Reviews by Wei Yuan Lee
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., September 14, 2016This is the first texture IF I've ever actually played till the end. It's a short, nostalgic and bittersweet game about a person packing up their bag and leaving their hometown for elsewhere. Perhaps permanently or temporarily. (isn't TinyUtopias about post-apocalpytic worlds?)
So you play these games by grabbing a word and placing it on the highlighted links to access more of the story, making it very interactive, almost like a point and click game, except it's all text. I'm not sure if CSS can be changed for texture yet since it's fairly new. But the highlighted words are red, indicating something may be sinister, or maybe that's just the default color. Texture naturally makes their games a warm color similar to old books and with this story theme, it makes for a sentimental vignette.
There were some grammar mistakes, I believe. But overall the game was fine and functional.
Pros: A nice interactive piece of exploring your house and bag, utilizing textures pick and drag actions.
Cons: Slight grammar mistakes or possibly glitches?
., September 14, 2016A sort of unnerving mini twine of a utopian slice-of-life theme. Maybe it was the eye or the act of observing someone's house from afar that felt so surreal? It was odd how relaxing it was but yet dark? You read the vignettes and slowly realize everything is falling apart as you venture around more and peek until eventually your vision is blacked out. It's some sort of metaphor about the shortness of life. But yet everything still feels oddly peaceful and curious even at the end.
pros: nicely drawn graphics and unique game play.
Cons: Some people might find the game play confusing.
.., September 14, 2016The Writer Will Do Something is a satirical simulator about a Game Dev company struggling to get their next game out. The writer who managed to make some hit games has to write their newest one but apparently has hit a jam. So depending on your choices you may create another dud, another best seller, or something else. I've only played the game once, but those are the endings I assumed would happen. I think. I got the dud ending... Stories with themes such as this usually have endings of either success or failure.
I'm not the best audience for long twine games. So there's a chance I won't replay it. But I promise that overall, writing style wise, this will be amusing for those who are into Game Development.
The game is played in a itch.io browser, with a white background and black text. It doesn't really feel like a Twine game, except when it came to the choices of course, it almost feels like a Unity text game. But maybe it isn't.
Pros: A humorous game about Game Development, with sleek CSS.
Cons: Some may not get the humor of it or find it unrealistic.
.., September 14, 2016This is one of the most influential twine games by the amazing Porpentine. It actually took me a while to play this game because it's quite long and I think the first time I played this I also, believe it or not, got lost somehow. It was one of the first twine games I've ever played but gave up several times because I always veered off somewhere else and accidently restarted it. But one night, I said to myself, "I've played all the other Porps, so I should finish Howling Dogs."
I won't be saying anything much different from anyone else. But this game is quite bleak, but yet so tender to the touch, so freaking beautiful. The magical realist universes you transport into, so small but yet so well built, as you leave some sort of galactic prison. Like, other than novels, this is one of the most moving pieces of text I've read. I also give a star for that Kenzaburo Oe quote.
Pros: Thick and bleak Sci-Fi. Time Travel.
Cons: May be too long for some. It doesn't deter from the story in my opinion but people who aren't use to playing Twine games might find it tiresome?
., September 14, 2016A cute romance game about an android who falls in love with a human and goes through the greatest lengths to impress him. He gets his hair done, gets dressed up, practices humanoid culture, and pursues this boy. I think there may be more than one ending? I've only played this once but found it enjoyable. I'm a sucker for 8bit graphics and quirky, lonely robots that make me think of Wall-E. You also get to choose the background music, I think I chose a techno song. The game is well written and fits the cute theme.
Pros: upbeat theme, choice of background music, humor.
Cons: Music might be too repetitive for some depending on how slow of a reader you are, some people may not like the purple text. (I played this on my iPod)
., September 14, 2016Campus Row is a detective IF game that I found on the Yarn app. I don't know if it has ever been published before on the internet or if it was specially made for Yarn. The only way you can play this game is on iOS I believe, so I guess those of you who don't have iOS devices will miss out on this.
And that would be quite unfortunate. This was the detective game I've been looking for. So basically what happens is the daughter of a prestigious family is missing and you're the police captain, Ambrose, who gives commands to Detective Moore to solve the case. You feel like you're talking to Moore. Choices are given to perform certain actions for Moore to discover and observe the crime scene. You will also have to decide how to handle it, do you rummage through the stuff or wait for back up. You hear a bang, do you find the source and probably face danger or do you call backup? (This is the best way I can explain it eeep, I played this a long time ago.) And just like any other detective game, you will also ask the suspect questions. There will also be periods in the game where you have to wait for Moore to perform these actions, making the interactivity of this game in real time modes. There's even a point where you have to wait a whole day. So turn on your notifications and volume so you will know when Moore is done with chores.
The CSS of the game is literally the white paper background color of a book page. There's nothing fancy and all you need is your imagination. It's easy on the eyes.
Pros: An interesting mystery thriller with realistic interactivity.
Cons: it was too short, expected since it's a series, and some people might not like waiting.
., June 3, 2016I liked Beneath the Floes more than the Domovoi. This one was a bit more interactive and less confusing as The Domovoi. I will admit that the narrative confused me on who was the Domovoi and I kind of felt like there were too many characters, only three, but enough for me to get confused with the plot I guess. Maybe I read it too fast? Hope that makes senses. It also has a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. Beneath the Floes also has better writing than The Domovoi, more clean cut, and the general atmosphere differs from the Domovoi. It's more filled out, not rushed, feels very complete. And the drawings are a beauty, the story is something I've heard of, while the Domovoi shared some similarities with folktales I'm familiar with. I really look forward to what Snow is going to make next. Although, I hope that his future Twine games has more interactivity, more choices to choose from. So far, the ones I've played only have two endings? And the changes in the story are kind of minimal, but the plot is enjoyable to read again and again.
., May 31, 2016This is actually my second time playing this. I found it on itch.io and played through it to find out it was a demo. I thought that with the second play through, it would be complete since he added it on IFDB, but it's still not completed. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. So this is a post-apoc IF, written with novel-like prose, and the graphics are futuristic, cyber-punk. It's well designed so far, with an ambient drone. My only problem is, it's not completed, I actually really liked playing this the first time due to the suspense. I will admit the music should change once in awhile, but I will assume that will happen with an update. Looking forward to the full version.
., May 31, 2016This was a fun game but I remember myself either getting stuck in a loop or maybe just not figuring out how to get out of that loop.(I played this long ago.) But it's pretty fun for what it is. Based on my vague memory (I'm just cleaning through my wish list) this is a text game about a guy waking up in the middle of the night and you're supposed to click the links that will make him check out certain parts of the house and perform certain actions, like go to the bathroom. It does get a little suspenseful because you're clicking around doing these mundane things and waiting for something to happen.
., May 31, 2016It's the usual Porpentine but more on the cutesy side. Very shoujo manga-like.
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