Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Review title: A humorous Twine take on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice
This game is a fanciful retelling of the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice where you play as Orpheus in his quest to revive Eurydice. The game takes about 25-30 minutes to play, and its gameplay features some replay value.

Background
Here is some background context for this game. Some may not consider these as spoilers, but I will still tag key plot points. In Greek mythology a man named Orpheus loses Eurydice, his wife, when she is bitten by a snake. Orpheus decides to go to the Underworld to bring her back. He is extremely skilled at the lyre and (Spoiler - click to show) plays such a bittersweet song about Eurydice's death that even Hades and Persephone, gods of the Underworld, agree to give him a second chance. They allow Orpheus to lead Eurydice out of the Underworld with the condition that he does not look back until they both reach the realm of the living. Along the way, however, he grows suspicious because he cannot hear the footsteps of anyone behind him. He turns, only to see his wife, and loses her a second time. But upon his death Orpheus is reunited with Eurydice once again.

As is the case with most Greek mythology there are variations in a story, but the story of Eurydice and Orpheus always seems to share the same theme: that (Spoiler - click to show) love can endure in life and death even if two individuals reside in separate realms. Orpheus: A Tragicomedy in Six Parts sticks (mostly) to this storyline but adds a comedic twist.

Gameplay
As explained in the title the game is broken into six acts, all of which are evenly paced. The gameplay begins after Eurydice has died. After moping around Orpheus decides to go to the Underworld.

Whenever I read about Greek mythology there seems to be a process for reaching the Underworld. Usually, you are required to take a boat across a sea before reaching the gates of the Underworld. In this game (Spoiler - click to show) the player can throw caution and planning to the wind. They travel to the Underworld on their terms, completely contradicting the original story in a humorous and creative way. The player can even try to kill off Orpheus, but the game always has some humorous way to keep this from happening. No matter what, he never wavers from his goal.

While the gameplay in the Underworld is (Spoiler - click to show) influenced by your previous choices the game still presents you with three characters, one of which you can ask for help. You can choose either Heracles, Achilles, or Sisyphus. Each character brings unique dialog which adds replay value.

The game may not be accurate from a historical standpoint but that is the main defining feature in Orpheus: A Tragicomedy in Six Parts. It is a humorous and outlandish take on a traditional story while also sticking with familiar characters and key plot points.

Story
The writing is hilarious. My favorite part is when (Spoiler - click to show) Orpheus tries to talk to Persephone and Hades only for them to act as if the encounter is nothing more than someone trying to make an appointment at the hair salon.

Hades grabs a dayplanner off his sidetable and starts pawing through it. "Yes... this afternoon. Though it looks like we're double-booked. Unless..." Hades starts scribbling something down in his dayplanner, apparently forgetting that you're there.

Who would have thought that Hades, God of the Underworld, would use a planner to manage his kingdom? There are multiple dialog options that let you choose the tone of the conversation, but the (Spoiler - click to show) outcome remains the same. Hades and Persephone will initially turn Orpheus away until he whips out his lyre and proceeds to wow them with his music. This is also the case in the original story.

The game captures Orpheus' uncertainty as the player (Spoiler - click to show) clicks on the "Don't look back" command. But no longer how long the player clicks on the button they do not reach the exit of the Underworld. They only have one other option: "Look back.” Orpheus loses Eurydice and the player is presented with two choices that determine the ending.

The player can choose to (Spoiler - click to show) kill themselves or keep living without Eurydice. Choosing to continue living leads to the happy ending because when Orpheus does die, he is reunited with Eurydice in a joyful manner. If the player chooses for Orpheus to kill himself, he is reunited with Eurydice but in less-than-ideal conditions where loneliness pervades.

Visuals
I love the stylizing of this game. It uses a black background with mustard yellow text and accents. Sometimes characters will also use their own font. The top and bottom of the screen have a basic maze-like appearance and the game occasionally includes graphics of the characters. Some are portrayed in mustard yellow against the black screen while others are more ornate. These visuals were one of the best parts of the game and created a polished look.

Links that are tan and underlined result in popup boxes containing a few verses that the protagonist players. I am pretty sure that they are NOT actual verses from real-life texts but instead a simplified version with a joking undertone. I felt that these boxes added a little more interactivity and a splash of humor. The game also has links that lead to YouTube videos some music mentioned in the game. My only complaint was that these links are dark blue and difficult to read against the black screen.

Final thoughts
This is a great game if you are hungry for something with Greek mythology, especially one that strives to be a funny retelling rather than going for historical accuracy. It is fairly short game and has simple yet detailed visuals.

Another game I recommend from IFDB is called Eurydice by an anonymous author. It is a parser game uses a modern and much more somber take on the classic story. It is one of my favorite games and is a nice way of demonstrating how different authors can make a unique game based on the same concept.

The story is one of finding a place in a welcoming community. You have been granted a cottage in a town on a new island and have access to a range of locations and townspeople. With this new start, you find ways of making the cottage your home.

There is one thing I want to say about content. When I first played this game on itchio it came with one of those “You must be 18+ to view this content” popup warnings but there is little explicit content to be worried about. The game’s content warning includes (Spoiler - click to show) language, violent events, and brief blood, which is true. However, after playing the game I sincerely feel that the content implemented is nowhere near an 18+ rating. I am only saying this because the +18 rating may discourage some players from even trying it which would mean missing out on an excellent and light-hearted game. That is my take on it. I would describe this game as not for kids but reasonable for most ages.

Gameplay
The gameplay is broken into days. Each day begins at the player’s cottage. At the start of each day the player can travel, harvest their garden, craft items, read books, and invite people over if they have a good enough relationship. Sometimes the player will get notifications in their mailbox about events and festivals held by the island community.

The travel locations are the town, forest, coast, and river, each having one main character that the player can build a relationship with (and possibly pursue romance). At each location the player can scavenge for raw materials and then craft items from them. You can then sell these creations at the market or give them to other characters as gifts. Sometimes new locations will briefly be available, such as (Spoiler - click to show) a shipwreck.

You can sell and buy things at the market which was exciting at first. However, it does not take long for you to buy out everything in the market. It also felt unrealistic that you can harvest a fresh crop from your garden every single day. Selling all that produce contributed to the excess of coins that I accumulated. I was surprised there was no way to customize your cottage beyond books and plants. A room extension or remodeling would burn off those extra coins.

One of the biggest strengths in this game is that quests are smoothly implemented. Quests usually involve finding and talking to new characters for information or crafting special items. Even though quests follow a similar model they avoid feeling repetitive. Sometimes they overlap which makes the game’s world more fluid.

Story
The ultimate goal is to become a happy member of the community but there is no variation in endings. The only ending is to (Spoiler - click to show) complete every task and achievement which is shown in a list. Because of this, players may not be compelled to replay it. I could see this as a game that you play again several months later when you stumble across it and decide to revisit it.

Characters
The game requires that the player become friends with the other characters. The only way to move forward in character interactions is to (Spoiler - click to show) alternate between giving them gifts and talking to them. It feels sort of awkward to have a heated interaction with a character and then earning points with them by giving them things out of nowhere. It is like in the Sims games where you give someone a high five until they become your best friend. Nonetheless, characters are richly implemented. They may be found strolling along in locations you normally would not find them, giving you an opportunity to chat. I also liked the idea of (Spoiler - click to show) recruiting the characters as teachers if you decide to turn the abandoned house into a school because it ties back to the theme of community building.

There is also a mild stat system that is used in character dialog. Gameplay choices affect your Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric, and Phlegmatic levels. There is no way of checking your stat levels and it is not clear on what choices contribute to a particular stat, but it does add some extra depth. You might be presented with a list of options such as these: Here is an example of three links you could click on to respond to a character:

'Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude.'
'You left your door open.'
(Choleric) 'Looking around. Who are you?'

Each one of these would be a response to a character. If you did not have a high enough Choleric stat for the last option, it would be crossed out. Using stats in Twine games always adds a little complexity to the gameplay and Ataraxia is no exception.

Visuals
Game uses a simple colour scheme of teal background and orange text with occasional text effects in some of the quests. Everything is easy to read and navigate which is especially helpful in an RPG game where you are constantly flipping through inventories and stat statistics. I think its appearance is one of the game’s strongest points.

Final thoughts
Ataraxia is a nice ambient game with lighthearted themes of aspiration and productive community-building (along with just a touch of fantasy). Its gameplay is complex but not puzzle heavy and is an excellent example of a choice-based RPG.

Paid parental leave in Sweden has led to a change in parenting methods. Many fathers are now considered as "Stay-At-Home" dads, a concept that is rather novel in places like the U.S. In this game you are a father named Björn. The game begins in your kitchen where you are drinking juice and thinking about yourself as a parent. Note: This game came out in 2016. No doubt the landscape of childcare has evolved (for better or worse) since then.

Gameplay
The gameplay is shaped by your choice of perceiving the world with either a realist perspective or an optimist perspective that offer two separate paths. I liked how the game presents two simple but clearcut ways of experimenting with the story. Unfortunately, both paths end abruptly with the realist path being slightly longer.

Optimist path
In this first path Björn is reflecting on when he first met his wife Agatha at an office, thinking about how attractive she was. Then he moves on to when they bought their first house which has started to feel like a home. Suddenly (Spoiler - click to show) the game interjects with "WHAT COULD BE ANY BETTER THAN THAT?!" Then the credits appear. This path does nothing towards portraying the subject of paid parental leave. It is just feels like a brief fantasy trip.

Realist path
At least this path does briefly look at paid parental leave. It covers Björn’s daily routine with his daughter Abby. His wife, Agatha, works in finance in another area. He drives Abby to school tries to complete basic tasks such as grocery shopping. Before paid parental leave he worked in a nut processing factory. Because the factory is not particularly exciting, he decides to apply for a new job. (Spoiler - click to show) Unfortunately, the game randomly ends with him thinking about different types of nuts without further exploring the topics of childcare.

Discussion
The game describes itself as being about "Swedish fathers with a lot of time on their hands," which we never learn about. In both the optimist and realist paths the game never breaks down how fathers commit themselves to childcare or how they manage their free time, especially over longer time periods than the ones shown in the game. For instance, how have societal factors influenced fathers’ role in childcare that resulted in the wave of stay-at-home dads? At least the realist route skims the surface of the subject. It mentions grocery shopping and applying for jobs but discussion of the subject ends before it can begin. I was not expecting a vast Twine piece that covered every aspect of paid parental leave. But when I saw the game, I thought it would have gone into greater detail.

Visuals
The visual design is one of the strong points in this game. It features beautiful gradient backgrounds with large glowing text that is easy to read and creates a nicely stylized effect. The glowing text is subtle without being hard to read. The optimist and realist paths each have a unique gradient background that was aesthetically pleasing. If this were a blog, I would upload a screenshot of the background. Since that is not possible you will have to play the game to see them for yourself.

Final thoughts
Despite its incompleteness there are two reasons why I would recommend the game: A, it has information on parental paid leave in Sweden at the end of the game and B, shows some nice examples of gradient backgrounds used in Twine. This too is mentioned at the end.

Even though I have multiple criticisms about the game I am glad that the author chose this topic because parenting is always a relevant topic. Based on my experience (other players may feel otherwise) with interactive fiction I have encountered more games about motherhood than about fatherhood, and I think that this game is a nice addition to the mix.

(Note: If you click on the link to the article in the credits page, you may be hit with a paywall. But if you type in the name of the article "In Sweden, Men Can Have It All" into a search engine you will still find some interesting and relevant material on the subject.)

You are a passenger on a ship called the Space Cruiser DONTPANIC. It is just a basic business trip until an alarm goes off while you are asleep. One step outside of your quarters reveals that the ship is in a state of emergency, leaving you with no choice but to go to the control room to radio for help. But ground control has other plans.

In the control room you learn that ground control has gleefully nominated you to be the first human to enter a black hole. The player than can choose from a short list of outlandish survival options before they are swallowed by the event horizon (that is, the point of no return, where even light cannot escape). For atmosphere, consider looking up NASA’s first picture of a black hole. While I cannot claim that this game is an accurate depiction of what it would be like to fall into a black hole, the concept is still an interesting one to contemplate.

I am giving this game a rating of two stars because there not much substance to the gameplay. It is meant to be humorous and comical, but it does not offer much in terms of interactivity or variation. Initially, I thought it would have been one of those games where each time you die you learn something new that will let you get a litter farther in the next playthrough. However, the game usually results in the same outcome and the player’s choices do not seem to matter.

Most of the endings (Spoiler - click to show) lead to same thing: The player entering the event horizon and watching the first forms of life in the universe coming into creation. There is no explanation as to why ground control chose to sabotage the protagonist, nor is there any mention of any other characters on the ship because the layout of the ship suggests that this was a multi-person ship. There are only (Spoiler - click to show) two other endings: falling asleep after the alarm wakes you up and trying to teleport yourself out of the ship. The second one was probably the most interesting. I could not help but think that it would have been kind of cool to see a CerebroVat in action.

I often like to briefly acknowledge the visuals of Twine games. This one is basic but shows how a few style choices can add some uniqueness. Its appearance is a slightly more stylized than the typical white text and black screen. The text is set in a dark-grey rectangle with round corners against a black screen. Links are enclosed with a slightly lighter-gray rounded rectangle. I felt like this was a nice example of a basic Twine design.

In conclusion, the game may not be particularly substantial, but it still has merits. It is a brief and humorous diversion, and I recommend it to players who enjoy the disaster-in-space genre.

This is a surreal game about a branching train of thought inspired by field research in a rainforest. Everything is sensory. The smell of the forest, the moisture in the air, and the sound of the wildlife are all captured in succinct but vivid detail, which is why this game captured my attention.

You are an unnamed and undescribed (presumably human) protagonist who wanders the forest until you reach as group of researchers with a makeshift ecology lab. The researchers, unbothered by the fact that you are rummaging around in their equipment are studying plants, birds, insects, trees, the ocean, and other parts of the forest. Maybe they are even studying you.

Either way, the gameplay consists of clicking on links that lead to one
When the protagonist observes the scientists’ field work, they ponder the different forms of research that humans have conducted about life and proceeds to bounce between identities. (Spoiler - click to show) First, you are a scientist studying ecology in Biosphere 2, a real-world facility that studies closed ecosystems. Suddenly you are analyzing messages sent by a radio dish to another solar system with instructions on how to reach Earth. Then you are an alien landing on Earth for the first time. These rapid changes are all smoothly implemented so that it forms a blended narrative. Games with this structure run the risk of being tricky to follow but FIELD WORK was streamlined and easy to understand.

The end of the story is a slightly unexpected but interesting outcome. Eventually, (Spoiler - click to show) your mind snaps back to reality. Rather than merely collecting samples to ship off to a lab, the researchers explain that they are actually studying the forest to form a musical composition by using technology that takes microscopic samples and transfer their structure into sound. The game then ends with (Spoiler - click to show) the protagonist listening to the sounds in silent reflection which felt like a thoughtful conclusion.

The visuals are sleek and polished. For most of the game the text body is contained in a white square with rounded corners against a slightly darker white background. It uses black and white text with green links and symbols. The game uses basic visual effects in creative ways. For example, I like how (Spoiler - click to show) the text box darkened so that it was reduced to a white circle that simulated the view of looking through a microscope. The downside is that the box containing the text is incredibly small and is swallowed by the back screen. There are some cases where the black text is somewhat faded and difficult to read against the white screen. In addition, the text size may be hard to read which may discourage some players.

The cover art and title lured me in with the promise of an immersive sci-fi adventure and I am pleased to say that I found a unique Twine game that incorporates current areas of research into a short story. It is surreal but not too intensive or too long. It also has a cool trailer on its itchio page that contains some of the locations mentioned in the game. If you like the themes mentioned in the trailer (or this review) then this game may be of interest.

You are an Ensign on a ship called the Invisible Hand. Its mission is to ferry goods to different locations, but the last job ran into some issues. The cargo is a sentient gelatinous substance call Lumen Fish. It is extremely valuable which means the reward for delivering the cargo will be high. Unfortunately, a group called the Lex Evisceratum heard about this and now hunting the Invisible Hand. To make things worse the ship's FTL (faster than light) drive has been damaged, leaving the ship vulnerable in space.

Gameplay
The goal of the game is to fix the drive. The player can explore different rooms on the ship although the rooms themselves are usually minimal in interactivity. Most locations consist of a room redescription and a character although a few have objects you can interact with. Some characters have prerequisites for interacting with them, or for entering their spaces, which form most puzzles. A fun bonus is the achievements at the end of the game which is nice since it gives incentive to replay.

The weak point of the game is its premature endings. The first one that left me confused is (Spoiler - click to show) the Bio-Purification Unit in the infirmary. If you examine it the game ends without describing it or explaining its function. Is it a human-sized version of a garbage disposal? The protagonist just keels over in pain and that is that.

Similarly, the game (Spoiler - click to show) randomly ends if you examine the beast in the lab. There is not even an option to return to a checkpoint. Nor is there anything that says, "the end" or "game over." It gives the impression of a broken link. If it is meant to an official ending is extremely under clued. All you did was examine the beast. It escapes and causes chaos but there is no story structure behind its escape. It has absolutely nothing to do with repairing the drive or delivering the cargo and could have been implemented more smoothly.

Story
The story is a bit one-dimensional. It follows a familiar model of the genre: recognizable archetypes of crew members, a premise of transporting strange cargo, and a dispute between galactic powers, in this case being the Laissez-Faire Trade Federation vs the Lex Evisceratum. Then again, that model is also part of the allure. It may be familiar, but the author can always add a unique twist.

Escape from Cluster Zeta is light on background material. It does not weigh the player down with detail about planets, politics, and logistics. Such detail is desirable but for small games it can be overwhelming. This game balances length with background content. The immediate story could have been more fleshed out. There is not much content on the protagonist or any elaboration on the cargo's bounty and the Lex Evisceratum, but it is still enough to make the player curious enough to play. There are also Star Wars and interactive fiction references (plus other subjects) sprinkled about. If you enjoy these things, you may find humor in this game.

Visuals
This Twine game uses a black screen with simple white text. A notable feature is the awesome photos of characters. The editing for most of the alien species looks a bit corny and overedited but I appreciate the effort of making them more diverse than just having humans with secondary alien characteristics. The stylizing for the human characters, on the other hand, adds just enough flair without overdoing it. I am curious to know how the author produced the graphics.

Conclusion
Its strong points do not quite make up for its weaknesses but is still an interesting piece none the less. If the game focused more on story structure and the cause and effect of player choices the piece would much stronger. Though it is rough around the edges it is not a sloppy piece. The author clearly has clearly put much care into its creation and the eagerness shows. I would be curious to know if they ever produce a game in the future.

This is surreal Twine game about wandering a seaside landscape in quiet contemplation. The world is infused with cat motifs and underlying feelings of loneliness, serenity, and self-reflection. There are no puzzles or plot twists, and yet, there is plenty to see and do in this game’s world.

Gameplay
The game really captures the feel of wandering aimlessly in a seaside setting. Its design is simple: clicking on links to navigate your environment. But there is an underlying complexity. It heavily uses cycling links, just small ones within each location but also ones that are strung together across locations. It is how you find yourself slowing moving from the waterfront to the lighthouse to the open sea and onwards. You might click on a link that takes you to a previous direction, but you can easily retrace your progress. The writing and the way the links are imbedded in each other really create a smooth effect. It feels less linear and more adaptive to the player's choices. It also creates the excitement of stumbling across a new location that you overlooked.

There is a sense that you are the only person there- well, technically you are. You are not ambushed by cuddle piles of cats. In fact, there are no cats you can directly interact with. You only see hints of them here and there in the corner of your eye. But paying close attention to these details almost creates a meditative experience. One of my favorite details is (Spoiler - click to show) in the larger boat, The Flying Fish. It is empty, but you cannot help but notice that the furniture has traces of cat hair.

Story
The author has such vivid imagination that shines in this game. Rather than a broad story that encases the entire game, the story lies in bits and pieces throughout the setting. Different areas are infused with memories and small narratives that help you form your own idea of the history of the seaside setting and the locations connected to it. Besides, the world is just so fascinating to explore. At the waterfront there is a warehouse called "Feline Industries Recycling Center." It is not exactly clear as to what type of facility it is, only that when you explore it you catch hints of cats scampering about the rafters. You get a taste of the story’s world without really knowing what it is.

One of my favorite bits of writing is part of the location description for Feline Industries Waterfront:

Far to the north, beyond a barren expanse, pale light reveals a small town. The sign pointing that way says: “To Centaur Square”. It looks like a short trip.

When you click on “It looks like a short trip” it changes to:

Trying to follow its directions however makes the town appear more distant with every step. Only a solitary line of paw prints marks the way.

There is something about that writing that really resonated with me. Just think about it...

Is there an ending? I believe the answer is no. I certainly did not reach an ending, nor did I find one while digging through the source code that the author posted. But this feels like a game that needs no ending. It ends when you feel like ending the experience.

Visuals
I applaud the visual design. It is crisp and simple. Main appearance of the game is a white square against a second off-white background. The text is spaced within the square with black lines and accents. The text is well-organized and easy to read, and the name of each location is neatly printed at the top. Occasionally, the writing is augmented with basic but pretty artwork of the setting. All of this created a polished look.

In case you want to compare notes, I found (Spoiler - click to show) five pieces of artwork in the game. The locations are Engine room, Feline bedroom, Ground Floor, In a boat at sea, Round Chamber.

Final thoughts?
So, what is it like playing Kitty and the Sea? Imagine this: It is past noon, and you are playing a Twine game, one that lets you roam around, almost like a parser game, but also one that is heavily based on writing. You are groggy and tired. It is tempting to take a nap, but you convince yourself not to since you want to break the bad habit of sleeping late in the day. You are not really reading; you are just clicking. Whenever you try to focus on the writing, as if someone asked you to read it and then summarize it at the drop of a hat, you just feel so tired. But then slowly your brain starts to focus on the text on and suddenly it does not seem so vast. You go from being in a mid-afternoon dazed to suddenly super-focused on this game that you suddenly realize "wow, this game is actually quite captivating!" THAT was my experience (and this is not the only game where this has happened to me). That was my personal experience. Go see where it takes you.

The game starts with an intro that explains the post-apocalyptic circumstances. In 2017 a short global war turned the planet into a wasteland. More than a century later in 2163 survivors have managed to pull together communities. However, controversy and strife remain. You live in a village called Mountain Mission which is under threat of being attacked by a clan called the Alpha Revolution. This section of the game has a cool map that shows the location of Mountain Mission in relation to its surrounding areas, giving it a survival-like edge. Your village is about to be attacked and how you respond is up to you.

The main gameplay begins in your shack in Mountain Mission. You have some money and some weaponry. Your only choice is to go out. Once outside you can go to the market, the barracks, or decide to leave the village. No matter what you choose you (Spoiler - click to show) always end up at a gate with attackers on the other side. You have two choices: defend or hide. The game immediately ends soon after. Here is an example of a sequence, starting outside of your shack: Go to the barracks > Hide > Stay hidden. Then the game suddenly says, "Thank you for playing Alpha 1.0!" Beneath it is a link saying to restart. It was the ultimately feeling of "that's it?" I feel that the author could have at least add more of a transition between the player choosing their final action and the game ending. Choosing to defend stretches out the gameplay because you can choose how you fight although it too ends in the same way.

Like the gameplay, the story has yet to develop beyond the intro. The game hints at letting the player dabble with moral choices. How do you respond to newly sprung conflict amid a post-apocalyptic setting where daily life is still fragile? Unfortunately, the game ends before these choices can be explored.

The game may be incomplete, but the author says that they plan to update it. I am not sure if that will happen, but I hope that happens since apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic themes in interactive fiction can be a draw for players. And if it does happen, I will definitely revisit this.

The game begins at the edge of a dead city called Chloe. Not much is described about the protagonist, only that you are determined to enter the city from one end and escape from the other side. Sadly, it is much harder to leave, and you are being hunted by a strange icy figure that moves closer with each passing day. Meanwhile, a tall spire attached to a mysterious egg loom in the distance.

Gameplay
The game uses several types of currency that are represented as colourful symbols on the screen which adds a neat visual flair. Along with coins the player collects manifestations of will, movement, and language. These currencies allow you to access different locations, acquire special objects, and engage with characters. The few characters you can meet are all ghosts of past inhabitants. They are summoned based on location and can assist the player.

The management part is balancing the amount of currency that you need for your objectives. For example, if you need coins, visiting (Spoiler - click to show) the rooftop in the labyrinth is a plentiful place to look. But it always costs you manifestation-of-will currency. Therefore, if the objective I am saving up for requires both coins and manifestation-of-will I end up having to make up the slack somewhere else. This tight inventory management is key attribute to the game. Management of time is also a major variable, and this is where my criticism starts.

Gameplay is marked by the passage of the moon cycles, starting on a new moon, and ending at the tail end of a full moon. This gives the player several days. However, this does not give the player enough time to gather resources needed to make progress, especially (Spoiler - click to show) with Ending 3. On one aspect this is where strategy comes into play. But it feels too tightly constrained to permit exploration of the game’s world. I found myself so focused on micro-managing currency that I felt like I was missing out on some of the world-building.

For instance, you can learn (Spoiler - click to show) more about the ghosts’ former lives by visiting the screeching room in the spire, but the effort and resources required to look up just one character entry would mean running out of time to make up those resources that I would otherwise need to win the game. My hope is that more people will try this game. Who knows? Maybe some player will prove me wrong and glide through the puzzles effortlessly. I would love to know if anyone had a different experience than I did.

Story
We do not know exactly why the protagonist is running or why Chloe is a dead husk. The events behind the city’s destruction or the purpose of the spire and the egg are never fully explained. Based on what (Spoiler - click to show) Ran, Lady of Stone says the spire was possibly as a punishment on the city by some unnamed entity. Ending 3 (SPOILERS), where you take the elevator to the top of the spire and climb into the egg, delves a little more into this but still leaves questions unanswered. (Spoiler - click to show) (Comment if you want my notes on the endings).

The game's surrealness and use of descriptive imagery carries itself through. A lot of it seems to be left up to interpretation. What exactly is the egg? Is it biological? A dormant organism? A weapon? The implications for any of those and the city's fate are interesting to think about. Regardless I would have liked to know more about this compelling story that the author portrays.

Final thoughts
This is a strong game with a few tradeoffs. It is tightly timed, a sometimes a bit too unfairly. But it also forces the player to use strategic thinking to keep them on their toes, so they do not waste resources. If you are interested in that type of gameplay, then definitely play this one.

Intro
Society is managed by A.I. created by corporations. But it has not been a seamless experience for society. Oneiri Global, creator of the ATHENA A.I., seems to be hiding something, prompting you to infiltrate their HYPNOS Labs to learn more about their projects.

Story context
The start of the game has some visuals that add atmosphere and world building, especially the news articles. And they really do look like a print-out from a website. One news article explains an event called "Dark-0" where the mainframe network went dark. The official claim was that a city mainframe was in the middle of a large update that caused the power grid to blow out from overuse. That constant networked reality that people depended on suddenly disappeared. Social unrest resulted. But even after everything was brought back online, people started to question corporations' claims about the resilience and reliability of ATHENA. Spray-painted signs on the building indicates that people feel like that the truth about the cause of the power-grid failure is being covered up.

Gameplay/Characters
The protagonist's background is not given much explanation. Their name is not mentioned. They seem to be an undercover agent but is unclear if they belong to an organization. For now, the game refers to them as an activist. An inside source has outlined a way to learn more about a man named Lucien Durante. The protagonist’s partner, Klein, communicates through comm lines, creating a suspenseful espionage vibe. He narrates the player's choices and shares instructions.

The gameplay consists of navigating the lab to reach the server room. The goal is to retrieve Durante’s files from the server. The player makes decisions based on information they receive from Klein or the personal data device they carry with them. The device is a creatively implemented feature that contains messages with information on your tasks. It even has a map of the facility. If the player fails to follow the instructions and is intercepted, the game sends them back to a checkpoint to try again.

When the player finds (Spoiler - click to show) Durante’s files they can choose a text file, audio file, or a video file. Once you click on one the game ends. The only file with content seems be the text file. In it, Durante says the development of high efficiency A.I. for day-to-day management has been honed to an art. The project has been a success. And yet, he is worried that society has become overly reliant on them. He once scoffed at people who opposed this new technology but now finds himself with second thoughts. Then the game ends. But by this point the game’s author has set a foundation for an interesting story into the ethics of automated technology in daily life. The (Spoiler - click to show) file may not explain why Durante is worried about ATHENA, but I suppose that will be explored in the next part of the series.

Visuals
Game maintains a basic yet trendy colour scheme. Uses a black background with white and orange accents for text and links. Other colours are occasionally used for colour-coding. I also liked lab logo that we see at the title page. Text is large and easy to read. I touched on this earlier, but the game makes use of photos. Awesome selection of images to “build” the facility, particularly the photo of the supercomputer. I like how there is an actual visual of the poppy paper with the username and password scrawled on it.

Klein’s dialog is shown as scrawling text on the screen as if he were right next to you speaking in your ear (and in fact, that is what he is doing with the protagonist). What I applaud is that with this dialog you do not need to wait for the text to load before proceeding to the next page. The links are there, and you can click them right away. This is nice if you are replaying the game and want to skip over rereading everything.

Not every design feature was seamless, however. Sometimes when I open the message section it will close before I have a chance to fully read it. You do not click on them but instead hover your mouse over them to open. When they open the whole page shifts, causing your mouse to move off the link, closing everything again. It also would have been helpful for the map to be displayed horizontally rather on its side where you must tilt your head to read it. None of this is impossible to manage but it does make it inconvenient.

Final thoughts
The meaning of the title is that everyone is always logged in to a network that manages their lives. In this case the network ATHENA A.I. system produced by the corporation Oneiri Global. The AI crisscrosses through networked computers to allow it to manage people's lives more effectively. But having a highly connected online presence 24/7 is bound to influence people's behavior. The game ends before it can dive deeper into these implications, but it does skim the surface.

Obviously if this were a stand-alone game it would get poor marks for being incomplete (it would still score for visual design). HOWEVER. The author made it clear that this is only the first part of the series. and in that case, I think the author ended the game on a nice cliff-hanger. The game was not as long as I expected but I was still impressed with it nonetheless given its paced espionage vibe. I highly encourage the author to keep producing the series because I am eager to see what happens next in this compelling dystopian sci-fi story.