Reviews by Andromache

This was an easy game with an engaging premise, exploring an Ancient ruin. Indeed, there are no real puzzles in the game except maybe at the very beginning to get into the compound. There's a touch of horror to the story, but I wouldn't consider it disgusting. More...unnatural. Not enough to be severely unsettling, though.

There are some parsing hiccups along the way, but I found they were mostly surrounding one particular game item, (Spoiler - click to show)the cable. However, the parser does helpfully provide the correct verb if you try to take the object but can't manipulate it. (Spoiler - click to show)"Attach" and "connect," plus related antonyms, should have been implemented, but the problem can also be solved by referring to specific sockets you want to put the cable in. The real trouble with the gameplay is more about having to perform actions one by one. Like, you can't just head in the direction of a door. You have to perform each step individually, which is rather annoying after getting used to more modern games.

Jerkiness aside, the game was still easy enough to get through with no hints and my only major complaint is really that the story is kind of unresolved. I'm a bit confused about the ending. The author says material had to be cut out to make the game fit the parameters of the competition, and perhaps the story resolution was that material, but I'd be interested in seeing an epilogue.

Sadly, I couldn't get the full experience of this game. As a blind player using a Mac, I'm severely limited in the interpreters I can use. As a result, I had to play this with no sound. Maybe the game would have been more immersive with it.

There were some frustrating error messages about not being able to exit buildings because I was already outside, and I actually needed the walkthrough because I got stuck on the one puzzle in the game. I knew what I was supposed to do but had no idea how to accomplish it with the items I had. I think it could have been better clued.

It was also tough to suspend enough disbelief to swallow the story. The characters and settings were cute, but I wanted to interact more with them. You can't really explore or talk, and I didn't really see the point of what happened.

Don't think the game is worth looking at if you can't see graphics or play sounds, but if you can, I didn't find any critical bugs and the game is pretty short. Some neat customization options and the parser is probably the most polite one I've ever encountered thus far. The game is nice, light entertainment. I probably won't remember much about it in terms of emotional impact or excellence in scenery/imagery, but worth looking at if you have a spare hour and multimedia capability.

I was reminded strongly of "Blue Lacuna" when I played this. But this is worse. Death is everywhere - literally and figuratively. I'm sickened and horrified and the game enhances this by presenting a public view and the true private one, allowing players to see how far things have degenerated.

I liked the conversation menus. I don't know why people hate them so much. I really enjoy them, as well as interfaces where possible topics get listed. I can never come up with things to ask about on my own or invariably miss something.

I'm still trying to process the game. Would I recommend it? Yes, but only to those who I know have read and can stomach things like this. I don't know how this game improves my perspective on life, but maybe it sheds light on my own moral code. As far as I'm concerned, the PC has no excuse and I feel no sympathy. Just because an act cannot be helped does not make it okay. It is still a bad act, even if the origin is understood. I pity the illness, but not the person, since they know they are doing wrong.

This game moves smoothly and deserves to be played. But since it does deal with a pretty traumatic real world scenario, I think it's important that people considering playing it assess whether something like that would cause serious harm because it hits too close to home. I cannot say I enjoyed the story, but did enjoy the exploration of the settings. Good mirroring in them, and that makes it work from a literary standpoint.

This was a cute game. Much like "Threnody" and "Sunset Over Savannah," fantasy and American cultural references are blended in a sensible way so that things work in realistic ways even if appearances are mythical. This made puzzles feel natural. The final puzzle gave me a tough time, but after some nudges with the hints about what to do, I was able to execute it myself. There was another puzzle that completely eluded me until once again, after some prodding, I worked out what I was supposed to do in that location.

I enjoyed the various environments, the different civilizations through history in each place. This time around, I was able to catch the Star Wars references. They are blatant but made me smile. The only thing I really didn't like about the game was a tiny nitpick about (Spoiler - click to show)lizardskin shoes. But that is just a personal blip to an otherwise excellent game that has a nice ending and a somewhat wacky feel. This game deserves more attention.

This was a fairly easy game in which things worked realistically and smoothly. The pig was incredibly frustrating and I was stuck on how to catch it - not because the solution eluded me but because I'd missed a step. I eventually figured it out by myself with some experimentation. And that's a lot of how to get the answers. Playing with things, seeing how they work, and figuring out how to execute the obvious solutions. Thankfully, everything's well-clued. I got the full score on the first try, and I was pleased to see good behavior rewarded. I did use hints, but not for solutions. Just helpful nudges.

(Spoiler - click to show)I really liked the gnome. I didn't stay to chat about everything, but he was kind and made me smile with some of his comments. His speech is very polished and intelligent, so I was thinking at some parts that Grunk would not understand what he was saying, but I appreciated that the gnome didn't try to dumb down his words. It said something about the gnome's character to treat the clearly less academic Grunk as an equal. Some of the narration was funny, too. One of the ones I still remember is when you "x leaf" at the tunnel entrance. Grunk reasons the carving must be part of the stone because it's made of stone and vines are "made of vine." LOL Grunk's description of the pig is funny, too. "Tasty" is right.

I don't tend to make characters do crazy things, so my play of the game was fairly somber and straightforward. But with amusing and likable characters, fun toys to play with, and a lighthearted atmosphere, this is a wonderful story to lose oneself in for a little while. Highly recommend, and I think would be pretty easy for beginners because of the hints.

I was warned that this was the kind of game that you have to play through several times. This alone put me off. But I was slightly curious and figuring the game was tiny, I could try it out anyway.

Interaction is very minimal, which is a mercy for a game you have to replay but also means it's hard to get very invested in the story. I played through a few times and made different mistakes each time. But I'm not motivated to figure out the winning combination because to get hit with so many "random" tragedies just takes its toll.

Characters, setting, writing - I'd characterize everything as flat or bland. Everything has a kind of generic feel, there to serve a function that will inevitably turn on you. I couldn't even feel sorrow. If anything, the emotion I feel right now is frustration and even a little apathy. There's just no reason to care about the people and nothing particularly striking about the prose. I don't play games or read books for this kind of feeling. For tragedies to work, you have to get to know the people and like them, as well as caring about their plight. None of that here. Tragedy can be incredibly cathartic and beautiful, but it has to have heart, to speak to a person's emotion. There has to be just enough individuality in the character to make them real, as well as a plot with elements people have experience with. The subject matter was too narrow for me to relate to, and there was no other angle to view the plot from, no other sorrow that might have engendered pity or a sense of loss. This kind of game might have worked if the object was simply not to get killed, without trying to be sad, because the genre isn't served well by constant replays and short game length.

Okay, I confess. I needed the hints. I was on the right track, but math really isn't my forte. I see numbers and my brain gets confused and I become intimidated. But don't let that deter you, if you're like me. The game is not all about math.

This game was fun. Absolutely a joy. Learning the magical language was a snap, and most puzzles except the numerical one were totally intuitive. I spent a lot of the game not even worried about getting out - just trying things to see how far I could push conditions before I died. And you can die, but it's very easy to undo and carry on. Puzzles are so well-clued and I felt a real sense of accomplishment solving the ones I managed to do on my own. Well worth my time.

This is not a proper review. Didn't finish the game and don't really intend to. Already having problems in the beginning of the game. It's possible to lose vital items or worse, unknowingly lock yourself into areas. At least, the author does give warning that the game is like this, so people who don't care for that kind of experience can turn back quickly. From what little I saw, puzzles seem logical but also arbitrary. It's like things are difficult just for the sake of being difficult. Even though some of the difficulty comes from the player character himself and his attitudes, it still feels not entirely justifiable. (Spoiler - click to show)PC doesn't like to get his hands dirty, or his clothing. Can't just eat anything. Needs a proper meal. In short, someone who seems all too ashamed of his peasant heritage and annoyingly stuck-up. Heck, there's not even a way to boil water that I found, 'cause the characters can't do it themselves. Oh no. They need slaves, even if those slaves are machines.

I'm wondering how anyone got far enough in the game to make a walkthrough, unless they used hints. What little I saw of the story seemed intriguing, but the puzzles make it so I'm stuck wandering around and whatever attraction the story holds gets lost in the frustration. I could play through with the walkthrough, but if I need it for most or all of the game, seems like what's the point of playing it? For me, getting stuck a few times in a game is normal. You can imagine my impatience for more than that. To play a game through with no hints is rare and means the game is super easy.

The one good thing that came out of trying this game was that I learned why I'm not a puzzler, and that there are degrees of difficulty in terms of puzzle solutions. It's great that the author incorporated the PC's characteristics into the game, but just made the atmosphere less enjoyable.

The puzzles in this game were sensible and fair. I got stuck twice, but after discovering the solutions, I didn't feel too badly about not being able to find them. There are some red herring items that obscured some puzzles for me, and I'm not really sure why they were there when they're not really useful. Specifically, it made no sense to be able to manipulate them. I realize the point of red herrings is essentially to be useless. Made one puzzle more frustrating than it needed to be. The endgame puzzle was a bit incredible, however. Well-clued but who would expect it would have the effect it does? Couldn't suspend disbelief enough.

The story was a bit confusing and characters were pretty flat. Gameplay was good, but this isn't really a game I'd recommend to friends. This is definitely more for puzzle solvers.

I can’t really comment on the story of this game because it’s clearly not meant to be taken seriously. I’ll say that some of the writing made me laugh aloud. Comments where the author directly talks to players, the inventive score system, and the sheer idiocy of the king were fun reading. The ending was actually quite enjoyable to play through and magical music was quite a clever device.

The puzzles were mostly fair, but I did get desperate enough to turn to the walkthrough at about mid-game. In hindsight, the solutions usually made sense, though my one quibble is the last one before the endgame. (Spoiler - click to show)It was getting the key to the door to the surface. Yes, it makes sense if you play with words, but it’s not something that I think really comes to mind, since the solution uses an object that you’re told you can’t really make sense of. Also, the pamphlet tells you one of the NPCs has the key, which he doesn’t. For reference, the other places that stumped me were the key to the safe and getting into Squiggy’s tower. Those solutions were fair, though you can make the game unwinnable by using the solution to the tower in a different way. In my opinion, the tower puzzle could be better clued. For example: "The cleft is too small to enter. Perhaps if you could widen it…" For some reason, it didn’t occur to me to try to get rid of it, thinking it had something to do with Squiggy’s demise. Though I didn’t test it to make sure, I think you can make the game unwinnable without realizing it, particularly because you need to destroy the object. Therefore, the loss of said object might not immediately tip you off that you’ve just broken the game.

I’d say the game is worth playing just for the laughs. My favorite puzzle was probably the maze, and that’s saying something. It was a maze that was satisfying to solve.