Ratings and Reviews by IFthenXYZZY
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Misanthrope's Delight, November 29, 2018Brief game. Extremely dark humor.
In the most optimistic terms, it is slapstick comedy, each escalation more outrageous than the next, till one finds oneself face-palm-laughing in shear disbelief at the darkness of it all. (if you've ever laughed at dead baby jokes, this game is for you!)
In the most cynical terms it is a Trumpian daydream. Meta-gaming one's altruism leads to enslavement, and one would do well to note political correctness is not in the character's inventory.
All in all the brevity of the game and one-dimensional caricatures that serve as npc's firmly establish a light-hearted, tongue in cheek framework that allows the game to remain amusing
exceptional, November 27, 2018Above the vast expanse of interactive fiction, Galatea stands alone.
Emily Short has taken a block of code and crafted her vision of Galatea so perfectly it will reach from the screen and touch you. Unforgetable. Immortal interactive fiction.
The player is asked to abandon the comfort of traditional maps and mazes and enter into the labyrinth of conversation
While standard games reward the player with material trophies, or the pride of (relief of) having solved a puzzle, Short rewards the player with the feeling of human intimacy.
" ...My love is like a storybook story But it's as real as the feelings I feel..." ~ 'Storybook Love,' Mark Knopfler; The Princess Bride
fun!, November 26, 2018great storry telling, great creepy crawly factor, puzzles did not interrupt flow of the story significantly and were story based and non gratuitous. real really enjoyed it.
power players that love mind melting puzzles won't find this game satisfying
unplayable, November 25, 2018game gets 1 star for intriguing concept
1 star withheld for subverting the game's own premise: narrator micromanaging an all powerful entity to the point of rendering it impotent
1 star withheld for not introducing the game in a manner that prepares the player for the significant deviation from standard IF gameplay: usual verbs, ways of interacting with the world, etc...
1 star withheld for not only not providing a hint option for the frustrated player, but being unable to find a walkthru online to even get past the second room.
1 star withheld for contemptuous sink-swim attitude towards player: it's great the other reviewer had people reach out to him/her; it should not take a village to play an IF game.
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