Reviews by Simon Deimel
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Absurd, but delightful, February 18, 2014In this little game the player takes the role of a person who is prone to nudism. But the protagonist wants to extend this lifestyle. You as the player have to cross a part of a town to reach the nudist camp. Not to forget, you refused to wear your clothes and are naked. It is a story in the tradition of the author -- I checked out some of his games and liked them despite their briefness.
The situation sounds absurd, but that's what happens if you give in to your inclinations.
The game is very short. There is not much to do and the end is reached in a jiffy. There are easy puzzles and the solutions are more than obvious. Nonetheless I liked the absurd atmosphere. The implementation could be better, but it is sufficient for the easy play. The language is also okay. For me it was a nice diversion.
I recommend this game to people who are new to IF and want to check out the mechanics, and also to players who like a short absurd comedy.
Little more than nothing, February 18, 2014I can only agree with the former reviews: this is not a game.
This project cannot pass as IF. Sure, there is interactivity to a minor degree (in answering one question), but there is no fiction, no story, not even the slightest bit of it. It cannot pass as a joke either, at least not for the player. A joke normally works with expectations and their dissolution in a punchline, but there are no expectations built up in the player by asking a single polar question.
I did not expect much when I started this, and I got even less. I did not feel especially annoyed or insulted, but there are no gaming contents here.
Quite solid, February 18, 2014BANE OF THE BUILDERS is a quite solidly arranged game with a sci-fi theme. The player explores an alien planet in search of a missing professor and encounters the ancient race of the so-called Builders, getting acquainted with their culture while holding out for the missing academic. The game ranked about in the middle of the 7th annual IF competition.
The game itself is not too bad. A science fiction story that complies with the standards. There are a redundant maze and some arbitrary puzzles, things that could have been more polished. But the writing is decent and the game features in-built hints. There is also a walkthrough available on the database, so the player can find help when he/she gets stuck.
I can recommend the game to fans of science fiction and people who want to get a taste for the sci-fi category, although there are probably better choices for people who wish to check out the genre for the first time.
Promising start, February 16, 2014My first impression is not that bad, the story is okay and the writing sufficient. Unfortunately the coding is not complete (error messages because answers to a verb have not been defined), and synonyms are not implemented (Spoiler - click to show)(you discover that the top of the container where you start is a lid. "push lid" results in the reply that there is no lid, "push top" then works and the reply is "you push the lid", which is contradictory). This game should be revised, the start is not too shabby.
The shortest game ever?, February 12, 2014A simple guess-the-verb game. One obvious matter has to be solved with one move. This cannot be called a puzzle, there is hardly any logic thinking required. The solution is obvious, but still you might not see the wood for the trees.
I gave this two stars because in the end I found it funny -- not that kind of funny to have long laughs about, but funny in a way that makes you bump your head against the wall.
It is somehow stupid, but I recommend it. I clearly recommend this to people who like to check out stuff that does not fit into the usual categories.
Something is missing, February 12, 2014Basically this game is a collection of riddles, presented in rhymes. I liked them. I really did, even if I could not find the solution to the second half of the fourth riddle. But the first ones were nice, quite easy, but you had to think about them for a short while.
But something is missing, something which is essential for a good interactive fiction: a story. I can not find much of it, I just know that I am locked in somewhere and have to solve riddles, nothing more. Maybe there will be explanations after the last riddle is solved, but it might be not a good idea to introduce a storyline right before the ending. I would have liked the game better with a background. Why am I there? Why do riddles appear? And who is the unknown riddler? Maybe I am Batman, trapped by the Riddler? It would have been little work to create some scenes around the riddles, just to establish some atmosphere. There could have been more effort to this.
A masterpiece, February 12, 2014So, as this game seems to be praised by everyone, I finally decided to check it out. It is hard to give a review about this game without spoilers, so read with care. It starts with a scene that let's you think you are a tourist, but the player will very soon be taught better.
In the first part of the game two kinds of scenes take turn -- the protagonist tries to retrace what he previously did, and if there is something deviant from the actions that happened before the actual gameplay, the gameplay will move to an interrogation room where the player is told why it cannot have happened like he tried it. These interludes are helpful, they give hints what to do. The player has to work with certain gadgets found in the inventory. It is fine to experiment with them -- if something is not correct, the game will switch to the interrogation, and the situation can be replayed. The conversational system is quite simplified and reminds of a platonic dialogue: the player can only confirm or negate the questions of the interrogator. It is easy, but sufficient.
It all changed for me when the protagonist's life was at stake for the first time. I had read some comments before, it had been inevitable; and there had been remarks that the game contains one outstanding puzzle -- and there it was. Thinking about actions that might have effect -- no matter how likely they would succeed -- I tried something, and then something happened that changed my whole point of view about the situation. Yes, the voices had been right. This puzzle is one of the best I have ever encountered. It is perfectly integrated into the storyline.
It is advisable to save the game frequently during the second part, especially in the end game. There are tough situations and the player has a hard time not making a mistake. These moments come very close to what we call stealth action, in a text-based version -- it is excellently managed to convey a feeling of being pursued and trying to evade from the scene. The second part may be a bit tedious, because the puzzle conjoining the parts has too much of an actual climax. But it still fits the frame.
So, what is the conclusion? The game may be a bit too tough for beginners, but everyone who likes interactive fiction has to play it sooner or later. This is a masterpiece.
Nice wordplay, February 11, 2014Considering that it was a speedIF entry, this game is very well done.
The wordplays are not difficult to understand, and the prose is written in stanzas, making this a piece of poetry. The ending is heart-warming.
It is recommendable for beginners who want to see the basic concepts of IF and advanced players who like a short diversion.
Emotional, February 10, 2014A short story about a dad and his daughter, about emotions and things that can disturb them.
I was intrigued from the very beginning, although there is hardly any interactivity in the story. The dialogues are powerful, coming to live with an authentic feeling. The ending is sad, but the reader also sees a glimmer of hope, so it is very satisfying.
The pacing is fantastic. There are some pauses and the lines of each dialogue part are not revealed all at once, but little by little... it makes the reader feel like being part of the scene.
The use of different colors is also great: the dialogues use a different color for each character to make obvious whose statement we are reading.
The prose is totally okay. There are dialogues, presented as mentioned above, and narrative parts. I recognized one or two typos, which could easily be fixed.
I recommend this story (yes, it is a story rather than a game) to everyone who likes tales that appeal to the heart.
A review, parts of it in the language of the game, February 9, 2014This was an entry for a speed IF competition in German language.
In dem Spiel geht es darum, zwei Plutonite (bestimmte Arten von Gestein) zu finden und so eine Wette zu gewinnen. Man wandert also in den Wald und untersucht die verschiedenen Orte, um der Steine habhaft zu werden. Dabei gibt es auch ein kleines Puzzle, welches sich jedoch wie von selbst löst; es wäre auch nicht klar, daß die ausgeübte Handlung einen Stein zu Tage fördert, also ist das eher im Sinne des Spielers.
Für einen Speed-IF-Beitrag ist die Geschichte ganz ordentlich gemacht. Mir hat sie jedenfalls Spaß gemacht und ich denke, man kann sie gut und gerne weiterempfehlen.
It is also recommendable for people who learn German as a foreign language. There were no obvious mistakes in the writing, and the prose is sparse, so there is not much translation work required.
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