Ratings and Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Our protagonist is Karen Zhao, a high school junior from Massachusetts. Her full name is Qiuyi (Karen*) Zhao, but she goes by Karen. One day Karen’s mom informs her that she has been signed up for a beauty pageant, with the argument that it would diversify her extracurriculars for college. Karen, knowing that she cannot refuse, has no choice but to add pageant preparation to her long list of responsibilities.

This is a story about being forced to step out of your comfort zone while life adds extra surprises into the mix. As the player you must manage her hectic life and hopefully win the pageant.

*The player can actually choose her English name, but I always found myself sticking to Karen since it is the default. I will refer to her as Karen in this review.

Gameplay
Each week the player has three time slots that they can use on a list of activities including preparing for the pageant or attending Science Olympiad study sessions. There are additional activities on the weekend although those usually deviate from school. This management of responsibilities involves some strategy and provides incentives for replay. The gameplay will have “Introspection” segments where you can check your progress in preparing for the pageant and other goals.

There are no individual (Spoiler - click to show) stand-alone endings. No “Ending 1” or “Ending 2.” Instead, the game assesses the player in different categories such as their performance in Science Olympiad or their final relationship status with one of the characters. The pageant, being the focus of the game, is the closest thing to an overarching ending. You either win it or lose it (although losing it comes in a few different flavors). Based on your performance you may unlock achievements at the end of the game. I liked this format because it feels more flexible in its assessment of the player’s choices.

I only have two technical issues. The first is that if you (Spoiler - click to show) win a slot as co-captain the achievement remains locked on the achievements page. The second issue is that I have been unable to (Spoiler - click to show) win anything other than a bronze medal with Audrey for Science Olympiad. I looked at the source code and saw that it is possible to win a gold metal if you study enough with her. However, even when I spent every study session with her, I would always get bronze. The player has a limited amount of study sessions with Science Olympiad partners. Study sessions are once a week but stop long before the weekend of the competition. This means you need to choose which teammates get more interaction.

Story + Characters
Three main themes kept surfacing: the clash of perspectives between Karen and her parents, the stress of preparing for collage, and her identity as a gay young woman. Anxiety is a major theme. There is anxiety with school and parental expectations, the stress of wondering if you are good enough for your dream collage topped off with being acutely aware that your peers all seem to have the same ambitions as you. But for this review I am going to focus on the other two themes.

Family
Karen was born in China and traveled to the US with her parents. The intersection of parental traditions and her experience as a modern teen are themes that are heavily explored in this game. Sharing family stories is a common activity. (Spoiler - click to show) For Karen, this sometimes cultivates feelings of guilt about the severity of her parents’ upbringing in comparison to her own. Her parents had to worry about things that she takes for granted and yet her struggles are unique to her own experience. Daily life also involves regular interactions with the local Chinese community. Potlucks and get-togethers are typical weekend activities. (Spoiler - click to show) During this the parents chat about their children’s grades and social activities. In these conversations is a traditional sense of what roles children should take. But for young people like Karen, Emily, and Audrey these norms may feel dated. That is not to say that they reject their heritage. One of my favorite parts in the game is when (Spoiler - click to show) Karen and Audrey are encouraged to sing with the adults during Bible study.

There is one loose string that caught my attention. If the player (Spoiler - click to show) interacts with Karen's family enough, they reach an encounter where Karen's father learns that she is gay by noticing the books that she checked out from the library. He tries to talk to her about it, but the situation is so overwhelming that she runs into her room, locking her door. The scene is short and intense enough that you would expect to see a follow up later in the game, but it never happens. Not even at the end of the game where it summarizes her relationship with her family. Given that these topics are a prominent theme in the story I was surprised that the game did not build on the encounter.

Orientation
Karen is gay but hides it from her parents and most people. The game conveys the frustration of having her parents talk casually about marriage and grandchildren when a core aspect of herself completely goes against it. She also interacts with Emily, who is (Spoiler - click to show) transgender and struggles with not being able to be her true self around her parents and their expectations. Emily’s parents know bits and pieces but ultimately, she has not yet come out to them. Emily was one of my favorite characters because she introduces Karen to big questions. Throughout the game Karen and Emily may choose to counsel each other or simply chat. Emily is also one out of three characters that the player can pursue a romantic relationship with.

A defining plot point is if the player makes it to the (Spoiler - click to show) research event called “Emily and the Professor.” Karen participates with research in a lab managed by Professor Chan who is also Emily’s father. In this scene, he brings Emily to watch Karen give a presentation, referring to Emily as his son and asking Karen to teach “him” about science. The player can choose to proceed with the presentation or step down and say that they are not ready. With the latter choice the player chooses not to be a part of Professor Chen’s attempt to force an identity on Emily. Choosing this option is clearly a risk for Karen but it feels empowering. We see the culmination of their friendship in the face of uncomfortable situation. It is an eye-opening moment not just for Karen but for the player as well.

Visuals
The game has a crisp look, almost like the text is written on a piece of stationary or index card. The textbox area is set in a white box sent against a cream background and accented with grey lines and red links. Together it creates a simple but polished appearance. I liked how the game incorporates more than one language. It uses Mandarin characters with italicized translations. This game is made with Dendry which adds some variety to the development systems that I have encountered.

Final thoughts
This was the first game I played by Autumn Chen who is an incredible author. Everything is well-written, concise yet meaningful. Karen is a memorable character who is relatable and unique. Because of this, (Spoiler - click to show) winning the pageant feels more like a victory. I highly recommend the game, especially if you are interested in the slice-of-life genre.

Also: There is also a sequel game called New Year’s Eve, 2019. It features Karen in her senior year. (CORRECTION: Senior year of collage)

You are a health inspector conducting your rounds in the city’s dining establishments. Today on the list is Nikolai’s Bar and Grill, an unsavory restaurant with some not-so-hidden secrets. Will you finish your inspection and leave, or will you dig deeper?

Gameplay
The player jots down citations with their notepad. The immediate goal is to gather enough citations to condemn the restaurant. But simply getting in your car and driving away feels like a premature ending. The game has the player to look beyond their health inspector duties and rewards them, rather gruesomely, for it by advancing the story. And another detail: Even though the game has the time listed at the top of the screen (Spoiler - click to show) time does not seem to matter. You can wait until 2:00 am and nothing changes. I am not sure if there is anything significant about it.

Yes, there is gore but much of the grossness is atmospheric. Things like mold and cockroaches. It focuses on what is needed to tell the story. The content is woven into the protagonist's reason for being at the restaurant. As a health inspector, the protagonist is required to conduct a thorough investigation of the restaurant, giving the player a reason to go digging in the trash where moldy leftovers and (Spoiler - click to show) severed body parts are found. That said, this game has its moments. (Spoiler - click to show) Reaching inside the meat grinder was probably the worst part. Even more so than the vampire-body-part-scavenger game. Play the game a bit to see if it is to your liking.

For a health inspector the protagonist does not seem terribly worried about finding (Spoiler - click to show) human body parts hidden in Nikolai’s restaurant. A (Spoiler - click to show) human foot in the soup cauldron sounds like a notable health code violation, but the protagonist does not bother with jotting it down (although the game does add it to your score). And then there is this: (Spoiler - click to show)

>note corpse
You see nothing noteworthy about the mutilated corpse.

Why is it that you can (Spoiler - click to show) note the mold on the floor in your notebook of health violations but not the corpse in the crypt? This sounds noteworthy. If anyone is interested my record for the lowest sanitation score is (Spoiler - click to show) -119.

My only real criticism is that the game sometimes glosses over gameplay details in the endings. If you (Spoiler - click to show) discover the corpse, finish your inspection, and leave by car the game says, "You enter your car and drive away, satisfied that you have gathered enough observations to have Nikolai's Bar and Grill condemned. And yet, you feel as if there is still some mystery in that building which you left unsolved." Perhaps that corpse you found in the crypt? It does not acknowledge that the protagonist saw the corpse and/or the body parts scattered in the restaurant. Also, if the player (Spoiler - click to show) breaks a window and waits in the crypt for the police to arrive, they still somehow manage to miss the corpse.

Story
The blurb gives the impression that this is a murder mystery about a missing woman. Not exactly. It is not a mystery game where you (Spoiler - click to show) try to uncover the story behind the missing woman by talking to suspects and investigating different leads. There is no “mystery” to solve, at least not in the classic sense. Once you notice the body parts hidden in the restaurant you have pretty good idea of what is going on, and it does not take long to match the missing woman in the newspaper with the corpse in the crypt. But that is what gives the game a unique twist. Rather than solving a murder this game is about weathering a territory dispute between two ruthless vampires. There are tiny little hints that suggest “vampire” even before the player finds Sofia such as the vampire book in Nikolai’s office, the anemic waitress, and Angela and Nikolai’s unease when you ask them about vampires. It does not take long for the story to reveal itself.

I thought it was interesting how the author incorporated some (Spoiler - click to show) vampire lore into the story. According to the (Spoiler - click to show) handy guidebook in Nikolai’s office there are different groups of vampires with unique behaviors, specifically Bratislavan and Transylvanian vampires. Bratislavan vampires are always engaged in territorial disputes, whereas Transylvanian vampires prefer to fly solo. Sofia Kozyar and Nikolai are Bratislavan vampires, and the protagonist gets caught up in their mess. For a while Nikolai was the dominant vampire in the area but that changed as his health deteriorated due to diabetes. This weakened him until Sofia became a serious threat, so he had her abducted and killed. But killing a vampire is easier said than done. As the player knows, all it takes is (Spoiler - click to show) some neutral party to gather up the scattered remains to reform a “dead” vampire.

This has one of the highest replay values for a parser interactive fiction game. It is short with light puzzles and has a lot of endings. Finding new endings was exciting because you had to strategize, and that is where the replay value comes in. The game's hint section says, "The game features about seventeen distinct endings." SEVENTEEN! So far, I only managed to find twelve. I would love to know if anyone finds all of them.

Characters
What does it mean to be afflicted? According to Angela, Nikolai’s affliction is (Spoiler - click to show) diabetes. For the protagonist it is (Spoiler - click to show) being bitten by Sofia and turned into a vampire. The protagonist is unnamed and is only cynically described as Mr. Health Inspector by Nikolai. The protagonist’s background is an unusual one. I cannot recall ever playing any other game where the protagonist works for city sanitation, but this background only Afflicted more memorable. There are also other small details, such as a nostalgic love for disco, that make the protagonist more multi-dimensional.

Nikolai’s character is bold but also stagnates. He (Spoiler - click to show) denies the existence of vampires and Sofia’s corpse in the crypt but continues doing so even when the player catches him drinking Angela dry. Even when Sofia confirms that he is a vampire after her voice is restored. At this point Nikolai does not seem to bother (Spoiler - click to show) hiding the fact that he is a vampire. He locks the door and tells the player that they are next to be eaten. Sofia tells us about the territorial dispute between her and Nikolai, I thought this would be an opportunity to hear his side of the story. But instead, he keeps denying it. I wish there was a way to (Spoiler - click to show) stop Nikolai AND save Angela.

Final thoughts
This is one of my favorite (Spoiler - click to show) vampire games (not sure if this counts as a spoiler but I will mark it anyway). It is short with a high replay value and has an icky atmosphere (perhaps an option during Halloween) yet retains a sense of humor.

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.