Reviews by Bernie

In this game you play Prince Charles' (from Varicella) vengeful toy stegosaurus. The writing is snappy and the game is cute as long as you've played Varicella, but probably wouldn't be entertaining otherwise. The puzzles are straightforward, although the first one ends up unintentionally making you guess-the-verb. A quick warning that Prince Charles has quite the potty mouth in this game, so it's not for the young or the easily offended.

To quote the game's walkthrough this is a "short game, even by speedIF standards." Unfortunately, saying much more would be to ruin the game entirely. The author took a large risk with the game and people who take the time to try the game will either be amused or annoyed. I fell into the former category, but I'm sure some will fall into the latter.

In this game you play a health inspector looking to bust a Chinese restaurant. This game is Speed IF and is therefore very short, and the puzzles are very simple. However the writing is cute and the game rewards you for examining objects, making this game a potentially good short game for an IF novice.

One very remarkable aspect of this game is that it continues even after you are dead. Unfortunately, this piece of Speed IF, like so many, suffers from implementation troubles. Although overall it is cute, by performing the most obvious action (Spoiler - click to show), dropping the peanut for the elephant, I unwittingly made the game unwinnable. There was no warning from the game and many moves later I finally consulted the walkthrough, only to discover this fact. Like many Speed IF games, this one is sparse in description and objects. However, at least one main object (Spoiler - click to show)the pidgeon(sic) seems to be completely unimplemented.

In this very short game, you play a health inspector from the future. Like any piece of Speed IF, it's a very short game. Unfortunately, the rooms in the game are so sparse that there is very little to examine and almost nothing to explore in the game. You can only do what you have been sent to do and nothing else, making the game feel dull. The four required actions in the game could be considered four "puzzles", but they are such regular actions that most players will perform them without thought.

I met my husband when I joined the mime club back in college. (Yes, really.) So naturally this game's title caught my attention and I had to give it a try. Although I'm bummed that the game does not feature any white-faced and silent denizens, I must confess that I love the game nevertheless.

The game is science fiction and takes place on a moon of Jupiter. The 'pantomimes' are clones of people. The author does an amazing job of creating a strong atmosphere and a fascinating universe. Much of the game is spent in dialogue, and there are few puzzles. Normally, this is not my type of game. I vastly prefer games with heavy puzzles that keep me thinking for a while. (Although I must admit that one puzzle in this game had me searching the internet for hints and walkthroughs.) However, the snappy writing and dark humor of the game instantly hooked me. I found myself playing through the entire first half of the game without solving even one real puzzle, but not caring one bit. Learning about the world and attempting to put together the puzzle of what was happening in the game easily replaced the thrill of solving more traditional puzzles.

The only thing that keeps the game from 5 stars is a slightly buggy implementation in certain places. For example, at some point you enter a location at a key moment for a certain NPC and the description fails to note the obvious, stating instead "[The NPC] is here." And at some point while attempting to solve what I thought was a puzzle, I was greeted with the response "The couch is closed." There are also some elements mentioned in the room descriptions that are not recognized by the game. However, although the bugs can be a bit distracting at times, the game is highly recommended.

Ok, I'm not afraid of profanity. And I don't mind when a game uses profanity to convey the thoughts and actions of a character, even the PC. However, I AM offended when the game's meta-dialogue -- such as the hints -- use profanity. Perhaps the author was attempting to make the meta-dialogue consistent with the voice of the PC, such as in the game Violet. However, I suspect that the snarky bits were probably a reflection of the author's sense of humor.

So let's pass my annoyance off for the moment as my difference in taste. In fairness, the game does warn you from the beginning that it contains adult content and I'm sure that some people will find the game's tone hysterical. I must confess that although I wasn't a fan of being able to choose "Shut it, Grampaw" as a dialog option, I did find the description of Professor Yeboeha so cute that I read it aloud to my husband.

However, from the beginning the game's implementation was frustrating. Upon examining the room, I don't get a list of the professors. Only by examining the professors can I get a recap of who is in the room, and only because the game gives me choices on who to examine. After eating an object, it still appeared in my inventory. After taking an object, it wouldn't show up in my inventory. Another object that I dropped disappeared completely from the room. And when I began an action clued by the game(Spoiler - click to show) (spinning), I ceased to be able to move from room to room.

These bugs made the game completely frustrating and unplayable. The "hint" system contained absolutely no hints about the game, and the download didn't contain a walkthrough. I noticed that someone else gave the game three stars, so apparently someone managed to play through without hitting these troubles. Personally, I recommend finding something else to play.

In this game you play a young child searching the playground. This game is small and short, with four rooms and four puzzles. The writing in the game was cute enough to make it an enjoyable 10 minute diversion, and although I encountered a few tiny bugs, none of them were substantial detractors. One puzzle does break a bit with IF convention (Spoiler - click to show)by giving a different response to the same action, but somehow repeating the action was natural enough in this game that trying it a second time is almost natural and makes the puzzle fun rather than hard.. The final puzzle made me smile. As I wandered about the game poking and prodding objects, trying to get a winning screen, I finally had an ah-ha moment, the type of moment that makes me feel smart and makes a game feel fun.

In this game, you play a dinosaur looking for dinner. However, other than the unique pc (the response to the command "i" was cute), the game is unremarkable. There are only four rooms in the game and three puzzles, all of which are very simple. I should warn future players that one puzzle breaks with standard IF convention(Spoiler - click to show) by delivering a different result the second time an action is attempted. I solved the puzzle by accident when I tried a different verb, as will most players.

Although the simplicity of the game makes it a good fit for young IF players, the writing is a touch gorey and might not be appropriate for some younger players. For example, the sentence "You sink your teeth deeply into its flesh and start tearing out the meat from its carcass" would amuse my son but horrify my daughter.

"Short" is a bit misleading. The walkthrough contains only 20 commands. However, the puzzles can make the game take a substantial length of time.

Generally, the puzzles are fair and since there are few objects to manipulate, a simple trial and error will begin to put you on the right track for solving most of them. However, the parser does create troubles, and since I've never programmed a game I don't know whether they are the fault of the author or of the system. (Spoiler - click to show)The big trouble comes from the verb "throw". The game recognizes "throw at" but not "throw to" and the general verb "throw" results in the pc simply dropping things. I was fortunate that I tried "throw at" immediately after "throw to", otherwise I never would have solved one of the puzzles. After encountering this trouble, I spent a heavy amount of time fussing with alternatives for "drop out" in an attempt to solve another puzzle. Such parser issues can definitely throw even a seasoned player off track.

I had to consult the walkthrough to solve one of the puzzles (Spoiler - click to show)(the puzzle of how to get the prisoner to talk to me), and although the solution is something that seasoned players might try, it's definitely not something that a first-time player would think to do. I *might* have tried it eventually, but consulted the walkthrough instead so I could get on with the rest of the game.

And upon consulting the walkthrough I discovered that there wasn't a "rest of the game". I generally don't mind short games. I just wish the game had told me in the introduction that it was short. There is nothing noteworthy about the game except for the puzzles (with the exception of the response to xyzzy). Thus, the fun of the game lies solely in solving the puzzles, and if I had known this I would have stuck with the game longer before turning to the walkthrough.