Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Founded in the mid-1970s by Gregory Korda, Armature Studios produced a wide variety of films, many of which received high praise from critics and audiences alike. But the studio seemed… cursed. Every year, someone would die, often under suspicious circumstances.

After going out of business in 1998, the studio sat in abandonment. Prime real estate isn’t as desirable when it has the reputation of being haunted. Jump forward to 2025. You are a freelancer whose work deals with the supernatural. Recently, the studio’s lot was purchased, and the new owners have hired you to rid the studio of whatever haunts it.

In other words, Kinophobia is a ghost investigation game that takes place at an abandoned movie studio. The game is made with Inform and is also a submission to Ectocomp 2025 in the Le Grand Guignol category.

Gameplay
At first, I found the game to be quite intimidating. My initial impression was that there were tons of things I had to juggle. Notebook. Binder that gets filled quickly. Phone. A pendant with some kind of substance in it. And verbs. RESEARCH. CONSULT. WRITE. Something about CONCLUSIONS.

I was overthinking it. Soon enough, it clicked. Kinophobia quickly became a lot of fun.

The gameplay involves exploring the studio for newspaper clippings, posters, memos, letters, and other readable material that name-drop people, films, dates, and incidents tied to Armature Studios’ history. Along the way, you can also encounter haunted objects that provide further clues.

As you pick up the shotgun microphone, you feel a slight tingle of static electricity.

The main goal is to identify the 24 ghosts that haunt the site. This is done by finding the person’s name, cause of death, and year of death, which you record in your notebook. Once everyone has been identified, you go to the one room that has been off-limits during the gameplay. But I won’t spoil it.

The gameplay’s structure is a bit unusual. When it comes to games about ghost hunting or exorcisms, I imagine the player running around to find and confront/banish ghosts directly or solving scenery/object-based puzzles. Kinophobia is more of a research-oriented investigation. After collecting readable material, you sit down to analyze it. My favorite part of this is Ari, our research assistant who will look up topics and text us her findings. Sometimes she’ll text us at random to make sure we’re doing alright. She’s awesome.

Ari tells you that the top hit for this name is a "dadfluencer" based out of Cleveland. The person you're looking for is probably not that.

There is so much content to explore. It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole as you chase every bit of info that you find. I love this sort of thing. After a while, you almost forget that you’re investigating a haunted movie studio. Almost.

You think you hear a voice behind you - there's nothing there when you look, of course.

The game makes sure to remind the player of where they are. This includes (Spoiler - click to show)experiencing eerie visions. I actually wish there were more of these. It’s also possible for ghosts to appear visually, but this is more for atmosphere than anything else.

I did need the walkthrough to finish the game. 24 ghosts are a lot. I enjoyed the challenge, but some were too cryptic for me. For example, (Spoiler - click to show)I think reading the “Whatever happened to Magda Marcel?” article and concluding that she was murdered is a bit of a leap, though I appreciate how the game confirms this through a text message we receive from Ari as well as the appearance of Magda’s ghost (a gnarly murder, from the looks of it). Also, I was more inclined to classify hairstylist Melissa Wong’s death as “illness” (chemical poisoning) than “accident,” considering that it was due to routine exposure to toxic hairspray.

Story
To avoid spoiling the immediate story, I’m going to focus more on the worldbuilding component. After researching the daylight out of everything, one could almost believe that, despite being a work of fiction, the people, films, essays, organizations, and other subjects in Kinophobia are real, perhaps because much of it feels vaguely familiar. I should note, a few things do exist, like Letterboxd. But most of it is fiction.

There’s even commentary on these fictional works.

Ari shares a Letterboxd review of Ampersand (2008): "What if all your failed Hinge dates showed up to your house to kill you with hammers but you were too busy having crippling gambling debts to notice. Five stars."

These were a delight to read.

I’m not the first to make this comparison, but Kinophobia reminds me of Excalibur, a Twine game where you navigate a convincing Wikipedia-style “website” about a TV show of the same name. Both have an investigative element where you dig for info and draw conclusions. But what I especially like is the depiction of a creative endeavor that once lived in its heyday. Through your investigation, you start to imagine what it was like before the television show got cancelled, or before the film studio went out of business. As dysfunctional/cursed as they were, there was a moment when they shined. It’s neat to contemplate before returning to the present.

Also, the author describes Kinophobia as a “database thriller,” which may just be my new favorite genre.

Visuals
I like that the game uses a black screen and white text. Much spookier than the default white screen with black text. The cover art also has a nice appearance with black and white imagery + a splash of orange.

Final thoughts
Will everyone fall in love with this game? Not necessarily. But I do think it has something for everyone. There are parts you will appreciate.

As for me, I had a blast. It featured some of my favorite things: An atmospheric map that you roam freely, and a story that you piece together through research. And while it’s a long- and sometimes difficult- game, the walkthrough is well designed. It cuts to the chase so you can dive right into the essence of the gameplay.

So far, Kinophobia is one of the best ghost investigation games I’ve played!

Described as a "sad divorced man fic," six of cups is a series of six scenes from a man's life that include a rocky marriage, a divorce, and a strained relationship with a daughter, all of which are all linked with the recurring theme of drinking (or is Card #2 supposed to be a pickle jar?). The game is also a choice-based hybridization of Unity and Ink.

The player is presented with a spread of six cards, each adorned with an image of a glass. Clicking on a card brings up a scene from the protagonist’s life, and these can be visited in any order. Instead of the game ending, the player stops once they’ve seen everything.

The writing is brief and concise. I was impressed with the amount of depth it conveys. The composition of scenes varies. One scene may consist of a few short paragraphs. Another may be a haphazard string of text messages. Instead of a detailed story, the game works to establish tone- a tone that says more than enough about the state of the protagonist's marital life without further detail.

"Okay," you say, dismissively. A dead fly floats in your drink.

I found it easy to get invested in the story and characters. There’s a sense of cynicism that persists and drives the narrative forward without feeling heavy-handed. I will say, I am itching to know more about the implications of the final line in the game:

The combination of Unity and Ink works well for the game's purposes because it adds complexity visually and implementation-wise, taking the act of reading about moments in a person’s life and giving it dimension. The visual presentation of the cards on the screen makes a strong first impression, while a range of colours, patterns, and graphical elements tailor to the mood of each scene. The format adds a degree of interactivity. Clicking on the cards, for one thing, but also superficial ways of getting the player to interact with what they read, such as having them tap the screen to “send” the text messages.

The simplicity of the six card spread works so well in allowing players to bounce around a timeline at whim. The tense conversation with the daughter, (Spoiler - click to show)Phoebe, can immediately be countered by going back to the moment in college before such responsibilities existed. And vice versa. In exploring the timeline this way, the player is encouraged to contemplate the protagonist, his choices, and how they intersect with the lives of other people.

Arguably, six of cups is more like an experience than a game, and yet, I found it just as engaging as anything else I’ve played. The concise writing, visual design, and simple but consistent implementation work together to result in a strong slice-of-life game that I have a hard time backing away from.

Earth is a war-torn world. A surviving faction decides to build a ship to travel into space in search of a new home. Our protagonist is a woman only known as “Traveller.” She is heavily involved in these efforts, and during this time, her daughter, Penelope, is born.

Soon after Penelope begins to speak and walk, it’s time to board the ship, aka the “Ark,” and leave Earth behind. A new, yet unknown future awaits Traveller and her daughter. Whether they arrive there together is another issue...

Gameplay
The Traveller is custom choice-based game that resembles a visual novel. Its story is narrated in first-person from Traveller’s perspective.

And it’s long. Or maybe it feels longer. While the Ark’s departure marks the end of the intro, the “main” gameplay is initiated when Traveller crashes into an alien planet while on a scouting mission. It’s assumed that she’s dead… and the Ark leaves her behind, kicking off the overarching premise: Will she ever reunite with Penelope?

Even then, it takes a bit for the gameplay to get moving. The planet you’re on (Spoiler - click to show)has a friendly alien, “Calypso,” who helps repair your shuttle. You can either stay and end the game here or leave to track down the Ark. You then spend the rest of the game going from planet to planet in search of answers. Unfortunately, it’s not that interactive. I can count the number of choice-making opportunities in the entire game on both hands, and it’s either casual dialogue or a major decision. (Spoiler - click to show)Like whether to stay on the first planet.

Despite the limited interactivity, there is decent replay value. I almost overlooked this. I played it a few years back, and upon revisiting, it felt different. I knew something was off when I got to the (Spoiler - click to show)grassy planet. Due to the length, I didn’t want to keep replaying it. But I also wanted answers. Here’s what I learned:

Having played this years ago, I will say that the minimal interactivity gave the false impression that the gameplay was completely linear. It makes me wonder whether players put the game aside after playing it once without realizing what they missed. However, if it’s meant to be played more than once, it would be nice if the player could skip the opening scenes after their first playthrough. With that said:

SAVE THE GAME AFTER YOU LEAVE THE FIRST ALIEN PLANET.

Only going to play it once? Here’s the path I recommend: (Spoiler - click to show)Grassy (green) planet, Volcanic (orange) planet, Jungle (blue) planet. There is no perfect path, but for one playthrough, this gives you the most content and is generally more optimistic.

Story
After everything the protagonist goes through, the story starts to feel like a saga. (Spoiler - click to show)No, she does not reunite with Penelope.

Let’s put it this way.

Characters/Worldbuilding
Despite what I’ve said already, I want you to know that this game is more than its immediate story. Along the way there are secondary narratives that carry a similar weight. The author has a talent for writing sci-fi that exists on a larger scale where multiple worlds and civilizations are woven together to create a saga-like quilt of a story. Like The Traveller.

Characters are the most compelling when you meet them for the first time. Traveling to a unique, alien world to face its challenges only to leave it all behind is exhilarating! Though the lack of interactivity dampens the effect, I was eager to see what the next planet had to offer. It's only until you leave (Spoiler - click to show)Calypso’s planet that you start to see how long the game is.

PC
From the start, Traveller proves herself to be something of a badass, and this never changes as she looks for her daughter (Penelope is quite loveable). Later, people refer to her as the “savior of Earth,” and while I wish the game would elaborate on this since it’s quite a title, there is no denying that she had a major role in kickstarting the Ark’s journey.

Being a parent is a key part of her character, and we feel this as we experience the story’s events from her perspective. Like when the Ark leaves her behind. Our radio can hear the Ark’s we-are-leaving broadcast… but is too damaged to send a response. We just listen as the broadcast is like, “farewell to those who didn’t survive, etc.” And leaves. With Penelope. Who now thinks we’re dead. Talk about an emotional scene.

NPCs
I don’t want to spoil everything, but we do meet four alien species. While they have different cultures and physical biology, our interactions with them reveal a recurring theme: that family structures can take different forms. For some, the process of raising and protecting individual children is like that of humans. Meanwhile, another species eliminated individualism altogether, making any distinction between parent and child obsolete- this results in an interesting discussion.

Visuals
The author’s commitment to the game’s art is impressive. Everything is illustrated, while dialogue is displayed in a see-through text box at the bottom of the screen. For most of the game, the visuals consist of a backdrop with a character portrait facing the screen, though brief cutscenes may deviate from this.

It is a gorgeous game. Especially the planets, which each have at least one unique landscape. The character portraits display a range of emotions. Occasionally, this means that the faces look off kilter, but I much prefer this over static expressionless imagery. I can only imagine the time it took for the author to create everything.

Final thoughts
The Traveller has many strengths that include its extensive art, emotional depth, creative worldbuilding, and a memorable depiction of parental determination. And yet, when all these are brought together, the result is not a seamless experience.

Low interactivity is the main issue. Meanwhile, the parts with replay value are likely to be overlooked. If you’ve played this game once and thought you’ve seen it all, you’d be mistaken. Unfortunately, the game’s length doesn’t inspire replays, unless you had the foresight to save the game in advance. Plus, some frustrations about story execution.

But beneath all this is a truly ambitious and unique work of science fiction. It just also seems like a game that can easily go unappreciated. And in that sense, I consider it a hidden gem. In fact, it’s one of the first games I think of when it comes to parent protagonists in interactive fiction. My advice for you is to approach The Traveller as if it were a visual novel and save the game before exploring the other planets.

standing on the porch in the morning…
wake up

Drift Mine Satellite is a custom choice-based “maintenance text adventure” about preparing for a community member’s birthday- but with a sci-fi twist. You live in a limestone mine located in an asteroid. Sealed off from the outside, the mine contains a community that has, against all odds, flourished. Will it last?

A question for another time. You have a birthday to plan.

Gameplay
We begin by waking up in the protagonist’s home: a repurposed train car. Checking our email reveals a message from a friend named Angela.

subject: IMPORTANT. open asap.

It’s her birthday. Apparently, it’s our job to get everything ready. And so, the gameplay’s main objectives are to arrange cake, music, and decorations for the party. We also complete maintenance tasks along the way. We are, after all, the community’s go-to person for fixing things.

Environment
Drift Mine Satellite takes a fantastic minimalist approach to its gameplay. No room descriptions. Only individual words on the screen that represent objects and people. These can be clicked on for more content and interaction. Even here, the word count is minimal, though still impactful.

The game gives the player free range of movement to explore the setting. To navigate the map, the player clicks on arrows at the side of the screen. Clickable signposts are placed throughout for guidance. All of this gives the impression of a parser in choice-based format.

Puzzles
I was intrigued by the game’s approach to puzzles: It flat-out tells you the solution to every puzzle, eliminating in solution guessing. Instead, the challenge rests on acquiring the item needed for the solution. For example, (Spoiler - click to show)examining your mirror has a link that says, “take a photograph of yourself.” If you do not have a camera in your inventory, the game says, “you need a camera to do this,” indicating that we should be on the lookout for a camera. I liked this! Streamlined and uncomplicated.

And a nice change of pace since puzzles in choice-based games usually involve the player selecting an inventory item and applying it somewhere in the gameplay. In these cases, the player may choose the wrong item or have a difficult time knowing what is needed. Not a problem in Drift Mine Satellite.

Story
More like overarching story. As we wander the limestone tunnels, questions inevitably emerge. How did everyone end up here? Did something happen to Earth? What’s up with the shrine? Will it be possible to leave someday? No one, aside from the astronomer, mentions any of this. It’s up to the player to piece it all together, if they want to.

Library archives
Underground mine. Somewhere in asteroid belt. What else? One of my favorite things about this game is its subtle worldbuilding, particularly with the library archives. The section titled “asteroid (mining)” contains a model of an asteroid:

a tiny model of an asteroid… a cutaway view shows that the inside has been hollowed out. a section has been converted to housing. minuscule models of miners are positioned around the base. some seem to be having a party.

Remind you of anything?

There’s also (Spoiler - click to show)an advertisement for “apocalypse shelters.” We also learn of a debris field orbiting Earth. I think it’s safe to say that an apocalypse of some kind happened on Earth that drove at least part of its population off planet. For the community, this meant taking refuge in a former mining facility.

Astronomer
While the archives tell us about the community’s past, the astronomer is where we get answers for the future.

Thoughts/Themes
The author describes Drift Mine Satellite as a “utopian apocalypse fantasy.” Despite the community’s less-than-happy origins, we see nothing but optimism and gratitude. It’s refreshing to see a game with a post-apocalyptic setting take a more positive route.

Repurposed technology and self-sufficiency are frequent themes. Living under a mountain of limestone and sealed from the outside world, community members live in makeshift homes built from disused vehicles. Solar panels became tables. Patched generators are repatched. Scraps of materials are valued. Nothing is ever fully discarded.

Plus, everyone seems happy with what they have. They grow a communal garden, play cards, run a library, and happily celebrate Angela’s birthday.

what little green does make it to dinner plates is well-loved.

There is occasional yearning for life that was. The shrine has unsent letters and the protagonist’s dreams include scenes from their life on Earth. But ultimately, no one expresses any interest in leaving.

Visuals
I covered part of this in the Gameplay section. The game’s minimalist design also applies to its appearance. Its appearance is of a white background with only a handful of clickable words scattered across the screen. Text is black and may be positioned at different angles to mimic a room’s layout. Occasionally, black-and-white stars and planet symbols will appear on the screen. The astronomer’s map was especially cool.

Final thoughts
Drift Mine Satellite is a game that offers both cozy gameplay and a thoughtful story. But there’s something about it that feels different. The minimal design, for instance. Who knew that a game without room descriptions could be so immersive? I also enjoyed playing a non-Twine choice-based game with parser-like feel.

Its well-roundedness will appeal to most audiences. It’s a maintenance game with simplified gameplay, and an excellent sci-fi option for those who normally dislike science fiction. Much of it leans towards slice of life. And while there’s not a lot of technical challenge, that doesn't mean you won’t enjoy it. Consider giving Drift Mine Satellite a try.

(...one last thing...)
The game was commissioned for Solar Protocol, a network of solar powered servers that connects from whatever server is in the most sunshine.

If you decide to play, it will be a solar-powered experience. According to the game’s website, anyone who plays does so on a solar-powered server. That is so cool.

baby:OFF is a short Ink game submitted to Bare-Bones Jam 2025. It follows a protagonist who is struggling with the aftermath of a failed relationship with someone named TJ. To cope, they buy a customizable android known as a “GenDroid.” Designed to look exactly like TJ, the protagonist calls the android Not-TJ.

Gameplay is rather linear. It all takes place in a cheap motel where the protagonist is getting personal with Not-TJ. Choices are made to alter the immediate moment but have no broader effect on the story in general. However, the player’s choices reveal different details about the story, providing incentive for multiple playthroughs.

I want to give a quick shoutout to the writing.

Firmly secured under heavy layers of bubble wraps and blocky styrofoam was her sleeping figure... A sleeping doll yet to experience the world outside its cocoon.

There’s something about its descriptiveness. It does a good job at helping you visualize the technology featured in the story.

TJ
I wish there was more backstory on the protagonist’s relationship with TJ because what we’re told feels extremely one-sided. It sounds like TJ had a controlling streak towards loved ones that would manifest physically and emotionally. But when the protagonist started to become more successful in life, TJ ended things out of jealousy. That’s pretty much it.

Using their new wealth, the protagonist then bought a GenDroid to model after TJ. A recurring theme is how the protagonist simultaneously relished and despised TJ’s destructiveness towards them. Not-TJ serves as a way for them to revisit this dynamic on their own terms.

Despite the overall antagonization of TJ’s character, I liked that the game also recognizes her as a person with multiple dimensions, and this is symbolized through how she experimented with different hair colours.

Sun-kissed brown.
Aimless.
Vulnerable.
Honest.

Of course, in Not-TJ’s case, this is just another thing we control.

Not-TJ
In creating Not-TJ, the protagonist projects their past onto something they can control: An android, programmed to serve. Whether that be for expressing affection or acting as a means for the protagonist to vent their frustration. And yet, it feels hollow. GenDroids sell a fantasy for the consumer. Any obedience or affection is the product of an algorithm.

The game snowballs from here, wrapping up surprisingly quickly.

Final thoughts
I realize that baby:OFF may have subtleties that were lost on me, but overall, I liked the ideas presented. The writing is descriptive and precise, allowing us to view the world, or at least its technology, from the protagonist’s perspective. And while there’s sexual content, it never felt overwhelming or distracted from the story.

However, the ending feels too abrupt to be conclusive. So many interesting developments that get cut short. Also, I wish the game was less one-sided in its coverage of the protagonist’s relationship with TJ. Interesting characters, that’s all.

A memorable game, nonetheless.

What comes to mind when someone says that a game is "cozy?" There is no single answer to this question, but Marshmallow Nights certainly qualifies. Cozy inside and out.

It’s a short Twine game about spending time with your best friend on a cold, brisk night. It begins outside where you and your friend are sitting on a hill. Your friend pulls out a bag of marshmallows and challenges you to a contest. I can't really discuss the game further without spoiling everything but just know that this is a friendly contest. Regardless of what you choose in the game, it always ends on a soothing, cozy note.

The visuals enhance the overall quality. It features a cream-coloured background with large grey text and light purple links. At the top of the screen is an animated graphic of a moon above a mountain landscape. The graphic’s purple/grey colour scheme harmonizes with the rest of the game's appearance, cementing the cozy effect.

My rating stems from the fact that it could be a little longer, even as "micro" game, but it does make the most of what it has to offer. There is a potency in the writing and how it sets the scene for us. No matter what, Marshmallow Nights will lead to a satisfying outcome.

You are an A.I. of a maternity ward. You’ve calculated that humanity is on the verge of being wiped out by human-driven climate collapse. But today, a child was born. Somehow you just know that this child will be the one to save the human race.

Tabula Rasa is a Twine game that revolves around a single action: inputting numerical values to create the “perfect” family for the child. If the child is going to save the world they need an adequate family, right? It’s all up to you!

Gameplay
The child’s family is defined by four qualities, such as wealth, that you set by typing a number from one to five into a text box. Then you press enter.

(…25 years go by…)

The game then reveals if the child- now an adult- succeeded in saving the planet. The end.

There’s not a lot going on here. It begins and ends in a matter of seconds.

Characters
Despite the child’s status as the “Chosen One,” we don’t know anything about them. As for us… Look, I realize that this game most likely isn’t meant to be taken seriously. Even so, I found the A.I.’s entitlement to be extremely off-putting.

Never mind the child's biological parents.

Wait a minute. There’s no moral consideration to this whatsoever. No acknowledgement of what the parents may think. No follow up, nothing. (But humanity is on the line!) Nope, it still bugs me.

Story
I don’t even know where to start. The game is too short to truly have a story.

By your calculations, this child is the absolute last chance for humanity.

Out of all the A.I.s on the planet, the one that steps up to save the day is some random A.I. in a hospital that (somehow) has the foresight to know that this specific child will be the Chosen One to save humanity? The logistics of it all. Make. No. Sense.

??? You’re an A.I. who took a child from their parents because you thought you knew what was best for everyone. What makes you the expert on what the “right” family would be for this child? Everything in the game is underscored by this outrageous fact.

Perhaps the author intends this to be a silly game. If so, it misses the target. The player is more inclined to fuss over the details than to find it humorous. And if the goal is to share a message about saving the planet, the endings have no basis for discussion.

Your child grew up happy, healthy, and well-adjusted! And also uninclined to do anything about global warming.

What kind of message is this? Being well-adjusted means you won’t do anything about global warming?

Endings
I will say, I was motivated to find all six endings. The column on the left side of the screen keeps track of the endings you’ve reached. For example, if you reach Ending 2, a “2” lights on the column. Something about this really made me want to see all six numbers light up. No gaps between numbers. I had to find all six.

And I did. (Spoiler - click to show)Ending 1 is the “win” ending.

Visuals
I appreciate that Tabula Rasa offers more than Twine’s default appearance. A black and white image of a forest is used as a backdrop. The image does look a bit like something you might find in a horror game. However, it does an excellent job at making the white text stand out. It’s noticeable enough to keep things interesting. And yet, you hardly notice it’s there. The seafoam blue links were also well-chosen.

Final thoughts
Do I give Tabula Rasa one or two stars? The gameplay is non-existent, and the story is pretty much the same way. I really can’t tell what kind of experience the author had in mind for the player. Everything about it seems to fall short.

What gets me (aside from the child-snatching A.I.) is that the central gameplay mechanic is reduced to the player punching in numbers to see what sticks rather than engaging the player in any meaningful way.

On the other hand, it did have enough of a draw for me to want to find every ending. And I must admit that the design choices elevate the overall quality. There are plenty of ways it could be worse…

What the heck. Two stars.

You were only a courier until you agreed to run deliveries for the resistance and even then, you had no further involvement.

And yet, here you are, trapped in a lab with law enforcement closing in…

Masks is a short Twine game about protest and defiance in the face of brute force. You play as a courier in the middle of a delivery gone sideways. It brought you to a university campus lab, but the recipients have vanished. Meanwhile, city-wide protests prevent you from leaving.

Gameplay
Gameplay is linear and involves waiting for the inevitable raid by law enforcement. It begins in the lab where we've been hiding for several days. Equipment in the lab monitors the air quality and sound levels in the room. We soon learn why: law enforcement’s go-to tactic against dissenters is tear gas and loud noise.

Every night the police blast a playlist of weaponized sound through the streets below.

There's not much for us to do than to look out the window and wait. The turning point occurs when (Spoiler - click to show)we decide to open the package we were tasked to deliver. Inside are some masks. The player selects a mask to wear and waits as the door is torn down. Game ends.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this. While it’s a suspenseful way to end the game, it also leaves the player wanting more from their experience.

Story/Themes
While details are kept at a minimum, it portrays a society undergoing a spike in violence against civilian protesters. Most of these protestors appear to be students. Aside from that, all we know is that something is happening. The game was inspired by the Hong Kong 2019 protests but leaves the game’s story open-ended for the player.

Design
Overall appearance consists of a basic white screen, large grey text, and blue links. Word-count is kept to a minimum. A creative feature is the use of colour-coded icons on the left side of the screen that depicts air quality and sound levels. This allows us to see when these levels become unbearable for our character.

An acoustic cannon perforates your bones.

It doesn’t take long for the levels to go from green to red.

Masks also demonstrates how timed text can build suspense at key moments. Here, text automatically changes as the situation escalates, emphasizing the inevitable descent of police forces on your hiding spot.

An explosion out in the hallway rocks the lab. They’re here.

The game ends with (Spoiler - click to show)a ten second countdown as the barricaded door- your only exit- is torn down. This is effective in making the player feel just as helpless as the protagonist.

Final thoughts
As an overall concept, Masks is a well-rounded game especially being only 2-3 minutes long. However, the content’s depth is surface-deep. I understand the game limits its exposition to be more open-ended. The downside of this sparseness is loss of the subtly behind the protagonist’s situation, making it difficult to find deeper insights.

Nonetheless, Masks is a game that stands out for both its meaningful subject matter and creative implementation. The author knows how to build a suspenseful scene with a smaller word-count. If you’re looking for an uncomplicated game with themes on protest, try Masks.

You are concerned about THE ENVIRONMENT, and want to do your part!

Individual Action Simulator is a brief Ink game that considers the impact an individual can make when trying to live more sustainably. Save the Earth one step at a time!

Gameplay is organized into days, and each day the player chooses an action from a list.

DAY 1
You decide to...

[Conserve electricity.]
[Take public transit to work.]
[Recycle.]

Points are awarded accordingly and indicate the difference you’ve made.

You gain 1 point(s)! Good job!

Later, this shifts to actions like donating to charity or switching to metal straws.

It doesn’t take long to realize that the game is a lesson in futility. Every few days, a random human-caused event occurs, harming the environment and overshadowing our progress.

Government environmental protection regulations were relaxed again after extensive lobbying.

You lose 1000000 point(s)...

By illustrating this imbalance of positive/negative impact, the point system highlights an important truth: As long as governments and corporations exploit the environment in drastic ways, recycling and going vegan, while sustainable, will not save the planet in the long term.

From here, the game loses traction. The only option we have is “protest.” Meanwhile, the point system falls apart.

You gain 1 point(s)

You gain 0 point(s)

You gain -1 point(s)

Next thing we know, the game is using random values like “??? points” or “0.5 points” that make no sense. The game then asks if we want to quit. Otherwise, we protest until the Earth is destroyed. I suppose the game is trying to send a message about the limitations of protest when saving the environment. However, this part of the gameplay is too sloppy and devoid of context for this message to have any platform to stand on.

Whether you choose to quit or protest until the Earth’s destroyed, a surprising twist is revealed: (Spoiler - click to show)Individual Action Simulator is a game within a game.

Note on visuals: At first, I thought this was a Twine game. Turns out, it’s made with Ink. It uses a black screen, white text, and blue links, except for the (Spoiler - click to show)twist at the end which opts for a light grey screen, colour-coded character names, and cleaner formatting. This sudden change in appearance contributes to the player’s surprise at discovering the true nature of the game.

To conclude, Individual Action Simulator has the right idea but misses the mark in its overall execution. I’m glad that it challenges the view that recycling and other sustainable practices will not offset the ongoing destruction that humanity inflicts on the environment. Sustainable efforts must occur at both the individual and organizational level.

Unfortunately, the potency of this message is diminished by the sparse and sloppy gameplay implementation. The (Spoiler - click to show)twist at the end helps but is not enough to save the entire game. That said, if the author were to revisit this topic in a future game, I’d be interested.

If you've played The Sims 2, odds are you have been freaked out by stories of how easy it is for the game to get corrupted, and the crazy things that can happen if it does.

I want to start by saying that I was greatly impressed with The Sims 2 Corruption Creepypasta (aka TS2CC). While it’s more of an essay than a conventional Twine game, it strikes a balance between the two by combining fascinating, in-depth analysis with surprising interactivity. It's also a submission to Bare-Bones Jam 2025.

The Sims is a popular life simulation series. There have been rumors that its second installment, The Sims 2, can be horribly corrupted if the player performs certain actions, with unsettling results. Ultimately, there is no basis for these rumors. A mere myth. TS2CC seeks to understand why this myth flourished so easily…

What is it about these myths that has convinced, and, in some sense, captivated people for so long? Why have they been shared, amplified, built upon, and believed?

…and why it manages to retain its allure even after being discredited. To answer these questions, TS2CC compares The Sims 2 corruption myth to creepypastas about technology-related fears.

PART A: Gameplay/Design
The execution of this game is fantastic. It’s what earns TS2CC its fifth star.

Gameplay
Despite being an essay, TS2CC makes good use of the Twine format to include interactive content, elevating the essay from merely something we read to something that provides an experience. Something playable.

Interactivity is surface-deep and does not affect the gameplay’s linearity. Its potency lies in building atmosphere and providing ways for the player to engage with passages while reading. What’s remarkable is how this interactivity injects a subtle weirdness that pairs well with the essay’s topic. For example, the section that discusses intentional corruption has a link that, when clicked on, causes a passage’s text to shift and distort.

Even the cover art is spooky.

My only complaint is that the game (Spoiler - click to show)simply ends with a link-less passage and no indicator that the game is over. The writing implies that it is, but at the same time, players are left wondering if they’ve landed on a broken passage. A small confirmation would be appreciated.

Design
The Bare-Bones Jam is a perfect fit for this game. Entries are required to stick to their system’s default format. As a Twine game, TS2CC has a black background, white text, and blue links: Twine’s default. Jam or no Jam, this appearance works well for an essay because it’s easy to read and avoids distractions. The simplicity of this also keeps the spotlight on the interactivity.

And yet, the game finds ways to keep things visually interesting. One of my favorite moments is (Spoiler - click to show)when the game explains how glitches alter the familiarity of a game… and a creepy face appears. It’s composed of dozens of periods (“.”) which adds a visual element without breaking the Jam’s rules.

PART B: Content
TS2CC takes an analytic approach to its subject matter. The author clearly did their research- literally. The in-game Reference page will take you to the sources that the author used for writing the essay.

The player is introduced to a range of ideas and concepts, which can initially feel overwhelming. I had to play the game multiple times before I could follow the main arguments. But I loved gaining new insight in the process.

I will now share some things that stood out to me. Consider this part of the review as how I understand the game's concepts. Input welcome.

General ideas
TS2CC contemplates the "game object" which refers to the game itself, not the gaming experience we get from playing it. By responding to the player’s choices, the game object grants that person agency over it. But when a glitch occurs, "it's something the game object does in spite of the player's intentions," resulting in the loss of this agency over something you previously controlled and thought you understood.

This dynamic is showcased in “glitch horror,” a genre of horror that capitalizes on these fears and anxieties about technology. An example of a glitch horror game is "Ben Drowned."

Creepypasta like Ben Drowned dramatize a fear of loss of agency before the machine. Not only that, but loss of agency over something that used to be deeply familiar.

Glitch horror is often used in creepypastas. Creepypasta refers to horror stories/legends that are posted and circulated around the internet, often inspiring new iterations. Slender Man is a popular example. The Sims 2 corruption myth also fits the bill given how it continues to lurk in the minds of players and online forums.

From the sound of it, content that preys on our fears fascinates us in equal measure.

Corruption myth
The author claims that while the magnetic draw of The Sims corruption myth is akin to the fascination around glitch horror creepypastas, the base fear factor- or what makes this corruption particularly frightening to the viewer- is different.

The scariness of corruption in The Sims is "because it speaks to the lack of mastery of the overwhelming majority of people who use computers." Less about losing control and more about finding yourself face-to-face with something too complex to understand.

This is where I start to lose focus.

It sounds like the author is saying that when a Sims game is corrupted, it forces the user to engage with the technical side of the simulation, and that the user’s inability to understand this side is what makes corruption in The Sims so unnerving (I assume the author is referring to the average person). Apparently, the fear of this happening is so strong that some players avoid the game altogether.

Regarding this argument, I don’t entirely see how the technical details of The Sims would trigger a fear of corruption. I could understand being disturbed if this corruption produced horrifying results, as is the case with the corruption myth.

…bizarre effects such as attaching furniture to Sims' heads, turning Mrs. Crumplebottom into a bald and barefoot stalker…

But not so much with being unable to understand the ins and outs of how the simulation works. In this sense, I would just find it frustrating because the game isn’t working and I don’t know how to fix it. Well, I suppose a glitch is the same way: a machine fails to work the way it should. Still, I have a harder time drawing a parallel between the two.

Besides, a quick look online shows people using mods and fooling around with the game’s settings. Your knowledge of how the game works may be limited, but that won’t necessarily stop you from finding ways to tinker with it beyond what the game was intended for.

Or is the fear of corruption in The Sims 2 because of how supposedly easy it is to trigger a corrupted state through basic actions? I’d love to hear more from the author on this!

Further discussion
Reading through the essay’s points on glitch horror, I couldn’t help but think of a Twine classic, the uncle who works for nintendo. Its premise is based on the urban legend that kids could gain early access to video games if they had a family member, often an uncle, employed by Nintendo.

I’m not sure if it can be fully categorized as glitch horror, but there are elements that elicit the nervousness of seeing a computer act in unexpected ways. SPOILERS.

Final thoughts
The Sims 2 Corruption Creepypasta is a stellar interactive essay made with Twine. It outlines the corruption myth and how it functions as a creepypasta. Fueled by our fear and fascination of corrupted technology, the myth lives on despite the consensus that it has no practical basis. I learned a lot.

Players may be turned off by the fact that it’s an essay, especially if the subject doesn’t interest them. But even if you merely skim the text, you can still appreciate the overall experience of its creepy interactivity.

I hope to see more of the author’s work in the future.

(edit: removed note after receiving clarification)