler - click to show)As someone who gets stains on their clothes at work on a regular basis, I connected very closely with the anxiety of a highly noticeable mess turning everyone’s attention towards you. I also relate to the feeling that everything you try to do to cover it up and move on just makes it worse.

I enjoyed The Thirty Nine Steps. You play as a man trying to evade capture as he moves from London to Scotland. It is fairly tense, with well-written details, and is easy to navigate. I thought I had made some good choices, considering how successfully I overcame each obstacle. However, on a second playthrough, I made different choices, but the results only altered slightly. This makes me feel like my choices might not have mattered, which takes away from the satisfaction I felt on the first playthrough. I also wouldn't mind if the story was expanded on a little more. It's nice that this game can be played without too much time investment, but I would be willing to spend more time on it if other scenarios were added.

This is an entry that I enjoyed playing and replaying, and I intend to play again. I found it to be a bit atmospheric and mysterious, and it left me wanting to know more. I would even describe it as “fast-paced,” as it drew me in so quickly I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Nadine Rodriguez is able to indicate a lot with just a few words; she keeps it simple, and her work is all the more effective for it.

Recommended.

Here was a quick and easy text adventure with a somewhat whimsical feel to it. There are several puzzles and they all have in-game explanations for how to solve them. Unfortunately, some readers will find that too many grammatical errors were left in. I hate bringing this up, but I know there are players who would want to know how pervasive they are. The amount of run-on sentences alone will be too much for some, as they occur in nearly every paragraph. At one point, the author spells the name of the main character differently for several lines. I appreciated the information included on the credits page, but the impression I was left with was that this entry was written quickly and that no edits were done.

This is a very smartly written IF. I was so glad when I finished this game that I hadn’t read any part of its description–it might have influenced my choices. As it was, I scored a 5 out of 5! However, I think I arrived at an early ending and missed a lot more of the story, so I will play again. BE SURE to read the FAQs as well as the influences page. Did you know that the first choice-based game book was a 1930 publication that let you make decisions about careers and relationships for three different women???

This was a pleasant enough game. You play as a bartender who is saving up money for a goal of the player's choosing. You interact with customers and mix drinks in a mini-game. It has a colorful and well-themed UI that makes use of lots of little tricks to add detail.

The story is divided up into days, and depending what you choose, you may see different scenarios on different days, my favorite being the visit with the elderly couple. However, I found that there were a lot of repetitive tasks that never varied. I expected the drink-mixing mini game to get more complicated over time, but the only change is to add a timed element. Even when I increased the difficulty, there wasn't any challenge to it. However, if you really enjoy mixing the drinks, you can opt to play an Arcade mode that just focuses on challenges involving the mini game with no story running through it.

It is a fairly upbeat story with comical characters and playful scenarios. However, as it stands now, the grammatical errors are pervasive and jarring. They are on every page, and they disrupt the rhythm of the passages. I usually try to overlook them and focus on the story, but there was no getting around it. Some extensive proofreading and editing is sorely needed.

I enjoyed this one a lot. It was atmospheric and slightly creepy. The gameplay centers around your character asking questions to a girl who is begging for help. You have to guess the right things to ask, and the NPC responds. The author has developed an impressive system in which a lot of what I tried got fairly relevant responses. I was genuinely motivated to figure out how to help the girl. There are no content warnings, as that would spoil important details, but be aware you may read descriptions or see images that could disturb some players. I was able to finish fairly quickly, but I am interested to see what other responses are available, so I would replay Thanatophobia again.

I really struggled with this game. I never really got the hang of it, even though it's centered on finding rhyming words. I used the hint system and look at the walkthrough, but I still couldn't come up with a strategy for solving the puzzles. It was clear a lot of work went into this game, and it has a fun, light-hearted tone, but I just didn't connect with it.

This game is just about as brief as they come. There were so few details that I didn't really get any imagery in my mind. However, it did create a certain feel. Rather than describe what it was like, I would say give it a try. It's so quick, you may as well experience it to make up your own mind.

Somewhat of a mystery, this game has the player exploring around for clues. However, there is more going on than a run-of-the-mill mystery. It took me a little extra time to put together what I should probably be doing, and I think that might have cost me: I ended up failing my first playthrough. However, I can't wait to try it again. I like the puzzles and mechanics; the Twine format makes it very easy to navigate and retrace your steps when you realize there is something else you can try. Recommended.

Here is a choice-based game that I found very pleasant to navigate. Despite being a sci-fi adventure taking place on another world (not my usual preference), I was drawn in right away; I attribute that to the fact that the setting is more of an underwater environment than an alien planetary location. There are five chapters to this story. I have played the game several times. While I enjoyed the writing, I was a little disappointed that it seemed like nothing you do in the first three chapters keeps you from arriving at the same place in the fourth one. Another nitpick is that in the first chapter, you have to choose what to say to crew members to hopefully inspire their confidence. However, even when I tried to choose carefully, the NPC's reactions seemed very random. On top of that, I didn't see how it made a difference at any point going forward. I enjoyed the exploration and problem-solving of the second chapter, possibly my favorite section. The third chapter lets you decide a few things, but as I said, you end up in the same place regardless. Probably the most challenging portion was the mini-game in the fourth chapter. Tension started to build here and decisions became more consequential. Still, the game is pretty forgiving, and it seemed pretty easy to get a satisfactory ending. I would have liked more time with the NPC mermaids, as they were the most interesting part of the story, but I also enjoyed a lot of the other strange creatures. On one hand, I appreciated the brevity. On the other, I felt like more details could have enriched the experience. Fun, not too difficult, it makes for a solid entry in the 2021 IFComp.

I found this game very addicting. I had a hard time putting it down, even though there were things about it that frustrated me.

First, this is an RPG. It kind of reminds me of a solo module, or a gaming paperback, like the Fighting Fantasy books. Except 4x4 is randomized, so even though some of the content is similar, enough changed that I found playing again to be just as much fun.

I have played two 5-hour session, each one with a different character. The first character I chose was a trickster, whose skills were magic and charisma. I think my mistake was that I tried to increase her fighting ability, when I probably should have concentrated on learning more spells. Even after hours of exploring, the character still was not effective against difficult opponents. I have not finished the story with this character yet.

So I picked a mercenary for the second try. This character didn't have the charisma to get me certain advantages, but was it was a lot easier to get strong enough to actually finish some of the quests.

This is a really big game with a lot of content. I think the author balanced everything out very well. There are a lot of other things to do besides fight, and a good amount of stats to track.

I played this game so I could score it for IFComp 2021. I am very lucky that I got to this game last. If I had gotten into it earlier on, I might have been so absorbed with it, I might not have had time to give some of the other games a chance.

In this story, you have to read messages to a dead person left by their loved ones. Then, you have to contact the loved ones and ask them to verify that this person is, in fact, dead. It connects to the story of another of the author's games, "Weird Grief," which shows a lot more of the characters. I was surprised at the reactions from the characters during the group chat. This was pretty sad. I recommend playing the other game first.

This is a lengthy parser game in which you must explore a "...beautiful old house haunted by a lost soul." Your command set is very limited, so you have to find unique ways to solve puzzles. As a first game, I thought the mechanics were very clever, allowing this piece to distinguish itself from the pack. There is a mystery here, which unfolds gradually as your character explores and discovers details that explain how they arrived at their situation. I would have really liked (Spoiler - click to show)some branching with the final choice, because I felt that the only thing you are able to do isn't quite in line with the character as I came to know them. I understand the reason for having content warnings in the description of a game, but I was glad I didn't read this one before playing. I prefer to begin with minimal expectations, not knowing what kinds of emotions I might experience until the details unfold. Very immersive with medium difficulty and some startling surprises.

Here is a fairly short story about a man looking for someone who has been missing. He wanders through several dream-like settings and talks to several NPCs to get information. Most of the descriptions and dialogue sound as though they are meant to be symbolic, and that the character’s journey is an allegory. He visits place that have words like “Indecision” and “Realization” in their names. At one point, Alice in Wonderland shows up. He has to ask one girl if he can have her essence. Later, one of the girls he has met tells him he must release them from the hold he has on them. At the end of his search, he is finally forced to accept a difficult truth. It is vague and a little surreal at times. I don't believe that just because a piece of writing sounds like it is open to interpretation necessarily indicates that deeper meaning is present. I think that sometimes authors just go from one idea to the next without having thought about how it fits together. I personally did not feel there was anything to gain by thinking about what this story might be saying.

I guess I'm not a true metalhead. It took me way too long to figure out the possibilities of this game. I came SO CLOSE to reading the walkthrough because I thought I was out of ideas. I am sure true devotees of bone shattering riffs knew the kind of trial and error that was needed to keep progressing.

I enjoyed the humorous tone, and it was fun finding solutions to these situations. There is a little bit of in-game hinting to help players along, which kept me from getting too frustrated. The download includes a cool map, but you would never really need it; the location is easily navigated.

I have read comments criticizing the implementation of this game, and when I was playing the early parts of it, I would have agreed. However, after finishing, I actually think this game is written the way it is meant to be. For the first few puzzles, I was upset because I was trying things that I thought seemed like clever solutions, but were not the correct solutions. That doesn't mean the game is underwritten; just that it knows what it wants to be. You have to stick to theme when playing this one. One thing that helped me is writing down what I had already figured out, so I knew what I hadn't tried. I would never have been able to commit it all to memory.

The one exception is (Spoiler - click to show)the ending. What is going on with the IFComp this year and all the abrupt finishes??? This story was about to climax into a flaming ball of awesomeness and blow everyone's genitals out the backs of their heads, and then it was gone. You gotta give me more here, man!

I could nitpick about the whole glam rock controversy, but so much of this story is so on point, I didn't mind. It's a fun challenge with great theming and an interesting mechanic. If you disagree, then there is not enough room in this comment box to properly describe how much I hate you.

This game does a great job of slamming you right in the middle of the action and pummeling you with a sense of urgency. I haven't read through a story this quickly in a long time. Everything in the text drives the story forward at an incredible speed, and I felt like I didn't have a moment to waste. Having an NPC robot partner constantly shouting directions and telling me to quit wasting time contributed to the stress level. Luckily, the interface is incredibly intuitive. I thought it was set up so that the player can quickly decide what needs to be done with minimal exploration. Even when I got to a moment where things seemed to have settled down, the tension remained right up until the end. I also appreciated that the author used the description box to show the moments before the game started. More episodes in this series would be highly anticipated.

Here is a game that is quick and easy to play. It is choice based, usually offering two links at the end of short passages. It is a little underwritten; some things get skipped over, some things get minimal descriptions. One thing that bothered me is that dialog was not separated into paragraphs. A sentence from one speaker would be followed in the same line of text by another sentence from a different speaker. However, I don't think these things keep you from understanding what is going on. If you want to visit a fantasy realm for a brief adventure, "Enveloping Darkness" gets you in and out with great economy.

I liked the mechanic of playing a game in Messenger. To progress, you usually have three options you can choose from. It is a spy thriller, but much of it is played like a comedy. You are given a mission at the very beginning: to kill a man and his two children.

I was very interested to see where this would go. I played several times to get better endings. It seemed like a large percentage of the choices, mostly dialog, don't change the course of the story at all. I tried to pick different options on each playthrough, and eventually ended up at the same place, although I did find different endings.

Something that disappointed me: (Spoiler - click to show)I don't think you ever get the choice to actually complete the mission and kill the family.
The description says that it is a game about making difficult choices, but the character seemed to make the biggest decisions on their own. There is a mini-game with a bartender that I wish I could have skipped over when I played the game back. Also, I don't think there is a way to save. When I typed it in, the game ended.

I wish there was a walkthrough that showed the different endings and how to get them. I would keep playing to find them myself, but with no way to reload a game, I would have to click through a long series of choices to get to the part where things start to branch. If there ever is a sequel, I would definitely play it.

This was a short, choice based story set in the future. The description tells us that a girl has died and our player character is Angra, the investigator. I thought the tone of the story was kind of odd. A lot of the writing is what you might think of as traditional sci-fi: futuristic technology in an advanced society, effective world-building, presented with slightly disaffected, clinical descriptions. A server is called a "food-giver." Other occupations include "logic-workers" and "wet-workers." Then there are moments that are worded in ways that feel different from the rest, such as, "The doctor by now is ugly crying," and the reminder that everyone is "...a hot 30 years old looking person..." We get to think about how living in a violence-free world of immortals would affect us, such as when one character asks if a murder suspect should face any penalties. In response, the investigator answers, "Punishment seems pointless." We are told in the description to think of the story as the first episode of a larger narrative. Perhaps we will get to see more of this world one day.

This was a well-written, enjoyable parser game set in a fantasy world. It had a fun game mechanic where you have to switch your character's form depending on the puzzle you are working on. I thought the puzzles were low difficulty, as it seemed clear what was needed in almost every situation. The exception was (Spoiler - click to show)the maze. I used the walkthrough. I still don't know where in the game you find out how to solve it. When I got the most successful ending, I was hoping for a little more story as to what happened afterwards. My favorite part would have been (Spoiler - click to show)finding out that all the rats in the game are related. When I delivered bad news to one of them, I was wishing the story had more moments like that. I would probably have liked a little more description in some places. For example, the villains are known as "The Raiders." For whatever reason, I pictured them as some kind of creatures, like maybe Gamorrean Guards or something. When they finally appear, they still are not described, but since it is possible to infiltrate them, I guess they must be human? However, I appreciated that there was a way to get some backstory, including details on the boy you are trying to save. So, I would say there is a lot to like. I wouldn't mind a follow-up game set in this world.

I recommend playing this game. I do not recommend reading too much about it before you play. I didn't even read the description, and I'm glad I didn't have any expectations on where it would go. It is a Twine game (categorized as suspense), and you make most of your choices by clicking links. You also have a game mechanic where you are able to try to combine items in your inventory.

One thing I appreciated about the formatting is that when I got to a page full of links, they were color-coded so that I knew which ones were descriptions and which were choices. The descriptions were short, and there were reasons to go through all of them.

When I finished the game, I found that it wasn't quite as vast in scope as I guessed it would be. I would say that anyone who decides to play should be prepared to not have all of your questions answered, and not to expect every detail that seems important to necessarily lead to something. It didn't bother me at all, personally; I thought it was all worth it when I was done. I do think it could have been nice to have had even more to the story, and I would absolutely play a follow-up if the author ever decided to offer it. But again, I got plenty of satisfaction just from what was there, more so than I seem to from most IF games.

This game looks nice and is easy to navigate, but it wasn't much fun. It's very repetitive. It makes a heavy-handed point if you play through to the end, but some of the subtle changes that happen during the game are easy to misinterpret. I believe that the purpose of the game is to demonstrate what effects water mills had on river-floodplain systems. It sounds like it probably was bad, but I'm not 100% because I don't understand anything I read when I did a search on it. I also don't know what a river-floodplain consists of, or how many there are, but I guess we can be thankful that cheap electricity means we don't have as many water mills around anymore.

This game is super-short, but your choices absolutely matter. You play as a doctor in a post-apocalyptic setting, struggling to treat patients with dwindling supplies. It is written very economically, but establishes the situation so well that you never doubt that what you decide is going to affect lives. I enjoyed several playthroughs, and will probably continue playing until I am sure I have seen all the outcomes. I want to make a comment about the endings, because I was really interested in knowing more about how things turned out. However, a lengthy epilogue might clash with the brevity of the rest of story. I’m not usually interested in dystopian fiction, but I thought the setting helped emphasize the urgency of this character’s situation.

The "Kidney Kwest" game was developed to give something to children to play while they are on dialysis. It is meant to teach them about a medication they take, what kinds of foods to eat, and to let them explore some parts of the stomach.

It was made using a new engine that requires the player to use full sentences instead of standard IF commands. This is to help the patients have an easier time knowing which commands to type.

The game will tell you that if you do not enter a complete sentence, it will cause it to slow down and process the request before it responds. A few commands such as "go west" do bring up an immediate response, but as the game is now, you WILL experience numerous lags. Some of these lag times are ridiculously lengthy.

The description of Kidney Kwest says that it was designed for patients ages 8 to 18. That is a pretty vast range for a piece of media to cover. Children who are 9 or 10 are at a very different level of development than those in their late teens. I think that as it is written now, the game is best suited to a middle school audience. I believe it would be more effective to adapt the writing to create at least one other version for older students.

In the game, you must collect items for a costume and find food. Some reviewers have pointed out that you are only able to hold two items at a time, but actually, there is a way around this. However, it will take an extra command for each item to add it to your inventory. This is just one of the ways the game adds extra steps to your kwest. The reason why extra steps are a problem is because the player has a limited amount of time to find food before the game will end. Once you have played and know what you are doing, you can plan for this; however, on the first several explorations, I can imagine many of the younger kids being kicked out before they are able to make sense of what needs to be done.

There is no randomization; once you have figured out how to solve the game, it will be the same every playthrough. Kids might not look forward to coming to dialysis to play the same steps over and over. At the end of the game, it is suggested that you play again to get a different costume. The costume you will put together will be almost exactly the same, except it will either be gold, silver, or bronze, depending on what food you ate. I almost didn't notice the color difference; to me, it just seemed like I was getting the same items to make the same costume.

The area you explore consists of five rooms. There is a map onscreen to help players navigate, but it is somewhat small. There are some illustrations, but they look like very old pieces of clipart. The interface only uses half the screen, is very plain, and sometimes displays so much text that it doesn't fit in the small window, so you have to scroll back up to see where to start reading. The game is very unappealing visually.

You have to take your medication before or after you eat, otherwise you will go back to the start. There were times when the character was so hungry, I had to eat an unhealthy food just to survive. After several playthroughs, I knew where the healthy food was, and went there first. When you eat the chips or the hamburger, the game will tell you that Kelly has changed color because the food was salty. However, the graphic of Kelly disappears on your next move, and I would always completely forget that anything was wrong.

Whenever you take your medication, or eat something after taking the medication, you travel into your stomach to look for phosphate crystals to remove manually, because your kidney is not able to do it for you. This might be the least effective portion of the game. You are given a list of several parts of the stomach to explore, and the crystals hide in them. However, the majority of the time, the crystal is immediately visible upon entering the stomach, meaning that no exploration is needed, and the child has no chance to become familiar with the inner workings described. I got a little confused by some of the descriptions in this portion. The only visual given here is a picture of the crystal when you are near it. There wasn't much description for the parts of the stomach. An illustration of this area seems like it would be a helpful component for young learners, especially if it were designed like a map that you could track your movements through.

The game mascot is Kelly, the magical kidney. Does an illustrated character aimed at kids always have to be alliterative? When you first find Kelly, and every time you look in your itinerary, she is called "Kelly the magic phosphate binder container". However, if you look just at Kelly separately, you find out that Kelly is the character sitting on top of the container that the phosphate binders are in. So you actually have a phosphate binder container, which is just the container that medicine comes in, several pills called phosphate binders, and Kelly the magical kidney sitting on top. It took me more than one playthrough to understand this. It was confusing when I needed to take a pill what I actually had to ask for. When I typed "Look at Kelly the kidney," I was told that there was more than one kidney and that I had to be specific. If I typed "Look at a kidney," I was told that no kidneys were visible.

I feel that media aimed at children need to be as carefully considered and receive as much effort as those for adults.

Reading the tagline about becoming a cat breeder, I'm not sure I could have been any less interested in a premise. Turns out, I was thoroughly engrossed by this story. The author eases you in to the situation with just the right amount of detail to get you to care. Even if I wasn't entirely won over by the cats, I had fun trying to get things to turn out as well as possible for the main character. You have some challenges to overcome, but things remained fairly upbeat and hopeful. I was a little disappointed, however, (Spoiler - click to show)with my second playthrough, being that I tried to choose as differently as possible from my first try. It didn't seem to make much difference, even when I intentionally selected what seemed to be the poorer choices. I was worried that I wouldn't have a reason to keep replaying, until I looked at the "cheat sheet." There is actually a lot of variety in what can happen. I would totally recommend giving "Fine Felines" a chance. I'll bet you end up playing again and again!

There is so much to this game. I don't know if I would have had more success if I was familiar with Tumblr or had been active in an online fan community, but I don't think getting ideal stats is the point. The reason to play "A Paradox Between Worlds" is to explore, try things out, and think about how you would react to certain situations. In the story, you are a fan of a series of books, and you like them so much that you keep a blog and write fanfiction. I liked reading the different users' blogs and interacting with the other fans. The sections of the game dedicated to passages from the novels weren't as interesting to me, nor was the fanfiction. This caused me to try to hurry through some portions of the story. I expect to read them more closely on my next playthrough, which this game absolutely warrants. The "walkthrough," which includes an extensive list of influences from all kinds of sources, is especially magnificent. It gives you some sense of how much effort was put into this work, and it is an uncommon amount of care.

Looking at the map of this game, I thought it would be a decent length, not too unwieldy, especially given the brisk pace up to the point where the map turned up. Instead, I felt it was fairly expansive. Not because there are so many locations, but because of the amount of exploration needed to thoroughly interact with each area. I was really enjoying the puzzles, and I felt like they were just the right difficulty for me. I first became frustrated when I realized that the "examine" command wasn't revealing everything about the places and objects. Instead, you had to use "search" in some situations to know if you could interact or not. Sometimes the two were interchangeable, sometimes completely different, which means you have to try both on everything. I'm not sure if this was intentional, because it doesn't seem like it's reflected in the walkthrough. The game felt like it got harder as it went, and I started to check the hints and then the walkthrough with increasing frequency. There were places where the directions each one gives didn't match up. I did like the hint system, but sometimes the way it was worded caused me to misunderstand what I had to do. For example, (Spoiler - click to show) at one point, the hint reads that you have to look at the bottom of a statue for a way to activate an exit. I tried many, many commands before I found out that I needed to visit another location first. Using the command "look" never actually does anything. I was way over my head by the third act, struggling to know what my objective was or what area to revisit. I enjoyed the story, but even though it included horror elements and gloomy locations, I didn't really feel a sense of immersion. It felt more like an intellectual exercise than writing that creates a mood. I got the impression that a translation caused some unusual phrasings, and possibly compromised the effectiveness of some descriptions. My favorite parts were interacting with the NPCs who are able to provide some background information. There were also numerous written documents you could collect, and they all added to the story nicely. Still, I feel like I should have had more of a visceral response to this piece given the sorts of things it describes. To me, the very best games create an atmosphere or a feeling, and wanting to re-experience those sensations again is what motivates me to replay them. I was hoping "D'Arkun" would be one of those, but for me, it wasn't.

D&D fantasy elements mixed with Lewis Carroll imagery? Why not! Your character is an orc who is hired to battle adventurers that have paid to live out their dreams. I liked how the game evolved--there was a definite arc for us to follow. The battles got more fun as the game went on. The puzzles were not difficult, but still enjoyable to work through. There is opportunity for exploration, and a few surprises to be discovered. I have to mention one behind a spoiler warning, but you CAN NOT read it until after you have played: (Spoiler - click to show)If you examine your nametag, you will see it contains a code. If you then examine that code, a QR code appears. Scan it, and you will see updated information on what level your character is at, plus get a password to a bonus point. The descriptions were well done, but the illustrations were absolutely hilarious. I would have personally liked it even more if the NPCs were a little less flat; they never go further than stock characterizations. That might be intentional, but I still wished the dialog had been as imaginative as the other aspects of the game. This, for me, was one of the highlights of the IFComp 2021.

This game is very short. It is categorized in the 2021 IfComp as "Fantastic." It is surreal and abstract. The main character is investigating a hazardous area with an ex whom they split with five years earlier. It seems implied from the disjointed descriptions and dialog that the narrator may have a deteriorating state of mind, or may be experiencing the effects of some environmental anomaly. There is a lot of focus on the relationship the pair once shared. Choices are mostly made up of three hyperlinks. I hope that what is happening to the characters in this story never happens to me.

I am glad I didn't read the description before playing this game. It really gives too much away. It's another dystopian future/post-apocalypse sci-fi story. This one has a retro look to it, as if it was developed in the 80's, but I didn't feel any sense of nostalgia playing it. The storyline was much too sophisticated to resemble a classic parser game. It's mostly pretty serious in tone, but throws in jarring bits of humor in odd places. It's also timed, so there is a sense of urgency. I appreciated the detailed walkthrough--it was easy to forget steps or get confused on how to phrase commands. Now I want to make a suggestion about IF games in general: (Spoiler - click to show) Authors, please allow for some branching in your IF. I really liked how this one turns out; it would be the path I would want to find if there were several options. But it feels like more of an accomplishment to get an ending you like when you know your choices mattered. It also provides motivation to play again. Also, I thought there was a missed opportunity in this particular game (extra spoilery spoiler): I made it back to shelter 4 after being exposed, but refused to leave the airlock because I wanted to see what would happen when I went crazy with other characters around. The game just ends. I would have really liked something shocking to have happened. There were some little nitpicks I encountered, but I don't think they're worth mentioning, because they didn't take away from my enjoyment. One of the reasons I don't usually seek out dystopian fiction is the sense of hopelessness that comes from descriptions of everything being ruined. This story does a good job with that. That leads me to recommend this game, since I liked playing it even though I don't usually care for writing this bleak.

I was not into this game; it just wasn't my style. It's full of humor, some of it kind of meta, but I didn't respond to it. The writing was a bit complex, and I wasn't always able to keep track of what I had learned. I'm not generally a fan of this brand of sci-fi, the far-into-the-future stories about how a well-intentioned innovation ends up taking things to the extreme. I did appreciate that on my first playthrough, I was able to fail almost immediately. There were also some nice touches, such as the visuals and music; there was clearly care and effort behind it. I think it could appeal to fans of dystopian settings, and those who don’t mind a trippy but humorous approach. Also: is astral projection really "easily disproven pseudoscientific garbage"? Asking for a friend.

Here is a brief comedy piece where you listen to a guest speaker lecturing at your college. He is presenting his stance on the titular “Smart Theory.” None of his claims make any sense. Will you be persuaded to devote yourself to this new belief system? The game might be a send-up of some element of contemporary society, and there are surely multiple interpretations to be made as to who or what it’s aimed at. Then again, maybe the author just wanted to challenge himself to see how off the wall he could get and keep it going as long as possible. I thought it was pretty funny.

The puzzles in this game are not like common IF puzzles. Most are more like puzzles you would get in a puzzle magazine. They occur in an ever-shifting storyline that throws you from one scenario to another in quick fashion. It gets more wacky and irreverent as it goes. I think most players will enjoy the humor. What's really thoughtful is the authors make it very easy to access hints and solutions for every puzzle. The choices are easy to make by clicking the links, although some puzzles are timed. You can play in an easy mode that turns off the timers. Personally, I was more curious to see where the story went than work through every puzzle, so I used lots of hints.

I thought the writing in this entry was very engrossing. It leans towards the legal thriller/true crime genre, which I don't usually gravitate to. However, I found this story to be very tense, keeping me in a state of anxiety for an extended period as I gathered more and more details. You play as a lawyer, in which your character looks over the records of a case. You get to discuss it somewhat with an NPC, but you don't seem to really have many choices. (Spoiler - click to show)Also, the game alludes to a meeting with a supervisor who will be eager to hear your impression of the case. It was presented in such a way that it really built up my expectations for a moment in which to utilize what I had learned and make a choice that will affect my character significantly. This made the ending feel abrupt and jarring at a moment when a different reveal seemed to be the focus instead. I played through twice more to see if any of the choices affected the story, but it only alters some of your character’s dialogue slightly. However, I still give it a high recommendation because of the emotional impact the game had on me. I am very curious to know if the details had any real-world connections, and if the way the procedures are depicted were accurate to the area and time period the story is set in.

These games are hard! I was able to win poker from time to time, and I made some money sticking with the safe bet at the horse races. But the zombie game? The computer would always pick them off while I couldn't even get started. I was not able to figure out the parser game. I don't know anything about football, so I didn't do too good there. And the Keno game didn't pay out very much when I played the 20-spot. I didn't come anywhere close on the slots, and even when I made it to the bonus game, I immediately matched two zeros. Also, I had a terrible flight home. I got sat next to this annoying guy who was going on about how he beat all the games and made a ton of money. Next year, I'm using my vacation time to visit Amsterdam.

On my first playthrough of Goat Game, I was really enjoying the direction the story was taking. There was a lot going on, and the game was described as taking two hours, so I started to settle in for a lengthy exploration of this world it was establishing. I got an ending in less than half an hour and it was really confusing. I thought that maybe I had made a choice that skipped me through a large chunk of the story. Also, I didn't know how to feel about what happened to my character--he seemed to be unhappy, even though his situation changed for the better. I couldn't think how any of the choices I made got me to this result. And it seemed like there were a LOT of things that were touched on that didn't get to develop. I played four more times and found three more endings. They were all pretty negative, even though I thought I was making choices that were good for my character. The game tracks three stats, but it appears that you only get one choice to change each stat. So I went from "low" to "medium" in each one, but never had an opportunity to move it any further. I am curious to continue playing to see different endings, but I'm kind of thinking they might all be bad.

Here is a very brief game where the player decides what moves to make in a single fight scene. There is some story woven in to give the game stakes, and plenty of choices to try out on replays. You get three kinds of moves to choose from, and the game makes it clear when each one should be used if you want to win. However, you are given several reasons you may not want a flawless victory. The game builds as the fight and the story continue until (Spoiler - click to show)one competitor has a choice whether or not to kill the other.
However, as soon as the kill is made or rejected, the game ends quickly. It really felt like you would get to experience some consequences one way or the other, so the abrupt conclusion was jarring. There are enough variables to make playing again worthwhile. I thought it was pretty fun and implemented some good ideas.

Quick, fun game with teenage hijinks elevated by an impressive interface. It’s a parser game, but you are receiving what look like actual texts from the NPC you interact with. I don’t know anything about programming, but I hear that this isn’t an easy combination to write. I think most players are going to really enjoy the effect.

This game spends almost every moment describing messed up stuff. I thought it did a good job building up from the feeling that something is not right to more and more descriptive passages of increasingly depraved scenarios. The author references numerous people, locations, and job titles, none of which I recognized from having been raised Catholic. My deepest wish is that it was written to sound well-researched with some semblance of accuracy, but is actually complete nonsense. I found a little bit more content on a second playthrough, but only in one area. All other choices will take you through the same story. On an unrelated note, who recommended "Limerick Quest" as a related game????

I thought this was a fun little game with a simple story and fairly easy puzzles. It went by much quicker than I expected it to; I kept assuming that little details were going to come in to play at some point, when they actually didn’t(Spoiler - click to show), such as the transforming robot who never transforms. I went to the walkthrough twice. The first time, I had guessed what I needed to do, but must have done things in the wrong order (Spoiler - click to show) (using the music maker to light up the room). The second time, I don’t think I would have guessed what had to be done (Spoiler - click to show) (rescuing the doll with the car). There was a discussion at the end in which I had no idea what was being implied. All around, very sweet and memorable.

Well…the author DID categorize this as “surreal”. I thought it was interesting to have set the story in a place that really existed and populate it with historical figures. The main character seems to be traveling somewhat aimlessly, supposedly looking for someone in particular, but possibly unsure how to go about it. The first portion of the game is kind of a road story, but then he ends up in a very non-traditional college. He sits in on some classes and helps out with some chores, but he seems to act more like he’s at a commune than a school. I wasn’t really sure what to think about the ending, and I have not played through a second time to see if there are other possibilities. Recommended for readers who are looking for something laid-back and easy-going.

The main character of this story, Aiden, establishes right away that his goal is to win the love of his longtime friend, Laura, on the day of her wedding. Maybe I should have picked up on it right from the first scene, but it becomes clear over the course of the event and through some flashbacks that Aiden isn’t entirely a 100% reliable narrator. We are told numerous times that he is a “good guy,” and there are parts to the story where it seems like maybe he is. At other times, he seems like he isn’t very self-aware, and brings his problems on himself. The longer it went, the more inconsistent it seemed his character was, until the climactic moment. Then, (Spoiler - click to show)during the wedding ceremony, Aiden seems to go full-on delusional. We know by this point he has absolutely no chance with Laura. It was then that a surprising list of options were given that I genuinely believed could take the story in different directions. I was disappointed after playing through each of them that none made any difference. When I finally read the ending, I still wasn’t sure what to think. Maybe the epilogue was meant to be taken at face value, but when I read it back a second time, I wondered if the author intended for it to have multiple interpretations. Maybe one day I will discuss it at length with some fellow players and finally learn the true nature of Aiden Bestman once and for all.

I enjoyed this descriptive horror exploration game. It's the kind of writing that keeps things just vague enough at the beginning, but adds to the story as you progress. There are numerous optional pieces to the game, as well as several endings, making it worth replaying. Rather than racing to the most direct path to a solution, I wanted to take my time with this story, exploring everything. I thought the puzzles were very manageable and intuitive; I never felt stuck. The reveals rewarded my probing as the bigger picture came into view. Recommended.

Very short story taking place during an apocalypse. It involves a narrator trying to survive while going over memories, which the player gets to choose. I didn't really want to like this game for much of it, but I eventually got to a section that changed my mind. I won't give anything else away, not even under a spoiler tag, because I think each player should experience it for themselves. To sum up: I underestimated this piece and I got got.

If I didn't feel happiness, then why was I smiling? This is a short, irreverent game whose humor I mostly appreciated. For some reason, I did not write a review the first time I played it, and couldn't remember how it ended. Playing again on Chrome, I got stuck on some pages with no choices available. Sometimes backing up worked, a couple times refreshing did, but eventually I couldn't progress any more. Then, while playing on the phone, I got stuck in a loop trying to pick up a gem of happiness. Even more upsetting, on both devices I was unable to access the "USER ANGER LACERATION" song. I am forced to rate this as incomplete. I'm going to be traveling out of country for a couple weeks, but when I return, we can discuss our options for completion. You have until the end of next semester.

Although not a fan of sci-fi, and usually adverse to dystopian fiction, I was quickly drawn in to "The TURNING Test," and enjoyed it all the way through. The description gives a two-hour playing time; if it took me that long, it didn't feel like it. The story builds interest well, and tension mounts as the stakes increase. As I worked through what felt like unsurmountable odds, every small success was its own reward. I have a couple of nitpicks, all of which have to do with the consequences of available choices: 1) (Spoiler - click to show) It felt like the numerous choices meant to establish the story in the beginning didn't make any difference, as it seemed like the result was the same on subsequent playthroughs. 2)(Spoiler - click to show)When I reached what I think was a successful ending, it felt much too tidy. Especially being able to reunite with a loved one, who probably should have long since been street grease. 3)(Spoiler - click to show)You are able to recover from a major mistake at a climactic moment; it felt too forgiving. Also, 4)(Spoiler - click to show)When I played online in Chrome, I got stuck. After I boarded the station and chose a lab, I came to a page with no choices available. I would give this game a much higher recommendation if some of the points I've hidden behind spoilers could be adjusted. However, even though I don't usually prefer to read about the themes this work tackles, I was glad I gave it a chance, and enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

This might be my favorite writing in any IF game. It gives exactly the right amount of details, delivered for maximum effect. It is extremely well-paced, with impactful reveals at just the right moments. On one hand, I think one of its most effective traits is its economy; at the same time, I was really wanting more. I played a through a second time immediately after finishing. Regarding the ending, (Spoiler - click to show)I really, really wish there could have been one or two more branches. The fact that this game goes places most wouldn't adds to my appreciation. For those who can handle content of this nature, I give it my highest recommendation.

Weird Grief took me a little less than an hour to read. It is a pretty straightforward story that doesn't have any puzzles and very few choices. It is told from the perspective of a person who has lost a friend and must provide comfort for the deceased's partner, as well as find comfort of their own. Much of the story is conversation between a close circle of friends as they deal with grief and try to find ways to help each other through several days of mourning. It did a good job of giving me some sense of how difficult getting through a time like this could be. I found it to be sad yet hopeful, because even though the characters had gone through a tremendous loss, they still had each other and seemed willing to do anything for one another. I especially like the character narrating the story, Juniper; they were the one I was most concerned for. I had some moments of discomfort where I wondered if (Spoiler - click to show)Juniper's self-worth was too closely tied to Roger's needs. On one hand, Juniper seemed to only do what they were comfortable with, but I still got a strange sense that there was an unequal power balance (I understand that this was a difficult time for them both, but especially for Roger, and he may not have been entirely himself; yet, some of the things he said and Juniper's reactions triggered my suspicions. I do believe that the three central characters of Mike, Roger, and Juniper had a relationship whose dynamics I did not entirely understand, and that they only wanted the best for one another. I think I what I am trying to say is that the writing was strong enough that it got me to reflect a lot about this character and kept me apprehensive about their well-being). This game shares characters with another story by the author titled "The Dead Account." I played "Dead Account" first, but afterwards wished I had gotten to "Weird Grief" before reading the companion piece.

This was a well-paced horror mystery that was easy to progress through thanks to its choice-based format. There are some creepy moments to keep things tense, and a few descriptions of some nasty stuff. I enjoyed playing through it several times, trying out different character alignments. I think the player's enjoyment may depend on how much of a challenge one wants. This game does not spend any time requiring you to do any trial and error, but leads you on a fairly direct path through the story. As someone who was trying to play a lot of games in limited time, I appreciated the economy. It doesn't feel right to say this game was light, breezy fun, but it is pretty compact and easily digestible, particularly for fans who enjoy horror elements.

What I liked about this game is that it builds very well to its climax. It is well-paced enough that you feel you have earned it when you make it to your destination. I played through twice with two different accomplices. On my first go-around, I thought my choices were what led to my success. However, the second try was so similar that it felt like nothing I did mattered. Even when I made reckless choices during a critical stretch, things turned out the same. The walkthrough seems to confirm this. Given that the mission is supposed to be incredibly difficult and dangerous, I was hoping there would be mistakes that could lead to failure. As it is, the first playthrough is nicely written and enjoyable to play, but once you realize your choices don't affect anything, it takes something away from what seemed like a nice challenge.

This game gives you the chance to play through the same situation while interacting with four different NPCs. I thought it was an interesting setup, but what really stood out for me was how quickly I was drawn in by some of the characters. In a very limited number of interactions, I really liked or supported some of these people, and I really wanted their interpretation of the events to be correct. I appreciated how your choices changed the story, but I would have liked it if the endings were expanded to offer a little more payoff. Very fun and easy to play.

I really appreciate the fact that the blurb for this game doesn't give anything away in terms of how it evolves. It starts out as two friends playing some 80s computer games, which initially seem to be silly and short. There are a number of surprises waiting as you progress, drawing the player in ever further, while upping the stakes in terms of challenge as well as emotional involvement. I personally found the game to be pretty moving, making me generally concerned for one character in particular. I believe the ending I found reflected my choices fairly, but I am anxious to play again to see where else it could go. It had a clever mechanic that seemed pretty unique, and it only got a little too melodramatic once or twice. In terms of the IfComp 2021 competition, I consider this game to be (Spoiler - click to show)the frontrunner.

You begin the game as Jenni, leader of a punk rock garage band, who is desperate to get to the practice space and breathlessly explain to her bandmates about some imminent disaster they must face together. I thought I knew where this game was going within the first couple of minutes, but then it immediately subverted my expectations. You then get to solve puzzles as different members of the band, all of which I found enjoyable and fair in terms of the level of challenge. I believe I only needed the walkthrough once, only because I didn't pay attention to a detail that was readily available. The mechanic that allows you to change which character you play as was cleverly implemented, and may be a unique feature. (Spoiler - click to show) I would have liked the ending to have been expanded a bit, perhaps putting more emphasis on the "power of music" conceit. Overall, I enjoyed getting to play as these characters, and I thought it was a pretty fun story.

In the beginning of this game, you read emails and decide if they are spam or not. It is mildly amusing at first, as the emails are well written parodies of the usual junk we all see everyday. This section goes on quite a while longer than I felt it needed to, as the player is required to continually choose "zap" or "approve" long after the novelty has worn off and the point has been made. The game eventually evolves. However, even once things open up to include new characters and shifting dilemmas, every section of the game repeats the same transgression: it just keeps going and going. There must have been six or seven false endings, each more tedious than the last. All the characters are overly melodramatic, wringing their hands over every detail of every decision. A large percentage of the game is just scrolling and clicking to get to the next section of the text, with no real choices. The puzzles that do arrive in the later half of the game require you to either reread numerous lengthy passages in search of deeply buried keywords, or go through a giant list of email contacts, hoping one of them has the hint you are looking for. I would estimate it took me upwards of three and a half hours. I think if it were between 30 and 45 minutes, it could have been a lot of fun and still have been full of surprises.