Reviews by Denk

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View this member's reviews by tag: ADRIFT 3.8 ADRIFT 4 ADRIFT 5 Adventuron AGT BASIC Browser C64 ChoiceScript commodore 64 Custom system DAAD Dialog Eamon Eamon Remastered EctoComp emulator Google Forms horror Infocom Inform Ink Level 9 Parchment PAW PunyInform Quest retro Speed-if spring thing STAC Strand TADS Telarium Text document The Quill Twine Unity ZIL zx spectrum
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The Death Star, by Donald Brown
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Very simple, only for Eamon lovers, April 16, 2026*
by Denk
Related reviews: Eamon Remastered, Eamon

I played this freeware 1980 Eamon game on Eamon Remastered (a browser based implementation of Eamon). This game is star wars themed, not really caring about trademarks at the time. This was a very typical Eamon game at the time: Mainly hack'n'slash (using blasters and light sabres) randomized combat, a few simple objectives and with just enough locations to make it challenging to find your way without drawing a map. The difficulty is too easy to be challenging but a nice diversion for relaxation if you love Eamon.

I should only recommend this for those who like plowing through the simpler Eamon games out of curiousity. EDIT: I do, so thank you to Keith Dechant for adding it to Eamon Remastered :)

* This review was last edited on April 18, 2026
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Latinorum, by Roberto Ceccarelli
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Charming C64 retro game with limited commands (3.5 stars), April 6, 2026*

This is a fairly short but well done classic text adventure fitted into the memory of a Commodore 64 / emulator. I played the "play online"-version and except for the initial load and when saving/loading your progress, the responses were almost instant.

  • The story is simple but fine enough for this type of "classic" text adventure: Go figure out what the latin test will be about, then copy the necessary text from the text book somewhere in the school. Along you will need to solve several puzzles.
  • Of course, some games back in the days had better stories which would have improved this game some. Also, there are several latin phrases but I never learned latin so for me that was kind of wasted, though I could of course had translated it online if I bothered. But it was good enough as it was.
  • At times the game was too helpful as opening an item or door often simply required e.g. OPEN DOOR when holding the right item, rather than specifying with the INSERT command. Speaking of commands, all verbs are given when typing COMMANDS so technically, this is a "limited parser"-game so no fighting the parser luckily!

    So despite the game being too easy, this was a charming little nostalgic piece :)

* This review was last edited on April 8, 2026
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Attack of Doc Lobster's Mutant Menagerie of Horror, by Duncan Bowsman
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Speed IF (played with Parchment): Creative monster creation!, April 2, 2026
by Denk
Related reviews: Speed-if, ectocomp, Parchment, Adrift 4

This is an EctoComp game from 2011 when EctoComp only had the 3-hour category, thus making it speed-if. Having played a few games by this author, it seems he likes to let the player be creative. In this game you can name your own monsters and then give them various powers by combining several objects before they are unleashed onto the world in absurd, humorous (in most cases) ways.
This game is not revolutionary but still original enough to be entertaining. However, you seem to be able to go on forever, so it seems the game has no ending. EDIT: According to Mathbrush's review, the game can end. (Spoiler - click to show)And you can choose to be either cruel or life giving [sorry, a small hint there].
I only noticed one bug: Please do NOT get all, but instead get one object at a time, otherwise the game is not aware what you are holding. Another minor critique: This game is humorous and absurd and in most cases fun. However, one type of death seemed a bit too realistic to be fun, but I won't hold that against it as that is always a risk when creating comedy horror.

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The Dangers of Driving at Night, by Lumin
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Speed IF (played with Parchment): Brief and entertaining, March 10, 2026
by Denk
Related reviews: Adrift 4, Parchment, horror, EctoComp

I played this with Parchment using the "play online"-button on IFDB. This game is from EctoComp 2009 when only Adrift games were entered. The story is entertaining and worth playing, even though it is clearly speed-if meaning that the parser is not very good. (Spoiler - click to show)Sometimes you are told there are no exits but keep trying the cardinal directions anyway.
The parser is very literal. If the text subtly proposes a non-standard command, you should probably try it. However, except for my hidden spoiler text above, I had no serious problems with this small game.
So I recommend it if you like horror with a humorous twist despite the quirks.

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the virtual human, by Duncan Bowsman
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A fun diversion, February 19, 2026
by Denk
Related reviews: Adrift 4, Parchment

Playing "Portrait with Wolf" reminded me slightly of this game and I realised I never reviewed it. So I played it again. It plays well with the online button on IFDB.

It is not a normal parser game. Instead you are answering the questions you are given. Sometimes it is a yes/no question, other times the game is asking for a colour, an adjective, a verb etc. It is not always clear what you are asked about as the game text sometimes come in a confusing order but that is all part of the fun I think.

It is sort of arty but with humour. A nice little diversion.

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Can You Stand Up?, by BlueMaxima
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting five minute story, curious about other people's interpretation., December 17, 2025*
by Denk
Related reviews: adrift 5

I found this interesting and I interpret this game as horror / science fiction but I am not fully certain about my interpretation.

This game was written with Adrift 5 and the author had obviously very little experience with this tool. It is not programmed very well but the game is so "easy" that it may not hinder your progress.

In case it does, here is a brief walkthrough:
(note that in Frankendrift you may have to click on the input field before you can hit space which makes the game progress)

(Spoiler - click to show)up, up, n, n, n, crawl

I rate this game as a very short game where the bugs do not play a big role as I was able to guess the necessary commands anyway. The bugs may even add to the confusion felt by the player character.

I am very curious about other people's interpretation of this game. For now I will leave my theories out but I would love to hear other people's opinions.

* This review was last edited on December 19, 2025
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Untitled Magic Escape Room, by Luna Anzaldo
Limited parser with exceptions, October 4, 2025
by Denk
Related reviews: quest

In this Quest game you are trapped in a room, remembering a few spell names. You have to escape somehow. This game has a lot of good stuff going for it. The idea of limiting the commands to the spells is fine, except some other commands are needed as well and you have to guess which commands, making it a fight with the parser. For instance, it is not clear if you can use put, insert, but get, open and examine seems to work sometimes.

The game also appears buggy as you can find an object several times etc.

With some beta-testers, I think this can end up being a really nice game. For now, I gave up on completing it as I never knew if the game became unwinnable due to the obvious bugs. So I encourage the author to get some testers, polish this game some more and announce it when it is ready.

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Thrall, by Kanderwund
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Symbolic vampirism, October 4, 2025
by Denk
Related reviews: twine

Thanks to Tabitha's poll on games with few ratings, I gave this short game a try. I haven't played many games about vampires but such games seem to be quite popular now, especially what could be called symbolic vampires: People who suck energy from others. This game still stays on the supernatural path, though it may all be intended as symbolic in the end anyway.

The graphics and sounds add positively to the game. Certainly interesting.

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Not so Happy Easter 2025, by Petr Kain
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Nice puzzles but stereotyping should be avoided in post comp release, September 28, 2025*
by Denk
Related reviews: ZX Spectrum, emulator

This game requires an ZX Spectrum emulator like Fuse, which I used.

EDIT: Be aware that this game uses a few stereotypes which could feel quite offensive and I believe the game would be better without it. However, the game still has a lot of good things in it and it would be simple to improve it in a post comp release, which I hope will happen, as it is otherwise a nice game. My original review below is unaltered.

This is a really neat VERY old school parser game for the sake of puzzles. They were fun to work through. I almost solved it in 1 hour and 50 minutes but had overlooked an obvious connection to a location so had to peak at the walkthrough. So the puzzles are definitely fair but if you are not used to the simplistic PAW parser (? I think this is a PAW game?), you will have to get used to it first. So it actually does accept up to four words when it makes sense, e.g. USE X ON Y.

Most importantly, typing L will ruin the game, but if you ramsave once in a while you can just type RL to ramload again. Instead use R to look around (Redescribe).

The entire game is relatively well implemented, considering it is a PAW(?) game. The atmosphere is cute despite some horror elements. A very nice feature is the VOCAB commands which tells you ALL the verbs you need to know and typing HELP toggles between 4-5 different hints. They were a nice addition which I applied, so I did not really need the walkthrough except when I missed a room connection :/

Overall, a very fun retro experience!

* This review was last edited on October 1, 2025
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A Visit to the Human Resources Administration, by Jesse
Funny and sad, September 27, 2025
by Denk
Related reviews: twine

Being an alien disguised as a human isn't always easy. In this game you must study humans. You get a few choices where I recommend to do the "wrong" thing, as there are some funny responses to that - you will usually (always?) get to do the right thing afterwards, following a rather linear but interesting plot, with a drop of sad realism too. A thoughtful game with some nice humor. Well done :)

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