Reviews by Simon Deimel
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The author wrote a short story and tried to pack it into a game with a parser -- this medium is not suitable for the presentation.
Let's ignore the initial error message -- I wonder why it occurs anyway, there are hardly any implementations -- and take a look at the way this game is designed. The game consists of several rooms, mostly to be passed in a certain order, and the room descriptions consist of parts of the story -- so going to the next room is not different from turning the page of a book, and returning to a visited room is like reading the previous page: dialogues and initial observations are repeated. Actions apart from going to the next room are redundant. The game ends when the last room is reached.
It might work in a CYOA-format, although there is still the lack of interactivity. Even in a format with hyperlinks there would be hardly any choices. In the current version it is just a short story without any possibility of interaction worth mentioning.
So after all it is not a game, but a story. What about its contents? Well, that depends on personal tastes. I would not call it literate. It is pulp, throws in sexual elements. It is a question of taste how a player/reader receives such provocations. For me it has only trash value.
Not to lose respect for the author, the prose is acceptable. He surely had some work with it. It could be published in a forum for pulp short stories, without any doubt. But it cannot pass as interactive fiction in the current version.
Note: I removed my rating because I do not consider it fair to give a rating based on the use of the medium. There are more factors that should be equally regarded. My initial impression was just that this project is not working properly.
Adorable, February 26, 2014A very cute story about some kids going trick-or-treating on Halloween. A very short CYOA-game, one of the endings can be reached after a short time -- but there are different endings, so it even has replay value.
The game was written by a young Miss with some help of her father (also an IF author). It has to be mentioned that the storyline is pretty much her own creation. Of course it contains some fantastic moments, but that's fairly okay -- to be honest, I felt reminded of some R.L. Stine story, so nothing wrong with that.
I also liked the numeration of the pages -- it conveys the feeling of the old Fighting Fantasy books (in case anyone happens to remember those).
So cheers to Adelynn and her first work.
An interactive portrait, February 25, 2014This project was an entry for the IF Art Show 2000. The works published in this context concentrate on observation without an apparent plot -- like watching a piece of art in a museum and experiencing its details.
THE VISITOR lets you visit an elderly woman in a nursing home, and you can have a conversation with her. (Spoiler - click to show)It is also useful to examine the room to find suitable conversation topics. The conversational system is basic, but adequate. According to the topics chosen and actions done, the player will influence his/her relationship to the elderly woman. The game presents the final result when it ends.
It is not a real art show, but moreover a character study. When I played it, I was eager to find out more about the woman and to attain a good relationship. In some way the story has a lot of heart.
It is recommendable for everyone who likes a short diversion; there could be more to it, but it surely meets the requirements of a short character portrait.
Experimental, but not for the player, February 23, 2014Yes, I get it. It is an experiment. Create a game without an actual room. It sounds impossible, but obviously here we have an example of what can be done. It is surely interesting in terms of programming, but does it contribute to the gameplay? Well, it hardly does. The game starts nowhere, in darkness; for the player it is actually like a room without a lightsource and without any exits; I could not see a difference.
The game itself consists of one puzzle which is not difficult to solve with some experimenting. The implementation of verbs is okay, I did not have to do any guesswork. There are no storyline and no characterizations at all -- the player is confronted with the problem, has to solve it, and that's all, folks.
(Spoiler - click to show)I played (and solved) the puzzle on my mobile phone for the first time, using ZMPP (which does not show the cover pictures). So I saw the picture later, and I really wonder why it was designed in such a way. It actually gives away the complete solution of the only puzzle. The picture is not only giving a clue, but shows the final objective of the game. Honestly, you would not put the picture of the arrested murderer on a film poster of a mystery thriller, would you? It would spoil the whole plot. In this case, carefully spoken, the choice of the game cover is slightly inconsiderate.
For me this was a short puzzle, nothing more. I cannot say that it is bad, but there is not much content. It may be a great experiment, but a player will probably not experience anything special. Referring to general gameplayers, it is recommendable if you like a short diversion that focusses on one puzzle.
Original in a silly way, February 22, 2014A very short game with a silly premise: So you are a chef and have to prepare a meal. There is a list of ingrediences that you have to use, and then a number of objects fall from the sky and you have to put the ones mentioned on the list into the pot (Spoiler - click to show)(or you take everything and then "put all into the pot" -- it also works, the game will automatically choose the right ones). Some things cannot be taken without previously getting hold of corresponding objects (luckily the game explicitly states the possession of which other item is required, as in some cases there is hardly any logic -- maybe it is knowledge based on community conventions which I am not familiar with). So there are no puzzles and the game progress takes place almost by itself. It just takes a short time to reach the ending.
Recommendable to people who feel like being silly for some minutes and cast the deadly seriousness aside.
Technically inaccurate, February 22, 2014A storyless collection of puzzles, intended as a tutorial for people who are new to IF. Principally a tutorial is not a bad idea, but anything with educational intention should show the basic concepts of an idea.
This game succeeds in teaching some basic commands, but it fails to get a new player accquainted with general conventions in IF, such as the use of containers (in this game the backpack has to be taken to make the possession of certain items possible; but they just coexist in the inventory, because the backpack is not programmed as a container), or the difference of inanimate and animate objects (the kids are programmed as inanimate things, not as persons). I did not care much, but it may be confusing for beginners. The puzzles are not too difficult to solve, but some of them may be a bit too underclued for beginners.
For me it was a short puzzler, nothing more. I found the ending a bit annoying, because the game lets you lose for a reason without any logic(Spoiler - click to show) -- the win requires dropping a certain object before exiting the last room (or not having taken it before), and I don't think any player will reconsider having the thing in the inventory (as picking it up does not suggest any lethal danger) before exiting. In the end this game cannot be recommended as a tutorial.
The escape of a gummi bear, February 21, 2014For a speed IF this game is neatly done. The player directs a gummi bear trying to avoid being eaten alive. The actions are quite obvious and can hardly be called puzzles. The implementations are sparse and sometimes a verb that I considered to be the right one was not what the program was waiting for; but regarding the short time in which the game was written, perfection can not be expected.
All in all a cute story. This short amusement is recommendable for people who have some minutes of free time.
Not too shabby, February 19, 2014I normally do not like CYOA-style games. I prefer a parser, because choices in a game made with Twine or Inkle most of the time do not require much thinking. A choice is right or wrong, and if it is wrong, do it different when you start up. In this game it is similar: Some choices, some of them lead to points already known, some later lead to death or win.
I liked the writing, and this is an important thing for CYOA stories -- they have to create atmosphere by the prose, and the author succeeds in my opinion. I recognized two typos or so, but the rest is flawless and creates nice images.
The actual flaw of the game is something else.(Spoiler - click to show) It is a contentual shortcoming: The author starts the story with an often used trope (amnesia -- someone awakes in a room and does not know how he arrived there), and the conclusion is the victory over the beast. But in the end the author simply forgets to resolve the initial situation of amnesia. He also created a new problem: The player is trapped on the island, as the barge drifted away, so what is he/she going to do? As a reader I was not be fully satisfied with the ending. But the game was not too long, the considerable length of a medium sized short story, so I recommend to give it a try and enjoy the existing prose.
Very short, but not bad, February 19, 2014The game is set in modern times, but contains elements of a Zorkian adventure: spell scrolls. So you basically have a modern slice-of-life setting with a modern aim to be achieved, but to finish the game you have to draw on casting a spell (not much of a spoiler, the player is going to find this out very soon). The game is easily solved and ends with a joke.
I did not play the whole bunch of Infocom games when I was young, so there was no nostalgia effect for me. Nevertheless I found the story entertaining enough to make me find a solution. The method how to solve it was easy to find, the trick is very obvious.
Recommended mainly for beginners -- it is short and does not cause much frustration. Veterans of IF will probably feel unchallenged. Then again the game is very short, so there won't be much time lost.
Knowing what to do, February 19, 2014There is not much time spent on finding out what to do in this game: the player simply has to behave like a tough barbarian, destroying everything which can possibly destroyed.
The game offers some little puzzles, but they can be solved quite easily. There is hardly anything like a plot -- so the story is about doing what the title of the game is, and there is not much more to be done. Just kill everything. And if there is not any such a thing, try to find it. And then kill it.
It sounds dumb and it probably is, but in a funny way. The ending highlights the joke behind it all. As the puzzles are quite easy, this game is recommendable for beginners of the genre. It is short, straight to the point and positively worth a try.
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