Reviews by Andromache

This is the second time I played this game. The first time, this database was either not operational or I hadn't discovered it yet. Being one who comes and goes in the interactive fiction community, part of the reason I replayed it was to get back into the mindset of this medium and I remembered I thoroughly enjoyed this game the first time.

Playing again, I have to say I appreciate it more because I'm not as preoccupied with how to solve the puzzles. It's not that the puzzles are hard; they are in fact incredibly intuitive and I didn't need a walkthrough. I even found several solutions to puzzles that I hadn't discovered the first time. There is one guess-the-verb issue and another solution that is somewhat alarming, but I think this is a subjective judgment coming from someone who isn't generally in it for the puzzles. I don't mind puzzles, but they need to be consistent and plausible for the story, and all of these were. They were even fun, because you can be very creative with the paths you take.

However, what really makes this game stand out for me is the symbolism and writing. Knowing more or less the results of actions allowed me to focus more on aesthetics in prose and story, and this game is a good combination of acquiring items and giving those items significance as more than just treasures to take home. They are concrete items with ties to the immaterial, and it's not only the items that undergo changes.

It is tough to talk about the game without spoiling things. But if you like well-intigrated, logical problems that grow out of the world and backstory of your character and get fulfillment from endings (yes, there are multiple ones) that make you think and are what you make of them, I think this is a journey worth taking that is immersive enough to revisit from time to time. I know this one isn't leaving my collection if I can help it.

Every once in a while, I'm in the mood for an old-fashioned treasure hunt. This game sounded like just the thing to satisfy my craving. Well, it didn't disappoint.

First, the negatives: no hint/help system, and I couldn't figure out how to get the game to tell me when my score went up. Not that I couldn't check the status line, but I'd have felt more accomplishment if I'd been notified. But those are really personal preferences.

The game was put together well. No bugs that I ran into, puzzles were really easy, and the most annoying thing was just the hunger/sleep. Even the maze was easy. I solved it by myself by taking a few notes. I'm very proud of that.

The only reason I give the game three stars instead of four is that I had to play through it twice because I took so long exploring everything. But really, the game is finishable with only one item of food. I liked the game enough to play the sequel. Usually, treasure hunts aren't my first choice, but this game was so straightforward and smooth to play that I'd recommend it.

This game turns humans into lab rats, which doesn't really sit well with me, which is why I gave it an average rating. Also, there's a minor bug that makes the game somewhat choppy to play during that section, but it's quite cleaned up for a first release. Puzzles are super easy and the hint system was nicely implemented, broken up into bite-sized pieces so as not to spoil the game outright. The game is entertaining, if a bit condescending. Worth playing at least once, but the cuteness doesn't really mesh with something as serious as respecting the dignity of experimentees.

This game was so unplayable I never bothered to finish it, even though somebody went to the trouble of writing a walkthrough. The author said they didn't favor hints, which is unfortunate because this game really needed them. There were so many bugs, and I'm not even the type who tries wild experiments just to see if the game deals with them. You could only carry a limited amount of items, and if you had multiples of the same item, you couldn't examine them. The game would ask which item you mean, when there's only one choice. Puzzles were obscure and there's at least one instance I know where you have to guess the verb.

Basically, bad mechanics ruined what could have been a very interesting story. I was so disappointed I couldn't finish the game.

I tried out this game because it has sound effects, and sound effects are just plain fun. I enjoyed the added immersion.

This is a good game for people new to IF because it's short, text is sparse and concise, the world isn't overly huge, and puzzles are mostly easy if you follow the old convention of experimenting with items. There's also a handy sack for unlimited inventory space, and it automatically shifts things around so you don't get those, "Your hands are full" errors.

There isn't much of a plot to this game, though I do like that I could win without killing anyone. A cute game and worth the couple hours it took to play.