Ratings and Reviews by Denk

This is a short game for day two of #EnigMarch and was made in seven hours but is surprisingly fun despite having no testers. I did find one "game-helping" bug so it became too easy to reach the ending but the bug has now been fixed so it seems to be solidly coded.

Subsequently I managed to finish the game in the intended way. This may be a simple game and the puzzles are fairly easy but it is well written and highly entertaining.

NB: I always rate games relative to their length so rated as a short game, this is absolutely great!

This game starts out with an atmospheric introduction which later on is replaced with some intendedly cold descriptions in a world consisting of robots. Still, there is something more underneath some of the NPCs apparently insensitive personalities.

This sci-fi game is pretty well constructed, except perhaps some difficulties near the ending and a bug that could make objects disappear unintentionally - in other words, don't put anything on the Interrogator (an object called "interrogator).
[And don't play with the Adrift 5 interpreter as this is an Adrift 4 game and the game will be unwinnable when played with the Adrift 5 interpreter due to compatibility problems]

Parser: 8/10
I had no guess-the-verb situations. My only trouble with the parser was som ambiguities. They turned out not to be important to the puzzles but the player can't know that for sure, before they complete the game.

Atmosphere: 7/10
The introduction was very well written and sets the tone but later the intended coldness of the robots take over. Still, it can become very sterile. There are some indications of feelings though, once in a while.

Cruelty: Polite
Perhaps polite? I think it is possible to run out of battery, if you don't recharge often, but it didn't happen to me, so I am not sure.

Puzzles: 7/10
Several good puzzles, though a few seemed a bit confusing, especially near the end. Near the end I needed a hint and typing HINT gave me exactly the hint I needed. So the hint system appears to be well constructed. Most puzzles are about information so TALK TO characters and ASK ABOUT is very important. But near the end it seems that the author could not anticipate all the different orders in which things could be done, so some of the responses seemed a bit off.

Overall: 8/10
Overall a good game with a few technical issues and design issues but nothing critical.

This is an interesting crime game which takes place in 1886 following some events in a theatre where you are an actor. It is one of the many Zenobi games that the late John Wilson made available through his blog. However, many of these games come without the original instructions. It is my impression I was missing some important information for this game too but still I managed to enjoy it with some help from the walkthrough on CASA as well as the small introduction that can also be found on CASA. Still, I felt I was missing some information about the characters you encounter later in the game to properly understand the plot. But 95% of the puzzles were nice and could be solved without this information.

Parser/Vocabulary (Rating: 7/10)
I am not so experienced in PAW games as I used to have a C64 in the 90s but I have started to play many with a Spectrum emulator. Luckily, the walkthrough gives some general parser advice before the spoilers: You will need both quotation marks and periods and use commands of the type (fictive example):
>say "go up. take painting. go down" to jack

So in this sense, the parser is pretty advanced. On the other hand, there were many guess-the-verb situations. Guessing the verb was to some extent part of the fun back then, so the player didn't solve puzzles accidently. However, at least one puzzle I would never had guessed even though I had the right idea (rot13.com): fvyrapr evsyr

Atmosphere (Rating: 8/10)
As most 48k Spectrum games the descriptions are short but in this game sufficient for a fitting atmosphere with a focus on puzzles.

Cruelty (Rating: Cruel)
Often you can continue until to the next "scene" without the needed objects. However, this was common back then and the game is not very long so often the player will suspect that they might be missing an object and therefore play the previous parts of the game again if they are stuck.

Puzzles (Rating: 8/10)
There were some good, original puzzles, some involving timed events as some events happen at certain times. There is a watch in the upper right corner which ticks away if you are too slow. However, if you start writing a command, the clock stops until you have finished your command. At least one puzzle I wouldn't have guessed without the walkthrough, perhaps because I didn't have all the original instructions.

Overall (Rating: 7/10)
This was an entertaining game. It was probably even better if I had understood the plot fully but I didn't. Still I enjoyed it.

This is what you get if you cross a Scott Adams adventure with an abstract math/physics adventure. The parser is primitive but consistent (verb+noun, only 4 letters of each word matters) and fast (running an Atari ST emulator at 32MHz - at 8MHz the text is slightly delayed). However, a z-code version exists.

Most puzzles you don't need to understand 100% to solve, as you will usually have an idea of what to do. For instance, you may come across a Riemann Zeta Integral. If I ever learned about it, I have forgotten about it, but knowing it was an integral was sufficient to have a hunch of what to do so I did manage to solve the corresponding puzzle.

For me, the difficulty level was just right but I think some of the optional puzzles I could never have solved without some knowledge of e.g. superconductors and electromagnetic fields. Luckily, being an electrical engineer helped me a lot here. However, if you allow yourself to google the concepts you come across, you will probably have a chance of solving all puzzles anyway.

Overall, a highly enjoyable and original game.

Parser/Vocabulary (Rating: 7/10)
Primitive but consistent, fast and has several synonyms for verbs. My only caveat on the Atari ST is that there is apparently no LOOK / REDESCRIBE command so if you want to see the location description again, you must leave the room and enter it again.

Atmosphere (Rating: 8/10)
The surreal atmosphere is very convincing. The writing is terse as can be expected from a game which originally was an 8-bit game.

Cruelty (Rating: Merciful)
I don't think you can make the game unwinnable.

Puzzles (Rating: 9/10)
Some fun, fair puzzles, though the perceived difficulty will depend very much on your scientific background, thus it may seem unfair to some people.

Overall (Rating: 9/10)
A surprisingly fun game, considering it was designed in 1983. Some scientific background may be needed to enjoy it fully.

(played online with the old clunky WebRunner for Adrift games - refresh your browser!)
First a heads-up: Notice the command VOCAB. It lists 12 words. These verbs/prepositions are more than necessary to complete the game, when applied on the right objects / directions. So even though a few of the commands are not common nowadays, please look at this VOCAB list and you will find that the game isn't that hard after all.

Now on to the review, starting with a disclaimer: I beta-tested this game. I should also mention that this is a VERY short game but if you don't use the VOCAB command, it may take a lot of time to solve it. It can theoretically be solved in seven moves though.

You play the role of a German tank driver during WWII and you are approaching Kidney Ridge when you are attacked and all your crew mates are killed. You must now escape and flee the area. I must warn you that the descriptions of your dead crew mates are a bit detailed.

If you want excellent puzzles, this game isn't really of much interest. However, if you find the detailed descriptions of all the machinery and weapons interesting, I can tell you that it is well researched and described.

You may also find a challenge in getting 100 points as you can complete it with as little as 60 points. I managed to get 95 points. And you can disable the turn counter if you think it is too frustrating to die over and over until you find a way out of the tank.

An interesting game if you are in the mood for a short game from a different perspective.