Ratings and Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

You wake up in an alleyway to find that someone took the liberty of performing unauthorized brain surgery on you. All you have is a key and a note explaining that you have a stash of neurotoxins in your head, ready to kill you within a few hours. To get the antidote, you must obtain $50,000 and bring it to the alley. Your memory is faulty. You could have sworn that you read about this somewhere…

Gameplay
The player is on a time crunch to fulfill the requirements of the note. There are multiple solutions to your predicament, not all of them require that you cave into the demands of the note. But decide quickly because you have a limited time before you die from the timebomb of poison in your head. There is no counter clicking away at the bottom of the screen to indicate what time you have left. You have to eyeball it. But there are little indicators, such as the colour of the sky, that serve as markers in the gameplay. Semi-short, yet reasonable in length. There are (Spoiler - click to show) four endings, three of which involve not being killed by the neurotoxin.

The gameplay takes place in a town setting near a seaside and rural countryside. This setting is fairly dynamic. For example, (Spoiler - click to show) the pawn shop is not open right away. If you want to pawn something, come back later. That was a nice touch. The game allows you to move freely throughout the environment, but not quite interact with it at the same level of detail. Inventory items are added automatically, and some character interactions occur on the player’s behalf. While it reduces the puzzle value, the upside is that it is easier to make progress. One of the strong points in this game is how the inventory page neatly lists your inventory items and the things you have learned while exploring or speaking with characters. This was a helpful tool in identifying objectives.

Regardless of the interactivity, the writing is humorous, and the premise of racing against the clock to reverse some bizarre surgical procedure provides decent suspense. But the main attraction in this game is the catchphrase of “You feel like you’ve read this in a book.”

Suddenly, an army of rabbits scatter to and fro. Furious flashes of hazel and pale gray silver fur blink quickly as timid rabbits dart around the grass away from you.

You feel like you've read this in a book.

Just when you think the rabbits are done fleeing, one of them lunges out of the hole and bites your hand before joining his comrades amidst the tall grasses.
(To illustrate, "bites your hand" was appropriately shown in red.)

Throughout the game, the PC notes that something reminds them of a piece of literature. But do they remind you of anything? It just may. And if not, at the end of the game is a list of every work referenced in the gameplay. Some were obvious. With others, I only picked up on the reference after I saw the list. That way, I could go back to the gameplay and say to myself, “Now, I get it!”

Story
The story was not as fleshed out as I expected. I would not say that the game is incomplete or has missing story points, but there is no overarching story that really ties everything together. Is the whole point simply that the protagonist likes to read and happens to make associations about everything they see, or is there some other underlying element as to why the associations are being made?

I can understand why the author may be hesitant to go down the rabbit hole (hey, a reference!) in terms of story since not every work hinted in this game is fiction, though most are. And by rabbit hole, I mean having the components from the referenced literature works appear in the story in a more concrete way. Instead, references are subtly mentioned in the text. That is not necessarily a criticism since subtle can perform wonders in conveying an idea. Perhaps the intent was to keep things grounded in reality. Still, I was waiting for a more fantastical, if you will, layer to be revealed.

There are bits of fantasy here and there, such as the (Spoiler - click to show) ritual in the forest, but not enough to be cohesive through the story. To be clear, I am not saying that this game needs to be a fantasy* piece to be successful. However, the game does feature some supernatural/fantasy-like moments that currently do not click with everything else. I love the idea of combining elements of the “normal world” with a fantasy world, which requires a balance. As for You Feel Like You’ve Read this in a Book, the logic is there, but it does not quite capture that spark.

*(I also wonder if I made a snap judgement about a fantasy theme based on the cover art, which would be an issue on my part, not the author’s fault).

The most concrete story background that we get is with the (Spoiler - click to show) surgeon solution route. When you talk to the surgeon about removing the neurotoxin, we learn that the protagonist has a gambling habit that left them in debt, and the person that they owe the money decided to take an unconventional approach to getting paid. This is probably the "best" ending since the neurotoxin problem is resolved without having to come up with $50,000. Then again, the emergency surgery did impact your brain's memory capabilities, and your debt is still unresolved. Maybe not. The protagonist seems to have a knack for not thinking things through. Nonetheless, it was a satisfying win.

Visuals
The game uses a generic black screen with white text interspaced with creative text effects. For example, the word “fog” by the water is glowing like a lighthouse surrounded by fog. Or in other cases movement is used, such as the word “ringing” moving up and down like an object vibrating from sound. Not only does this make the scene more descriptive it also draws the player’s attention to keywords that hint towards literary references. Also, a specific type of yellow text is used for inventory items in your environment, as well as key bits of information in a scene. This was quite helpful.

One design issue that kept glaring at me was how the inventory page has no return link. Instead, you use the small arrow at the side of the screen, but those arrows are the equivalent of an “undo” rather than a “back” to the previous screen. Am I a stickler? You may be nodding your head, but it felt the same as a broken link (and there is a broken link where (Spoiler - click to show) the only thing that appears on the screen is “You are bleeding,” without any link other than the small arrow). Other than that, the game is polished and neatly formatted.

Final thoughts
You Feel Like You’ve Read this in a Book is a quilt of several excellent concepts tied together with not-quite-as excellent strings (I am not making a reference here). There is the drama of the protagonist’s situation, the mystery behind the note, and multiple endings to try. The setting even has a slight Cannery Vale/Anchorhead vibe at times. But there is a gap somewhere that keeps it from going to the next level. If these core ideas were developed, it would be a formidable piece. Regardless, it is still quite a fun and memorable game. If you are working your way through this year’s IFComp games, make sure you give this one a try.

In Witchfinders, you learn what it means to be an empathetic witch at the wrong place at the wrong time in history. Or any type of witch. The game takes place during a slightly altered Middle Ages, one of the more gnarlier segments of human history where, to use an understatement, being a witch was often frowned upon. Even looking like a witch or acting accordingly to social stereotypes about what it means to be a witch could be enough to set people off. Things would only go from bad to worse.

Gameplay
The game lets you wander around town with a handful of stores, streets, and scenery. The goal is to provide services to help people. Witch protagonists often conjure up ideas of blatantly wielding magic, but this is not a game where you cast spells. Nor is it a fantasy game. The only fragment of magic is (Spoiler - click to show) when you flee on your broomstick if you are driven out of the village, and even then, it is barely implied. The game seems to go for a more realistic approach when portraying a witch inspired from and actual point in history.

There is a creative score system that ties in nicely with the game’s theme. It is called your Witch Score and indicates the villagers’ suspicion towards you. This is a game where it is extremely bad to have a high score unless you want to satisfy your morbid curiosity and see what happens when you overshoot people’s tolerance. This was clever since you can observe how suspicion sparks and grows based on different choices.

Some of the gameplay objectives are rather murky. The main goal is to heal the boy in the house, but there is another quest where you help investigate a mystery behind ailing cattle. You (Spoiler - click to show) first talk to Alexina in the candle store to begin this quest and then find out more information by talking to the butcher. It is frustrating how you cannot talk to Alexina more than once to have a recap on the cattle issue or to share findings. The only other interaction is (Spoiler - click to show) when you give her the bone powder.

I also do not understand why sometimes the game ends once you heal the boy without being allowed to pursue other objectives. I am not sure why. Another thing that stood out was how your notes are hardly updated. Tasks that you already completed are still listed there. It would be nice if the notes could be more reliable as guide to point the player in the right direction.

Story
Throughout the game the protagonist is often regarded with some suspicion, but it is not the same "Burn the witch! After her!" narrative that is often portrayed in this subject. Even when you (Spoiler - click to show) max out your Witch Score and anger the villagers, the game keeps things from going explicit. The protagonist merely makes a quick exit and leaves the village. If you are worried about playing a game that draws from the rather grim subject of witches being slaughtered for witchcraft you should know that this is not a graphic game. There are some implications here and there of witches being taken or killed, but the author knows how to tone things down without sacrificing the solemn quality of the story.

I like how the author strived to consult historical information when designing this game. You can learn more about this in the author's notes in the game. In these notes they make it clear that the dates have been changed since the Middle Ages occurred quite a while before the 1800s. Bits of worldbuilding are also incorporated to build the story. I thought the bulletin board added atmosphere and context on the time period’s language and societal norms. Even if the goal was not to recreate a pristine replica of the Middle Ages, it seems like the author has done their homework.

Visuals
When I first played this game, it had the most horrible font choice. The words were difficult to read because the letters were in bold and squashed together with a narrow font. Plus, it hurt my eyes. I know whining about font may sound like a small detail, but illegibility can make or break a game. So, I stopped playing. Later I came back to it and thankfully saw that everything had been changed to a crystal-clear font. It really did make a difference.

Everything now is neatly designed. Black background, white text, and colour coded links. There are lines at the top and bottom of the page that also organize the layout. Together, they create a polished look.

Final thoughts
This is a clever game to offers some engaging ideas. It did not knock my socks off, but I did enjoy it. The game has a close eye for detail and yet it was difficult to feel a deep connection with the story and characters. I certainly recommend this game because it is well done, but you may not feel inspired to replay it.

The Tin Mug is a short game about working together to pull off a celebration. The protagonist is Tin Mug, and today is its birthday.
The gameplay is broken into chapters and usually focuses on dialog or other basic character interactions. There are never more than two options for every decision which keeps it from overwhelming younger audiences that have little experience with interactive fiction.

The setting in The Tin Mug is a house of what seems to be a modest but reasonably well-off middle-class family. The family has a cook who is also a main NPC since she spends a lot of time in the kitchen and using the items inside it. I would not describe this as a puzzle game but there are areas where gameplay choices directly influence the immediate situation. I could, however, only find one ending. I am not sure if there are more, but if that is the case the one ending is a fitting conclusion.

Teamwork is a prominent theme in this game. As physical objects the non-human characters are used to being manhandled by humans but being manhandled by rebellious children who have not yet mastered proper etiquette is a whole new struggle. Turns out, the household is having a dinner get together that feature two children, one who has a knack for overworking the cutlery. Tin Mug and the NPCs work together to minimize contact with rowdy children. This poses a challenge when you have to, you know, act like a nondescript salad fork. But teamwork carries everyone through.

The characters are basic in design but still lively and interesting. I think that the authors did an effective job in giving endearing personalities to otherwise ordinary objects. There is also a touch of magic involved that explains a bit on the animated nature of Tin Mug and the non-human NPCs. This whimsy may appeal to children interested in a light touch of fantasy.

The Tin Mug is made with Strand, a parser/choice-based hybrid that seems to be relatively new in the IF landscape. In this game, it is almost exclusively choice-based which makes it straightforward and user friendly. Kids and first timers of interactive fiction do not have to worry about learning the rules of parser to enjoy this game. I also like how its appearance is customizable to make it easier to use.

I remember playing the author's other game, Roger's Day Off, which is also made with Strand. It had the coolest 3D (if that is the right term) graphics of its characters and settings. I especially liked the sci-fi ones. The artwork in The Tin Mug is much simpler. Instead, they are flat drawings. While they are not as sophisticated, they work well for a children's piece since they conjure up the feel of reading a children’s picture book. It is probably more appropriate for this of game.

In conclusion, The Tin Mug would be a fun game for young children, perhaps third grade in elementary school (that may mean something different depending on where you are) or lower. Seven years old or younger, let's put it that way. The action is comical, the characters are upbeat, and the story is creative but not too complex so that it is easy to follow. I may not play this game again, but I did enjoy it. If anyone were to ask for a children’s game this would be one of my first recommendations.

You are blissfully working in your home lab when an urgent message from your older sibling arrives. They have been kidnapped by pirates through an elaborate plot and need rescue from Sector Zero. Unfortunately, Sector Zero is just a myth. But that should not stop you. Command a ship, embark on the life of a trader, and do what it takes to be reunited with your sibling.

Quick note
I have already reviewed two other ChoiceScript games by the same author. One game was successful, the other less so, but they were both novel pieces. Star Tripper blows them out of the water in terms of creativity and innovation. It is one of the most ambitious ChoiceScript games I have seen. Not the cream of the crop in terms of quality, but I find its ambition to be remarkable. However, this is dulled by rocky implementation. I spent a long time on this game, far longer than any game I have played so far for this year’s IFComp. It has been idling on my computer for days. I have been utterly unable to reach an ending and have exhausted every lead. But I want to finish it. This will be a long review simply because I want to share my experience so far.

Gameplay
The intro is mostly exposition, but the player chooses their sibling’s attributes and other logistical details. The main gameplay begins once you reach space. Travel is straightforward. The setting is broken into quadrants and sectors, with each quadrant being divided up into four sectors. You manage your fuel and battery levels as you travel while also conducting trading and buying. If you are a fan of resource management, this game may interest you.

At first glance, this game is an open world dream. So many places to visit, including banks, churches, bookstores, bars, coffee shops, casinos, you name it. A big part is trading and selling items, but there are other ways of earning income. There are also all sorts of adventurous encounters. Avoid black holes, fight off pirates, claim your own asteroid, upgrade your ship, and more. When they gameplay begins after the intro, the possibilities seemed endless. I had the same feeling when I first tried Skybreak! Unfortunately, none of this fully comes to fruition.

The player must micromanage just to get ahead. As I was busy puttering around the galaxy, trying to maintain my fuel levels and finding planets willing to buy the excess cereal grains I had in my cargo hold, I totally forgot about my quest to find my sibling. Plus, the game sometimes gives mixed messages. Some activities are blanked out and only available in Arcade Mode which is unlocked once you complete the game. Fair enough. But there is inconsistency with Story Mode. For instance, the game will let you attack this trade ship but not that trade ship even though nothing about your ship’s status has changed. Planning is difficult when you are not sure of the game’s reasoning. Also, there is only one save slot, but I am grateful that it is available. Cling to it like a life raft when you are uncertain.

As I struggled to make long-term progress, my mind would wander to Superluminal Vagrant Twin. I want to be careful about comparing the gameplay between the two because they are made with different formats (Inform and ChoiceScript) that provide unique experiences. Nonetheless, their stories touch on a similar theme: Overcoming obstacles to save a sibling. They are also both sci-fi trading games.

Superluminal Vagrant Twin is not about finding your twin. The game does not go too deep into backstory but in a nutshell, your twin is frozen in a cryo tube, and you need to pay off your debt to get them back. A lofty objective, especially you are essentially broke. As a trading game, trading and buying goods is the core mechanic. But the game does not just toss the player out and say, “off you go, trade and buy until you make enough credits.” The gameplay is structured to point the player in the right direction by helping them identify smaller goals that lead to the master objective of getting your twin back. Having sub-objectives in Star Tripper would have been infinitely helpful, or at least an objectives list to remind the player of what to look for.

Once you manage to get your foot in the door you have more mobility. There is just a steep learning curve. I floundered for a while. Let’s see what I looked like as I floundered.

For such a vast and dynamic setting, I was overly hesitant to experiment due to the outcome of my first playthrough. I had to start over because I was stuck on a planet with not enough fuel to leave, which is not as tragic as it sounds. Every planet has a bar or drinking establishment where there is always a customer who will sell you fuel pods and other items if you buy them two drinks. The downside: I had almost no credits, not enough to buy two drinks, let alone fuel pods. I had no cargo to sell. The only option was to work a few shifts at the café. However, you get about 22 credits per order you complete during your shift. When you need hundreds of credits just to get off the dang planet this is not practical (and to seal the deal, I saved the game when I landed on the planet). Starting over seemed like the best option. I approached my next playthrough much more cautiously and was more mindful of when I saved the game.

As I mentioned earlier, it is hard to get ahead. Buying a ship to travel to Sector Zero is a distant dream. The most hopeful opportunity for my floundering self was mining on Class 1 planets. Filling a sack full of ore brings in 1000 credits plus a bonus. Sounds great. You decide how deep you want to go down a mineshaft. The deeper you go the better chance at finding ore (the max is 50 meters). However, if you decide on 50 meters you must click on a link- tap, tap, tap- 50 times in a row to reach the bottom of the shaft. If you find ore, you click on a link a few dozen times to fill your bucket. Then you click 50 more times to reach the surface. It takes about eight of those trips to fill up a sack, and that is assuming you find ore when you go down the mine. Progress was so slow.

But that can change.

The following is the rest of my semi-successful adventure. I found a strategy that made a million credits become a realistic goal, and even learned a few more details about saving my sibling. I am just going to hide it under one big spoiler tag. Hopefully this may give you some ideas.

My experience
(Spoiler - click to show) Fortunately, I did not flounder forever. The key is to establish a colony factory on an asteroid. But this is far, far, easier said than done. If you stumble across an asteroid, you can claim it for your own without fees or legal tape. Then, you hire colonists, and supply them with building materials such as iron or lumber. If you bring enough of these to your asteroid, you can upgrade its production level to increase your profit. The downside is that every time you upgrade your asteroid the game decides to reduce your cargo hold limits, which is unreasonable if your ship’s cargo hold only has five storage slots to begin with (as is the case with the Pigeon class ship you have at the start of the game). The game does not even explain why. Furthermore, each upgrade requires more materials that will need to fit into a rapidly shrinking cargo hold. Because of this, industrializing an asteroid was not something I could do for quite a while.

I finally managed to hammer out a strategy for buying and selling goods on planets, and I reached the point where I was doing pretty well. The days of mining were gone. I went from a mere Pigeon class ship to a Firefly, and then a Gila. Making 100,000 credits became an unexpected reality, and this allowed me to buy a Clipper class ship with 100 cargo hold spaces. This whole process, however, was slow and repetitive, so I decided to take a whack at colonizing an asteroid. Even if my cargo load were reduced there would hopefully be some left to continue trading. It did not take long for my ship’s cargo hold to go from 100 to 0, but by then things were looking up. I was making enough that I could simply buy another Clipper class ship to replace the old one. I burned through THREE Clipper class ships as I industrialized my asteroid, but by the time I had my production level reach level 16, the cost of a Clipper ship was practically pocket money. I could now buy the million-credit ship that my sibling mentioned in their message.

Oddly enough, that is where everything stagnated. Now that I had millions of credits at my disposal, I was relying on several scraps of information to carry me through, but none have brought me any closer to finding my sibling. I have tried everything. I will share them in case you have any input.

ONE: At the start of the game, your sibling says that the ship you need to buy costs a million dollars. There are two ships that fit this description. I bought both, but nothing happened.

TWO: Your sibling’s friend tells you that they may send you information on Sector Zero if they found anything in their research. That never happens. I did get one, and only one, message from my sibling after the intro, and all it said was that I needed to find the Golden Key to reach Sector Zero.

THREE: Once you have a million credits, you will eventually stumble across traders who happened to find the Golden Key and are willing to sell it. When you buy it, the game says,

🔑 Now that you've got your hands on the infamous Golden Key, it's time to find someone to help you install it.

I could not find anyone who could help me install it, nor did I know where to look. Furthermore, I had this encounter twice in this game. I would buy the Golden Key a second time and the game would act as if I first laid eyes on it. The stats page does not even mention that you acquired it.

FOUR: A useful tactic is that you can get general hints at coffee shops by buying something and sitting at an empty table to listen to the background chatter. It is possible to catch gossip about Sector Zero. You hear two people talking about a scientist who attached a gold quantum capacitor (which sounds awfully like the Golden Key) to a Zheng He class ship and managed to get it to go Warp 11. So, I bought a Zheng He ship. I am not sure if this was the ship my sibling had in mind since it costed less than a million credits, but none of the other ships had any promise. I already had the Golden Key (see previous), and I knew I needed to find someone to install it. Off I went exploring, but I did not find anyone whom I could talk to about my ship. I even had my ship wired to go Warp 10 (the max speed) in case it helped. No change.

I am out of ideas. I have played this game for endless hours, much of which I enjoyed, but I simply cannot reach an ending. Now I am groveling about in my own review. If anyone has any ideas, please comment.

Story
From the start of the game, we get a sense of the complicated political environment in the game’s universe. It takes place in a galaxy ruled by a Galactic Council that is heavily influenced by the Central Families that dominate the center of attention. Then there are the wealthy Inner Rim families, the working-class Outer Rim, and everything in between. Lurking about is a pirate group called the Syndicate that plunder spaceships and planets. All this sound extremely simplified, a classic version the galaxy being categorized into polarized groups of “good” and “bad,” when in fact, these lines are blurred.

What I like best about this game is that it is one big learning experience for the protagonist who is from a Central Family and has always taken these benefits for granted. Now, they must rescue a sibling from a group of pirates that (Spoiler - click to show) turn out to have a closer association with the Central Families than most people, the protagonist included, realize. The protagonist is also unable to make use of their own affluence because the Syndicate is watching every move. The only option is to start from the bottom. No money, no ship, and no leads except the name of potentially sketchy friend who feel from grace mentioned in your sibling’s message.

Then again, whether or not the protagonist actually learns anything is technically up to the player. You see this development (or lack of it) with the dialog options where you can choose to respond to people with entitled indifference or with open-mindedness. Because I have been unable to reach an ending, I have no idea if this whole debacle will permanently change the protagonist’s view on life. But after weathering public transportation, Class 1 planets, and dingy spaceships, well, who knows.

Characters
Character interactions are shallow but are there if you want to seek them out. They are often quite comical. I think the overall light-heartedness works well in this game.

::: What do you want to do?
🪑 Join Saboson and Star at the table
🏃‍♂️ Turn and run back to the spaceport

For the most part, NPCs are just part of the scenery, but there are ways of initiating more one-on-one interaction. Aside from the characters in the intro (and even then, their names are randomized) there is no single character whose full identity remains the same for every playthrough. I think that adds some spontaneity. The game relies on procedural generation, and it wields it well.

👧 "You know what? Screw you, Saboson. You're a thief and a liar."
👦🏻 "A thief? Because I stole your heart? Give me a break, Star!"

::: How do you want to respond, Captain?
🗣️ "I'm learning a lot by listening to you two."
🗣️ "I don't feel like I'm really being heard."
🗣️ "I hate to be rude, but let's change the subject."

What surprised me was the depth of traveling companions. They travel with you in your ship and add some diverse dialog by commenting on the things you do or even initiating discussions. (Spoiler - click to show) Unfortunately, they are only interested in hitting on you in borderline-creepy manners. For science, I tried to marry one of the NPCs. It resulted in an error that said: wedding_chapel line 951: Non-existent variable 'priest_level' which almost crashed the game. Fortunately, I just loaded my save file and decided not to test it. And to be honest, I did not want to get married. Regardless of how you feel about the NPCs, it is nice to know that the option is there.

Visuals
The game is extremely sleek looking. The text boxes are dark grey outlined with glowing borders that add a pop of colour. All of this is set against a lighter grey background. There are also little emoji icons that I have seen in the author's other games. They add an excellent visual. A whole variety of emojis are found in this game and are used strategically by the author to illustrate a point while avoiding emoji overload. That is one thing I noticed about the author's games that I have played: regardless of their content at least they look spiffy.

Final thoughts
With the author, no subject is off limits. Zombie apocalypses, farming simulations, and now a sci-fi trading a game, and I genuinely love the creativity and innovative usage of ChoiceScript. For a while, I never perceived ChoiceScript as a format that uses visual effects in storytelling. Now I am seeing how flexible it can be with not only visuals, but also with puzzle types and gameplay mechanics.

Star Tripper is a tough and confusing game, but it also has humor and adventure. Even if you do not manage to find your sibling you will still have a memorable experience with making a name for yourself and formulating strategies. It does need more polish, hence the low rating. There are some clunky bugs, but the biggest issues are, A, it is difficult to make progress, and B, long-term objectives are murky. But underlying it all is a solid foundation. If you have more than a few minutes, play this game. It has a lot of fun sci-fi and resource management themes. Just requires a little extra patience.

In A Long Way to the Nearest Star, you play as a criminal on the run after an almost unsuccessful heist. You escaped with the goods but damaged your spacecraft along the way, forcing you to find a place to hide and make repairs. Luckily, you stumble across a seemingly abandoned research vessel that may solve your predicament.

Gameplay
After a brief intro, the gameplay begins in the landing bay of the mysterious ship where you discover that you are not alone. Your presence caught the attention of the ship’s AI, Solis, who communicates through terminal screens placed throughout the ship. Solis is eager to help but clearly guarded about the circumstances surrounding its own ship. The player is reliant on Solis to help them navigate the ship but is also compelled to find ways to sneak around the system.

The story and characters are worth about three stars, but the overall game gets four because of its puzzles and how those puzzles are implemented in a choice-based format. This is a puzzle-intensive Twine game with free range of movement. You have access to a fairly large ship, and the game lets you wander through it almost like you would if it were a parser game. This approach may appeal to some players. Some of the gameplay mechanics are quite clever. I especially liked how the game allows you to program the janitor bot to go to a location and then automatically follow it. Useful for puzzles while reducing travel time.

There is a lot of in-game guidance. In your inventory is a notes section giving you an overview of what you have learned, and if you take a break in your own ship the game gives you some suggestions of what to do. The author also has hints cleverly formatted into a Twine piece included separately with the game. All of this was nicely done, and I felt it was worth a mention.

The author gets some bonus points for worldbuilding. The terminal in the research lab allows you to look up planets in a digital encyclopedia. When the game ends, you are presented with the statistics of your playthrough which includes how many planets you researched. That alone was enough for me to replay the game just to comb through to find any planet names that I could punch into the encyclopedia. In case you are interested, I found 11 planet names.

Story
The story retains a suspenseful and intriguing quality. The gist (I do not consider this part to be a spoiler since we know this at the start of the gameplay) is that there was a collision with the ship that caused toxic gas to enter the ship, killing everyone onboard. We learn this from Solis, (Spoiler - click to show) but the player knows right away that Solis is not being entirely truthful. It is not a matter of discovering whether Solis is hiding something. It is a matter of finding what it is hiding. Entering the medical bay was kind of chilling. On top of that, it has six endings which encourage replays.

At the end of the game there is this abrupt plot twist that it failed to pull off. This sudden twist, mega spoilers by the way, occurs (Spoiler - click to show) when you learn that Berthold was behind it all. It turns out Solis did not kill Trill, but Berthold did and made Solis think otherwise. That part had some decent backing. But then there is ambiguous explanation on the other ways Berthold potentially interfered, followed by an avalanche of speculation of why he attempted sabotage. You show Solis the captain’s real data pad, and the game rushes to explain everything in one swoop. Yet, it does not even clarify everything. The game says, yeah, Solis gassed the crew, but it also did not gas the crew. Any uncertainties are blamed on glitches. It seemed flimsy in comparison to the rest of the story which had been carefully constructed.

Characters
The player can choose the protagonist’s (fake) name and their brief cover story, but otherwise the game is hesitant to give out details about the protagonist since they are on the run. You can still get to know the PC in subtle ways, such as reprogramming the food options in food synthesizer and eat them. This gives you a look into the protagonist’s previous experiences. Some are quite interesting.

I did not particularly care about the characters which surprised me (This game is almost NPC-less. By "characters" I mean Solis, the protagonist, and the janitor bot. Okay, the janitor bot was nice). If anything, I was more interested in the crew (Spoiler - click to show) which is a shame since they are dead. We only get to know them through video recordings and see their corpses in the medical bay. They seemed to be a unique blend of species and cultures.

AI characters can be a lot of fun regardless of if they are villainous or friendly. I like it when such characters engage with the player, and Solis does just that. But for some reason, Solis did not have much of an impact on me. I find it hard to pinpoint why.

Despite the (Spoiler - click to show) ominous feeling we get from the “account” of what happened to the crew, Solis does seem genuinely interested about the player. The early gameplay has some cliché “gee, hello there, organic life form,” banter that stretches on a bit. Other times the exchange is more meaningful. I like how discussions tend to incorporate mentions of planets or civilizations that give you a broader sense of the story’s world.

Still, the character lacked in dimension. Remember how I said the game gives you a statistical report of your playthrough? It includes Solis' attitude towards the player which I thought was interesting because it made me reevaluate some of my choices to see how they influenced interactions.

Visuals
Generally, the game uses a black screen and links clearly indicated with light grey rounded boxes. This basic look is offset by some stylization that adds some flair.

For Solis’ dialog, visuals are used to create the impression of looking at a terminal screen, featuring a rounded black textbox with a thick border and green text. This was a simple but effective look. Similarly, when it comes to reading data pads the game puts the text in colour-tinted boxes with rounded corners to simulate the feel of reading off a tablet. All of this was creative and eye-catching.

Final thoughts
Overall, it is a quality game. It was not as potent as I expected, but the gameplay is solid and will likely be appreciated by players. This would be a good choice if you are someone who likes Twine games with a little more technicality because it has plenty of puzzles and freedom of movement to interact with the setting. Its IFComp submission says that its playtime is about two hours which is about accurate. Give it a shot.

If you enjoyed A Long Way to the Nearest Star, you may like Lux, another puzzle intensive sci-fi Twine game where the player heavily relies on the guidance of a mainframe AI as they navigate a nearly NCP-less setting in the aftermath of an unknown disaster. It is also an IFComp game from a few years back.

The onset of the zombie apocalypse begins right as you are watching TV. With the world thrown into chaos, fellow neighbors become fellow zombie survivors. A house is transformed into a survival base, and you are nominated as leader. But, in the distance there is a whole horde of zombies coming your way. You will have to prepare.

Gameplay
This is a stat/resource management game where you assign tasks to other characters. After a short intro you are given ten survivors to order about. It was intimidating at first to see all the elements that you need to manage, but the implementation becomes nicely streamlined.

In the center of the screen is a big grey chart. The first left hand chunk of the chart organizes survivors into six groups: Farmers, Guards, Builders, Researchers, Hunters, and Scavengers. You choose how many survivors are in each group and specify their task. Statistics for each group are on the right side of the chart along with additional stats such as the group's happiness levels. Seeing all that was the overwhelming part for me. Numbers, percentages, the whole thing. But this soon changed.

The left side of the screen has a column of status bars that show the completion of the tasks assigned to each group, providing a nice visual indicator of your progress. Interestingly enough, the gameplay also takes place in real time. The game conveniently lists updates in timestamped orange text below the chart to summarize the impacts of your choices. It did not take long for me to familiarize myself with everything. Then things became fun.

I like how the author adds a little touch of atmosphere. There is a section of text at the bottom of the screen that lets you “visit” each area of your base, such as a radio tower or underground tunnel. There is not much to do in them. For the most part, they are just cosmetic. But being able to lightly interact with them as you expand your hideout was a nice detail. The author seems to have a lot of creative ideas.

A challenge, perhaps?
This game has adjustable difficulty. Easy mode, normal mode, hard mode.

Hard mode is considerably trickier because it is challenging to recruit survivors. In the first two modes if you send out a party to look for them you always manage to find at least one. But in hard mode they are more likely to come back empty handed. Survivors are critical to getting things done. The more survivors assigned to a task, the faster the task is completed. What should you do? Use your current survivors to find recruits at the expense of completing immediate tasks, or devote them to immediate tasks without increasing population size? You can try both but at the end of the day, those zombies seem outpace you. It took forever to beat hard mode, but I eventually did.

Story
Approaching Horde! is not a particularly grim zombie game. Its tone maintains a light heartedness that presents the zombie apocalypse in a more comic light without sacrificing the urgency of the situation. You go from channel surfing on your couch to commanding a group of zombie survivors. At the end of the game, (Spoiler - click to show) you are presented with a journal that the PC wrote about the experience with surprisingly cheerful entries. Even the bad endings, where you get zombified, are meant to be a bit humorous. I thought that the intro was especially funny and starts the game off on a strong note.

Your spouse has ran towards you so quickly, that you're knocked to the ground and your spouse is literally on top of you!

Normally this would be a good thing, but in this case your spouse has already turned and joined the ranks of the undead.

I feel that most interactive fiction games about zombies try to add a dash of humor. In this case, I do not mean games that take play in an apocalypse setting where people are turned into zombie-like beings by a fictious pathogen designed by an author. Those games are also awesome. I highly recommend playing Alone, another IFComp game that came out in 2020 (but made with Inform, not Twine). Some argue that Alone is a zombie game, and with solid reasoning. I can see why. Agreed. But it does not quite fit with what I have in mind here.

When I say zombie games, I mean games that blatantly advertise the fact that it is a zombie story where everything in the gameplay screams, we-are-living-in-a-zombie-apocalypse apocalypse. Out of every game that I have played that fits this category they all seem to instill some underlying humor or irony rather than 110% doomsday destruction. This is not a bad thing. Just something I did not realize until I played Approaching Horde! Then again, I am only basing this off the games I have seen so far. Feel free to share recommendations.

Characters
There are hardly any specific characters. There is Phil, your former neighbor, but he only gets a small mention. But no complaints. That works just fine with this storyline and format.

This is one of those stories where every survivor possesses the skills to become a biomedical researcher or farmer at the drop of the hat. Realistic? Probably not, it is a management game where you do not need to look too closely.

Visuals
I already gave an overview of some of the visuals, so here is a deeper analysis. The design is not flashy, but simple and functional. Basic colours are used for drop-down menus, numbers, and other details while the status bars have some bright colours that change as they increase or decrease. All of this is set against a black background. Basic but attractive. Most importantly though, above all else, the text is large and easy to read.

Fancy effects are fun and encouraged, but detailed management games that go wild with visual effects can make it difficult to read and, you know, manage the content. This game keeps it easy to look at, and simple to use. There are some spelling errors that were noticeable but ultimately it has a polished and clear-cut look.

Final thoughts
This game has already roped me into playing about a dozen times. The gameplay is moderate in length, and it is fun to experiment. You may like this game if you are into zombies or resource management, or both. I suggest giving it a test run in easy mode to get acquainted to the gameplay mechanics, but there is a good chance that you will be reaching to play it again, perhaps in other modes. And if you feel otherwise, that is fine. It is just worth a try.

Those were the words going through my mind as I looted the storage lockers while hiding from a xenomorph monster. In this game you play as space-based scavenger camped out on planet Mercury. You need to repair and refuel your ship but cannot afford it. The plan is to wait for a scavenging opportunity. Finally, you spot a derelict ship drifting towards the sun. Perfect for looting. But just because it is derelict does not mean you will be the only living thing on there.

But first…
If you liked the planning part of Sugarlawn then this may be the game for you. It has a lot of replay value in a similar fashion. Into The Sun borrows a few structural features found in Sugarlawn. In Sugarlawn you are a contestant in a reality TV show about collecting as many antiques as you can in 30 minutes or less. When time runs out the player is presented with a list of the items they collected and their monetary value.

Into The Sun is similar in the sense that the protagonist is collecting items under a time restraint with the central goal of maximizing monetary gain. It too, evaluates the profitability of the player’s looting excursion at the end of the game. But Into The Sun is no copy of Sugarlawn. It does not take a fill-in-the-blanks approach where merely the setting and inventory items are swapped out to create a sci-fi replica. The game still distinguishes itself in both gameplay and story.

Gameplay
You begin on the derelict ship’s middle level next to the airlock that leads back to your own ship. Things are eerily silent but that soon changes. The author has maps for the game, and I highly recommend using them unless you want to visualize an array of junctions, companionways, and levels. I just opened it in a second tab to refer to as I played.

There is a time constraint. As the derelict ship drifts closer to the sun, it gets sucked in by the sun’s gravitational pull. The farther an object goes in, the more difficult it is to break out. The top of the screen lists the gravity level as it increases. If the player waits for too long, they burn up with the ship. I feel like the time limit is reasonably paced. It adds urgency without overwhelming the player.

One of the main gameplay attractions is the xenomorph alien that adds suspenseful atmosphere and logistical factors that the player must manage. The xenomorph is trying to hunt you down. There is always a sense of danger since you can hear it searching.

Starboard Shuttle Bay - Deck B

The shuttle bay is a round room with an airlock on the forward end. There's not as much smoke in this section, but there's a lot of haze. Looking through the observation window, you see a shuttle that holds four.

The airlock's been beaten on and is damaged. The only exit is port.

You hear something slithering towards the port side of the ship. Distant, but it's coming towards you.

The player has limited means of defending themselves, and it is so tempting to just “undo” whenever you run into the alien. But I appreciate how the game does not let you off the hook that easily when avoiding it. As it travels the ship it spits acid on valuable things, destroying them. If you want to nab this or that you better plan around the alien’s movements before they get *acidified. Sure, you may be able to “undo” to skip the inconvenience of fighting the alien but that will not stop it from trashing the ship. While the player may be able to use loopholes here and there, they cannot do so entirely.

All sorts of obstacles emerge for you to dodge. Oh, you want to go down this passage? Too bad. A pipe just broke and hot steam is spewing everywhere. It really makes the player think on their toes. Play the game to see for yourself.

And best of all….

NO INVENTORY LIMITS!

Don’t get me wrong, inventory limits can have a purpose. They add an extra challenge to the gameplay and promote strategizing. Still, they are frustrating, and I am a tad spoiled by games that do without. Deep down, I love it when there are no limits especially for a game where the goal is to loot anything that is either not nailed down or nailed down under lock and key. Barriers mean little for eager scavengers. This raises the question of how realistic it is for a protagonist to be able to gather endless amounts of stuff while still being able to climb ladders and similar activities that require the use of at least one hand. In this game it is no problem. The protagonist has a sci-fi equivalent of Mary Poppin’s handbag which allows them loot derelict ships with relative ease.

Story + Characters
The story is focused on the protagonist’s objective of scavenging enough to afford to repair their own ship. But there is some secondary story content about the derelict ship and its long-dead crew which is gleaned from flashcards found in the ship. When you put the flashcards in the data reader you find the ship’s old logs. So far, I only found two flashcards, an orange one and a yellow one. I do not know if there are more.

It is a bit of a cliché storyline but still intriguing. (Spoiler - click to show) The ship received a signal from an unexplored planet and the crew decided to investigate the surface. A crew member was infected by something that later killed him and infected another crew member. Something happened and suddenly there was a xenomorph onboard. That is all I know.

The only question I have is about a comment the game makes about the (Spoiler - click to show) ship’s AI. If you acquire the AI core the game says, "you get 200 dollars for the insane AI." When it says, “insane AI,” does the game mean that the AI was responsible for the disaster, perhaps for the strange signal or the creature infecting the ship? Or is it just malfunctioning?

Final thoughts
In a nutshell, Into The Sun is ultimately a replay puzzle in a spaceship setting. And a fairly unique one.

At first glance, I assumed the game would follow the familiar mold of a protagonist exploring a disabled ship as it drifts through space. Usually these involve repairing it with a “quick fix” to restore the power or warp drive or similar concept to enable escape or rescue. Instead, Into The Sun throws this to the wind. Repairs? Strip everything of value and leave. Oh, and there is an alien monster tossed into the mix. I just had a lot of fun with strategizing and exploring the setting.

Right now, it is one of my favorite entries in this year’s IFComp, although I still have quite a few remaining to play. We will see. If anyone is interested, my current high score is (Spoiler - click to show) 3,100 adjusted dollars. Someone will likely surpass that sooner or later.

*You certainly do not see that on Sugarlawn!