Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car
Twine
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(edit: character name fix. (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT not SPACE CAT.)
The protagonist of SPACE FROG! is... SPACE FROG. Written in all-caps, like the title. He, predictably, is also a frog.
SPACE FROG wants to collect a star. He has his own spaceship. Because of size limitations, the player can only choose one item to bring. There are three items to choose from, which encourage multiple playthroughs. The rest of the gameplay involves traveling to planets.
You choose between exploring a planet or moving on. While the game offers three possible planets, you can only explore one per playthrough. It's also possible to (Spoiler - click to show)return to Earth and end things there. All of this provides incentive to play the game more than once. For convenience, there's a "back" button available.
The planets are each inhabited by other animal characters who offer wholesome interactions.
SPACE FROG wasn't sure what to do. He didn't speak sheep.
Could he communicate with the sheep in some other way?
SHAKE FROGGY BANK
BAA BACK
In some endings we succeed in acquiring a star, while in others (Spoiler - click to show)we get sidetracked and set the star-collecting aside for another day. There are no bad endings. Only ones filled with optimism and joy. I love SPACE FROG's reason for collecting a star, which is only revealed at the end. I don’t want to spoil it, but it has something to do with (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT.
The game has a strong ambience of imagination, curiosity, and the excitement of making new friends...
But SPACE FROG was no ordinary frog.
...and these qualities are showcased in our protagonist.
Made with Twine, the game uses a pale green background and black digital-looking text. There are graphics for most scenes that breathe life into the story. The graphics may be simple, but they fit the game's minimalist design perfectly.
While SPACE FROG! can be appreciated by anyone, the game is fantastic option for children. It features an endearing story with a low word-count, heartwarming visuals, and beginner-level interactivity.
Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a surreal Twine game set in a desert where the player contemplates monuments of human civilization. The artwork is FANTASTIC.
For now, I intend for this to be last game I review for IFComp 2025. It seems like a good piece to end with now that the comp is over and everything's been announced.
Gameplay
At least, this is how I understand the gameplay.
My guess is that we’re not in a real-life physical desert, but an intangible setting made of ideas and abstract concepts. However, the nature of the game means the logistics of this are irrelevant. We accept the existence of this surreal world as it is. Knowing what’s going on in the game is a different matter. I’ll do my best.
Trace your steps toward...
➼ the monument to the road cone
➼ the monument to the aardvark cucumber
➼ the monument to the ink cartridge
Gameplay involves visiting seven monuments and “unraveling them.”
You have reached the unflowing monument to the ink cartridge. Its mysterious nested walls and tissues hold a great amorphous power. For now, it stands.
Unravel it.
This involves reflecting on its content, its portrayal of said content, and how it relates to yourself. The player’s choices involve clicking on cycling links to select a prompt to add to the monument.
➼ Seal your choice. Leave the monument
The game combines these monuments together to create a fusion of ideas, experience, and materials influenced by the reflections that you made. These combinations are “unveiled.” The game does this by generating poem-like passages. For example, in one playthrough I combined the ink cartridge and wicker monuments.
A revelation is what you do, it's what you are. The truth of the ink cartridge and wicker quivers in your hands, alive, alight with the awe of the distance between words. Shine a light across the chasm. Shout their beauty.
Unveil them
(What followed next was the generated passage).
The mechanic of combining different monuments adds replay value, but I’m not sure if its monuments are dynamic enough in content to make players eager to experiment with different combinations.
Writing & Genre
While I enjoy surreal works, I lack the background knowledge to analyze and comment on the genre itself. Because of this, I end up using the word "surreal" as a blanket term.
It’s safe to say, though, that this is an abstract game, and its writing reflects that. In comparison with other surreal works, this game will have a narrower audience due to its writing's elaborate style and tone.
Its writing feels like a string of thoughts and is written as if they are being spilled from one’s mind. Consider my fusion of the wicker and ink cartridge monuments:
The story of wicker and the ink cartridge. Picture a reproduction of three-dimensional forms. The voids in between. Initiate the next phase of cleaning only if the print quality is poor. Keep the diagonal above and then below. It is the only way. They warn: this mold will erase our history. As he kneels to take it out, he forgets that they said anything. The instructions say to throw the thing away when there’s less than eight signs left, but as always there are workarounds on the internet. And they know that this is true among the atoms and the galaxies...
It's a lot to process.
I think the game does a consistent job at making players feel as if they are flowing down a waterfall of ideas and concepts. Wading through this content reveals some fascinating ideas. I liked how the newsstand monument is described as a "relic from the paleo-information age."
Sometimes, though, the writing runs into a wall and starts to feel lame and contrived:
Semiconductors are the judges of the real, and there is no such thing as hot glue.
What does this even mean? Maybe its nonsensicalness is intentional, but I’m not feeling it. Fortunately, the game always pulls itself back on track. You will find things to appreciate if you commit to the gameplay.
Story
There’s not really a story, only a mix of themes. If I had to pinpoint the main theme, I’d say it orbits around examining past civilization and what that civilization leaves behind. Sand is a recurring element, and the game reminds us that all things are eventually worn down into sand and atoms.
It does have an ending. (Spoiler - click to show)After visiting and combining the monuments the game turns around and regards you as a monument. As you did with the previous monuments, you unravel yourself. In a self-reflective way. Maybe it’s up to interpretation.
Visuals
The artwork is the best part of the game. It’s exquisite and fits the genre perfectly.
It appears as a layered collage of different materials and styles. It depicts a desert landscape with artifacts scattered on the dunes. The layers create a sense of depth and distance, and objects fade in and out as you investigate each monument. I was enthralled.
The authors are talented. It’s the kind of art I expect to see at an art gallery or a glossy hardcover book. It really illustrates the story. There were times when I simply ignored the text and stared at the details in the artwork. The humanoid picture with the mismatched hands and geometric shapes was one of my favorites!
I’ve played many games with gorgeous visuals, but Eight Last Signs in the Desert stands out with its use of textures.
Like the sand dunes.
It almost suggests that you can touch the screen and feel the sandy surface. I can’t say I’ve played a game that depicts textures like this. The closest work I can think of is Fabricationist DeWit Remakes the World which looks like watercolour on thick paper.
I hope more games experiment with textures.
Other visuals
Text is placed in a black box, usually on the left side of screen. In this sense, the game feels like a picture book with text on one side and visuals on the other, though the game occasionally uses additional boxes as well. It has a thin cream-coloured border which contrasts nicely with the dune imagery in the background.
There’s also a tiny grey box by the main text box that provides a random passage of text. I’m wondering if it represents something in the narrative. Or is it simply a text box? Either way, it offers some interesting passages.
The game does use some fade-in-fade-out effects for the text, but this is an example of using them appropriately to enhance the gameplay instead of slowing it down. It gives the gameplay a contemplative vibe.
Final thoughts
Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a unique game with writing I enjoyed and art that blew me away. It is not a game for the impatient. In fact, it can be a bit dense for anyone with the patience to ponder each line and take it one step at a time. I was pleased with it, nonetheless.
I recommend this game if you want something that focuses on ambience instead of a storyline. The themes on human civilization- and its impermanence- are compelling but not overwhelming. And the art? At least play it to sample the art.
In the end, thoughts are free at last from gravity and the strong force of their nuclei.
The witch girls are a clique of girls at school who can supposedly perform magic. You and your friend Morag have decided to turn to them for help. You want boyfriends. But they tell you: "We don't do love magic."
As if that's going to stop you.
Taking matters into your own hands, you and Morag recreate this spell to create perfect boyfriends. (Be careful what you wish for.)
Gameplay
The gameplay experience is based on how you cast the boyfriend-creating spell. Failure to do it correctly produces… unexpected results. The spell determines which of the three gameplay paths you take, while the specific ending you reach is determined by decisions made later in the game.
The game keeps track of every possible route/path on a page that is made accessible after your first playthrough. Here, you can skip the intro and start after the spell has been cast, allowing you to dive right into the story. This feature was incredibly helpful for replays.
Story
Generally, the game is about agency, longing for independence, and realizing that the grass is often greener on the other side of the fence. It also serves as a demonstration of the dangers of a 13-year-old girl having unrestricted access to magic.
There was a freedom in it, in asking for what you wanted, without the mediation of parents or schools or big sisters. Magic might not have gotten you results, but it got you something better: power, or the idea of it, at least.
That is, until you do get results.
(Spoiler - click to show)If you do the spell perfectly, two boys wash up onto the beach and into your life. No one suspects a thing. At school, the boys are popular and only have eyes for you and Morag. But it all feels hollow and superficial. Your “boyfriend” lacks the texture of a human with real human experience. Something must be done.
Unsurprisingly, there is no “happily ever after.” By the end, the boys cease to exist. How this happens depends on your choices. And sure enough, no one notices the boys’ absence.
Creating a perfect boyfriend as planned can be considered as the game’s “generic route.” It leans slightly towards slice-of-life rather than horror because it feels more introspective. I do, however, agree with the game calling it the (Spoiler - click to show)“Zombie Route.”
Ultimately, though, this is a horror game. There are other routes.
Let’s say we do a poor job with casting the spell. What could possibly go wrong?
(Spoiler - click to show)The creature had been washed ashore by the low tide, and foam and specs of wet sand clung to its translucent, lumpy body.
WHAT.
I was shocked to find, not a fully formed human, but a milky jellyfish-like blob… with eyes. There’s even a (non-graphic but still unsettling) grainy picture.
Of course, Morag is like, “awesome, I’ll take mine home with me,” leaving the player with a decision: reject it or care for it?
The skin-crawling moment in the game is when Morag convinces us to eat it (as the player, you can opt out of this), resulting in us becoming pregnant with something. It’s wild.
She took a set of camping utensils out of her bag and handed them to you.
You took them with trembling hands.
Stop. Stop. Stop. (But I must find every ending…!)
I mean this in a good way. Its gradual buildup does an effective job at making you want to squirm out of your chair. The author strikes the right balance of icky descriptiveness without being excessive. It’s also set into a context.
The jellyfish eating scene is framed as a rite of passage to adulthood. Morag became pregnant after eating hers and insists we do the same. The protagonist is not entirely sure what it means to be an adult, but if eating this gelatinous blob (which has started growing teeth, btw) is a step in the right direction, so be it.
So, there you go. The Witch Girls can take you in some unexpected directions.
Characters
PC
The protagonist is unnamed and has a surface-level backstory which allows the player to step into her shoes without being distracted by characterization. And yet, the whole fiasco of fabricated boyfriends is still an opportunity for character development.
Like everyone, she judges her peers, and these judgments are mixed in with what she knows about her world. A common theme is how she views herself as separate from those girls, only to reevaluate what “those girls” even means, and whether she might actually be one of them. This is usually referring to sex but can overlap with other things.
You weren’t like those chavvy girls who slept with their fourth-year boyfriends and got pregnant. You were better than them.
(Spoiler - click to show)Ending 1C begs to differ. Sort of. You get pregnant by eating a mutant blob that was supposed to be a human boyfriend.
There’s a tug-of-war between her passing judgement and her also wanting to partake in the exact things she judges. It becomes an on-going journey of self-discovery.
(Spoiler - click to show)For example, in the “Zombie Route,” Morag sleeps with her boyfriend and reveals the experience to be underwhelming. The protagonist grapples with this letdown and ponders what it implies about her friend.
Her nonchalance was a blow. You refused to believe her. She’d become that kind of girl.
We then have the option to follow suit with our own boyfriend. If we do, the protagonist comes to the same conclusion as Morag: It was unremarkable. There was no transformation. The game ends shortly after, but it’s enough to see some new insight.
NPCs
I was hoping that we would get to learn a little more about the witch girls we first meet, especially since one of them is Morag’s sister. Shortly after they refuse to help us, they give up witchcraft altogether, freeing up the hut they used as a meeting space. I wonder how they learned not to mess with love magic.
(In that regard, I like how there’s an unofficial passing of the mantle with most of the endings. (Spoiler - click to show)The protagonist and Morag like to hang out in the witch girls’ hut, and whenever someone comes to them for assistance they say, “We don’t do love magic.” Clever way of bringing things full circle.)
Visuals
The game’s appearance is both simple and memorable. It uses a light blue background with black text in a basic but fun font. Most scenes have a small black-and-white picture in the upper left-hand corner that adds atmosphere without being distracting. The picture of the pencils with the smiley-face erasers resonated with me.
Final thoughts
The Witch Girls was a lot of fun. The protagonist is giddy with what magic can achieve for her, and this excitement is felt by the player as well. Horror and humor are equally intertwined, and the author captures a sense of nostalgia by name-dropping music, clothing brands, and pop culture.
My only complaint is how the original witch girls are glossed over. What’s their story? Just a little more explanation would have provided dimension instead of them being shoved aside. Are we just mirror reflections of them, if only a bit younger (and cooler, of course)?
That aside, The Witch Girls excels in every department. Play it, and you’ll learn why it’s best to steer clear from love magic.
Grocery shopping. Again.
You play as an unnamed protagonist who begrudgingly hauls herself into the local supermarket to complete the weekly errand of buying groceries. You only have $20 in your pocket, so budget wisely.
Gameplay involves going through the store and deciding which groceries to buy. It soon becomes clear that (Spoiler - click to show)buying groceries isn't important. Turns out this mundane errand is the protagonist's desperate grasp for any normalcy because, well... it's the apocalypse.
The strength of Errand Run is how the protagonist knows more about her situation than we do, leaving us in the dark until the end where it pulls a delightful bait-and-switch.
Now, we do know that something's going on. The lights are off, the AC doesn't work, and the store is understocked. But you can be fooled into thinking that the world is simply going through a rough patch. Local food shortages, overdemand of the power grid, etc.
With a sigh, you step through the automatic doors of the local supermarket. No blast of cool air whisks over to greet you; the AC's been acting up for months now.
Oh, no, no, no.
(Spoiler - click to show)She's not there to buy groceries.
She’s pretending to.
The world has been ransacked by a force of evil, only referred to as “waves of rapture,” that kills people before hauling them away. She saw it take her family members and acquaintances. It’s possible that she’s the only person left.
As if this isn't the 18th time you've deliberated over that bag of rotten onions.
This. Line. Right. Here.
I did not see this coming. The whole time, she's been playing pretend! I seriously thought we were there to purchase groceries with our measly $20.
It’s her way of clinging to sanity, the closest she can get to the life she had before everything fell apart. Ironic since grocery shopping is something she hated.
The reveal adds replay value because it puts the gameplay into context. When it says, "your mom definitely taught you better than to waste money on sugar and fried shit, but IT'S NOT LIKE SHE'S HERE NOW," you assume the protagonist means that her mom is elsewhere.
Nope. She's not here because she died a violent death. Welp.
The game’s writing is frosting on the cake. Its cynical humor provides commentary about the task at hand without being too dire. The author builds on this visually through text effects and colours that convey (Spoiler - click to show)the protagonist’s wobbly mental state.
To conclude, Errand Run is a brief horror game about (Spoiler - click to show)crawling back to the familiar because the entire world has gone to pieces. It doesn’t go deep with its story, but it doesn't need to.
Where it doesn’t have depth, it sure has attitude.
Saltwrack follows a perilous expedition across an unforgiving arctic landscape. The story is bleak. The odds are grim. The characters search for secrets best left undisturbed.
Gameplay
Saltwrack describes itself as a “post-post-apocalyptic” story in a world that has been devastated by snowfalls of salt and an ice age. The land is now one vast deposit of salt, also known as a wrack. Human civilization resides in six cities, existing as points of light, huddled at the edges of this harsh wasteland.
You are an interpreter- a scientist. The Observational Society has agreed to fund your proposal: to journey to the center of a salty wrack to discover its secrets. No one has attempted such a journey.
But first you select two individuals to aid you on the expedition: a saltwalker and an oracle. Saltwalkers know the physical landscape through experience and excel at survival, while oracles have precognition and interpret dreams. There are two candidates for both categories, providing incentive for replays.
The entire expedition- traveling to the wrack’s center and returning to the city of Hearth- is expected to take 40 days. Player decisions center on navigating the land with the guidance provided by your travelling companions. The game keeps track of your progress at the top of the screen.
Day 1 | Miles travelled: 40 | Rations: Plentiful
You also collect specimens and samples as proof of your discoveries. And no save features, either. Death looms behind every action.
All sorts of unexpected things can happen.
(Spoiler - click to show)When you scramble out of the tent, you see the walker sitting in the vehicle, the engine running, the headlights on. You can’t understand, for a long moment.
He calls down to you over the sound of the engine. “I am sorry to do this to you. I truly am. But you’re already gone—you’ll never make it back, and I can’t help you. I can’t.”
Dude.
Really?
And btw, I DID make it back. The oracle would have made it back as well, but they chose to stay and ponder the wasteland. We were fine, all things considered. (And yes, it’s possible for the other saltwalker to leave you, but at least she just leaves because you’ve been ignoring her advice. And she doesn’t take the machine with her, either.)
What frustrates me about the gameplay is how your choices don’t always have as much influence as you would think.
For example, (Spoiler - click to show)the number of specimens I brought back to the Observational Society had no effect on whether they believed my account of the expedition. The protagonist takes notes automatically, but surely physical specimens are needed as proof, right? Turns out, you can skip every opportunity to collect samples, and the Society will still believe you.
There are also moments where the game overrides the impact of your previous choices in favor of a pre-determined outcome. Sometimes the (Spoiler - click to show)female saltwalker would leave even when I followed her advice and established a good rapport with her through conversation. It felt like the game simply wanted her to be taken out of the picture, rapport or no rapport.
Despite this occasional rigidness, the game still managed to surprise me. I didn't think it was possible, but I somehow managed to (Spoiler - click to show)make it to Hearth with the second oracle where we recovered in the hospital clinic together. Usually, the oracles either die or choose to stay in the wrack.
I enjoyed finding every salt-sign glyph encountered by the saltwalkers. I found glyphs for (Spoiler - click to show)Contamination, Trap, and Death.
Story
The game is somewhat reserved in the amount of backstory it provides, but from the looks of it, there is a dead city in the center of the wrack. This city was once a hot spot for technological advancement until something devastated the world. You intend to find its origin. Spoilers.
This origin turns out to be a research facility abandoned over two centuries ago.
What we find inside is an experiment-gone-horribly-wrong. This reveal is also one of the vaguer parts of the story. It appears to be a biological anomaly that is organic but not entirely tangible. By accessing it, it forms a parasitic connection to your mind and body. It feeds on a part of you, and that part stays behind when you leave the facility. The characters have clearly been altered.
After leaving, the characters suspect that they’ve been contaminated or infected, making them a potential danger to civilization. Because of this, completing the expedition as planned is not exactly a “happy ending.” In fact, there are no conventionally happy endings, just ones where you don’t die a horrible death. If you make it back to Hearth with your research and share your findings, everyone regards you as a pioneer! Fellow interpreters are foaming at the mouth to visit the source.
However, you are unable to fully explain the anomaly and its effects. Despite the praise you’ve received for advancing humanity's understanding of the wasteland you wonder if you've also doomed everyone as well. Future explorers will be helpless when they face the facility's secrets, and they, too, will bring traces of it back to civilization.
Sprawling like a stain, fed by your witnessing, awakened by your trespass.
The horror is exquisitely conveyed through the author’s writing.
Whatever lives in the facility is not going to scurry out the door and escape into the night because you left the door open. It doesn't need to. It knows that other individuals will arrive, and it will venture out into the world through them.
An open mouth, a hungry and wounded space, waiting.
As the player, that’s when you start to think, wow, I'm responsible for all this. Maybe the expedition was a bad idea...
Fortunately, there are other endings that are slightly more optimistic.
Further impressions
The wrack is probably the coolest (I don’t mean that as a pun) piece of frozen wasteland I’ve encountered in interactive fiction.
It’s interesting how it (Spoiler - click to show)almost has its own consciousness, tied in with the local ecosystem and (I assume) independent from what we find in the facility. Exploring the wrack for too long can result in you becoming “wrack-touched,” where you gain oracle-like abilities that enhance how you perceive the world. Your body’s biology can even be altered.
The protagonist is surprised to see that the wrack is not devoid of life. Rather, unfamiliar organisms- extremophiles- have appeared, their biology allowing them to thrive in this cold wasteland. I love the concise yet vivid way the writing describes these creatures.
Hydras, polyps, a profusion of tiny invisible life.
This life, however, is absent in the city ruins. We learn, vaguely, that the (Spoiler - click to show)anomaly created in the facility would consume natural ecosystems and produce salt as a waste product. That’s probably the clearest answer we’ll get.
We tend to envision the future as being high-tech, but Saltwrack approaches this differently. It appears that the saltfall and ice age has knocked humanity backwards in technological advancement. Any tech we encounter feels rediscovered. While there is no mention of computers or radio communication, we wear clothing made of synthetic fibers and travel in an experimental machine powered by a motor engine.
Parallels to our world
As is often the case with my reviews, I like to take a detour to explore some broader concepts. Feel free to skip this part. I'll stick it under a spoiler tag to take up less space.
Saltwrack reminds me of nuclear semiotics, an ongoing discussion and field of research on how we should store and label nuclear waste- a hazard- so that humanity of the future knows to stay away from it.
Nuclear waste is buried deep underground in repositories. Because written language evolves or becomes obsolete over time, an emphasis is placed on visual imagery to convey danger. A face contorted in disgust. Skull bones. Hostile architecture is another method, using spikes and structures that hinder access and convey the feeling of STAY AWAY.
There’s even an existing template for what signage should convey. It comes close to describing the mysterious facility- and its source room- we find in Saltwrack. Here's a sample (courtesy of Wikipedia):
The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us.
The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
And, most of all:
The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
Eerie, right?
Too bad the characters didn’t receive any of this (even if the facility isn’t a repository).
While the threat in the game is more abstract and interwoven with a fictional narrative, the implications of an abandoned danger- a danger facilitated by humanity- are relevant for us. A real-life repository may seem unremarkable, but hundreds of years from now the world may be vastly different. Perhaps these sites will possess the kind of secrecy, ambiguity, and lore as the facility featured in Saltwrack.
Visuals
Just a basic black screen with white text formatted neatly in the center. Links are underlined and stats are clearly listed at the top. Its lack of frills fits with the game’s grim, no-nonsense atmosphere.
Final thoughts
Saltwreck is an intriguingly desolate work of horror with vivid writing that conveys the bleak, salty expanse of the wrack and the expedition that attempts to cross it. There are a variety of events that can happen during the journey, encouraging many playthroughs.
Over time, the gameplay can start to feel inflexible, but the descriptiveness of the setting and its harsh realities make it difficult to turn away. I enjoyed it immensely.
(And if there’s spiky mold on your rations, don’t eat it.)
As the title suggests, the game takes place at the Human Resources Administration (HRA) in New York City. You are an alien sent on a mission to sign up for SNAP, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as part of your studies on human culture. Disguised as a human, you hope to see how SNAP helps people dealing with food insecurity!
Or at least how it’s supposed to help people.
Gameplay
The game takes place in a waiting room where we follow instructions on applying for SNAP. There are no puzzles. As the player we primarily observe the bureaucracy involved as we navigate a kiosk, dismissive staff, paperwork, and a line of people.
Our protagonist has the ability to “freeze” their surroundings in a temporal bubble of green light, rendering everyone and everything frozen in time. This is done to take notes and make observations before returning to reality.
I want to give this game a higher rating. Its exploration into its subject matter is strong, but as a game it ends too abruptly. The turning point happens after we’ve submitted our paperwork.
(Spoiler - click to show)The protagonist freezes their surroundings to take more notes only to realize that one human isn’t frozen. Understandably, said human freaks out when they see everything in a glowing, frozen state. To stall for time until backup arrives, the protagonist reveals themselves to be an alien who traveled to Earth to study humans.
The human expresses anger at the soulless nature of HRA and is offended when they notice the protagonist taking notes on their anger. Backup arrives, and the human is seemingly neutralized. The game ends.
We don’t even get a chance to receive the benefits we applied for. It feels like the protagonist’s mission is only getting started.
Story
Rather than focusing on a plot, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration strives to highlight the bureaucratic inadequacies that hinder obtaining social services such as SNAP. And it does an effective job at this.
For example, if you choose “Sarah Traballano-Williams” as your human name, you discover that the kiosk does not have a key for the dash symbol. A staff member says it’s okay to omit it… only for this to clash with the application process several minutes later.
"Your name in the paperwork says Sarah TraballanoWilliams, one word, and your ID says Sarah Traballano DASH Williams. Your name needs to match."
One small snag that can setback your progress. And what about needing to show a photo ID to apply for a new photo ID because your old one got stolen? This is the reality people face in real life.
The game points out that humans’ need to eat does not get put on hold until you fill out paperwork (again), reenter your info online (hopefully you still have access to a computer and internet connection), and possibly wait three to five business days for such and such to be processed and approved.
And what happens if, “sorry, the system isn't working right now?”
When the system fails, struggling people have to contort themselves and navigate unnecessary obstacles to make up for this failure.
SNAP
What initially drew me to this game was its coverage on SNAP.
I have never experienced food insecurity. However, I became aware of SNAP when I participated in a volunteer/learning program that included the “SNAP Challenge.”
In this challenge, we went to different stores and filled a cart with what we would buy if we were on SNAP. We then compared the hypothetical groceries from each store to see how one’s choices were affected by pricing and item availability. A common question was "do I buy higher quantities of food with lower nutritional value, or do I buy less food- and therefore have less to eat- but with better nutrition?" How would this factor in if you had a family to feed? Or lived in a food desert?
It was eye-opening. And yet, I still have a lot to learn.
Now, I thought that the game would portray some of that. Instead, it’s merely on applying for SNAP. And that suits the game’s purposes just fine. Besides, we end up applying for Cash Assistance instead (since the system isn’t working right, we’re told). I’m just curious at what observations the protagonist would make if they had a chance to purchase food with their newly acquired benefits.
Further discussion
The author, a social worker, offers some powerful takeaways that are discussed at the end of the game. Studies can reduce vulnerable people (such as those dealing with food insecurity) into data points. This quantification distances research from the realities endured by its subjects, and we see fragments of this with the game’s protagonist.
In a way, there’s a systemic suspicion towards individuals who apply for help, a default assumption that you’re trying to exploit the system… until you jump through every hoop to demonstrate otherwise. People need to eat. You don’t need studies to prove that.
If food is central to human existence, why are the machines to get SNAP lacking basic functions such as a working text interface?
Questioning the legitimacy of programs (and committing to them) that help reach the objective of no one going hungry makes little sense.
Characters
Initially, I was expecting a story where an alien finds themselves on Earth and must receive benefits to survive. The game takes a different route by using an alien PC sent to Earth on a mission. They don’t actually experience food insecurity firsthand. I do think the investigative approach of the protagonist’s mission and their status as a being from another world allows us to examine SNAP and its infrastructure with a more neutral, straightforward manner. The player is made more aware of real-world issues.
However, the most compelling aspect of this game is how it considers the protagonist’s actions as being potentially problematic. They choose to participate in these missions because they want to "experience alien cultures directly." They are well-meaning and make the vital observation that for a system that is meant to help people, it is not designed with this objective in mind.
(Spoiler - click to show)But our final interaction with the enraged human shows the protagonist processing the situation with a clinical detachment that is noticed by the human. Once the human has been subdued, the game even ends with the protagonist exclaiming, "What a fantastic day! I can't wait to write all this up."
The human’s sharing of their own experience is received as a point of curiosity rather than recognizing the human’s individuality that goes beyond their need for assistance. The protagonist may feel for the human, but they seem more interested in gathering information for a report than anything else. This can be a parallel to studies conducted in real life.
The game also name-drops some of the protagonist’s colleagues, but they have no greater effect on the story.
Visuals
Keeps it simple. It uses the default Twine appearance of a black background, white text, and blue links. Everything is easy to read and neatly spaced.
Final thoughts
I'm glad this game exists. It's an equal blend of light-heartedness and seriousness to convey important ideas about food insecurity and the bureaucracy that gets in the way of addressing it. Plus, the alien character adds flair.
As a social worker, the author brings valuable insight to this game, and I enjoyed their concise yet descriptive writing. They nailed the bathroom scene with its dwindling liquid hand soap and germy hand dryer.
I do wish the game was longer (or at least less linear) and allowed the player’s choices to have a larger impact on the story’s trajectory. That way, we have a chance to see the impact of our choices. And what’s up with (Spoiler - click to show)Skrzyyyyt? The protagonist doesn’t seem to like them.
Nonetheless, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration is well worth your time.
Backpackward is a portal fantasy that sees a slacker, low-motivation protagonist in the modern world finding an alternate world where he might actually make a name for himself.
Gameplay
In Backpackward, we play as a guy named Bert. The game begins right as we get fired from Jack of All Fruits, a ridiculous smoothie bar that requires employees to wear jester costumes and treat customers like royalty.
After a few more misadventures we reach home, only to be locked out by Bert’s mom. The solution? Sleep in the cellar of the house next door. It belonged to a neighbor named Jan, but she had recently moved out and sold the house, thankfully. You enter the cellar…
A vast rolling green expanse unfurls before you. There’s a PEASANT HUT just between you and the SHEEP BARN you’ve stepped out of. And the near horizon, framed in majestic sunlight, is a medieval CASTLE.
…only to find yourself in a fantasy land reminiscent of the Middle Ages. That’s right, Jan’s cellar contains a portal. And the key to this portal? Your crusty trusty JanSport backpack.
Puzzles
Each scene is interspaced with inventory management segments where you decide what to put in your backpack. This is done visually. The player drags icons of items into a backpack that has a grid layout. The layout requires the player to rotate and shuffle items around to make them fit, and some items will inevitably have to be left behind. You must decide what will give you the best advantage in the portal world.
The inventory limits add replay value because it’s fun to experiment to see what benefits come with each item you pack. Now, a lot of it is superficial in that it doesn’t transform the narrative. For example, (Spoiler - click to show)if you hide as Tech Bro leaves the mall, the sounds of your costume spook his dogs. Left the costume behind? You sneeze, scaring the dogs. No matter what, something will scare the dogs. The fun is finding the different ways of reaching the same outcome.
Or consider what you bring to the medieval world. Packing the (Spoiler - click to show)suckers allows you to make the three babies stop crying. It has no other impact on the gameplay, but I enjoyed seeing how the simplest of items have their own applications. (Make sure you pack the Cheetos for the final fight.)
I will say, the game underestimates the number of items you can put into a backpack when you really want to. If only it were a 1998 Urban Adventurer Streetwarrior TRIPLE-REINFORCED Lifestyle Management System by Jansport*.
*Cragne Manor reference.
Story/Characters
Bert has issues with anger. Gameplay choices are largely based on whether to act on this anger or to suppress it.
You breeze past NED. He is so startled at your sudden show of politeness, a Cheeto falls out of his open mouth.
However, we never get to dive deeper into Bert’s anger issues. So far, they merely set the gameplay’s tone. Being fired from Jack of All Fruits certainly didn’t help.
The portal is significant for Bert because unlike the real world on the other side of the portal, the people here regard him with awe because they believe he’s a wizard. We learn that the (Spoiler - click to show)land is ruled over by a womanizing King. The villagers would like to get rid of him but lack the confidence and resources to take on the King and his forces.
In other words, this is a chance for Bert to be the hero. For once. Plus, (Spoiler - click to show)Cicilia seems interested in him. We see him at his best here: resourceful and quick-thinking. It’s a nice change of pace after seeing him fumble his relationships and employment status.
On top of that, I liked the writing. It is loaded with cynicism and conveys the protagonist’s apathy and agitation. The NPCs (Ned with his Excel spreadsheets, Goth Girrrl, the Cheeto-eating cat) are entertaining and feed into Bert’s cynical narrative.
Endings
Or more like (Spoiler - click to show)ending. Just one. Spoilers, obviously.
Final fight scene. You’ve got the King’s attention, Jan is revealed to be the King’s wizard, you now have a chance to see what’s inside the castle, and…
You smile, faintly, as the new world you’ve found goes black.
THE END
??? What about everything else that’s happened in the game? There are too many loose ends (Bert’s rocky relationship with Ernesto, Jan’s potential involvement with the portal, whether Bert will find another job, etc.) for this to feel like a proper conclusion.
The ending gives the impression that the author ran out of time and decided to cut things short. While it’s possible that they had a larger concept in mind, I feel that this game would be stronger if it were a standalone work rather than one experienced through multiple episodes. Even if some of the more ambitious elements get axed.
How long will we have to wait? Will it be Backpackward: Part II or just an extended version of this game? Currently, one of its listed genres on IFDB is "No Emotional Growth" which makes me wonder if it’s meant to play off the fact that the game gets cut short. At least, that’s how I feel about the game as an IFComp submission.
Also, when the game says, “If only you had brought something for JAN as well,” I’m not sure what item can be used for this. Who is Jan, really?
Visuals
Overall, the game is well-organized and easy to read. Black screen with white/yellow text and yellow links. Dialogue is evenly centered in the middle of the screen and character names are clearly shown in BOLD. Small details like these provide a smoother experience.
As I said before, the Backpackward uses visual icons for packing your backpack. And they are polished. I was not expecting such a feature when I first started. Hovering over items provides more information, and the backpack’s grid lights up in either green or red as you try to fit everything inside. It really elevated the quality of the game and gives a great impression.
Final thoughts
Backpackward has a snarky attitude with sharply written characters that left me wanting more. Bert is entertaining even as a static character, and I like how the portal gives him the opportunity to make something of himself. Even if he doesn’t know what that would be. It’s also worth multiple playthroughs thanks to its inventory management system.
I want to give the game a higher rating, but the loose ends dented the experience. I think the game also shoehorns the player a bit too much in the gameplay, such as (Spoiler - click to show)forcing you to visit the gun store before the fireworks stand. That said, while I was disappointed to see the game end so abruptly, I look forward to any future installments.
"Welcome back, is there anything I can help you with?"
One Step Ahead is a dystopian story about the temptations of A.I. and the erosion of choice. Ever since the protagonist discovered the convenience of A.I., they’ve been readily incorporating it into everyday life. But at what cost?
Gameplay
One might assume that One Step Ahead gives the player multiple paths based on whether to use A.I. for tasks, most of which are for academic assignments. Instead, it’s surprisingly linear. To progress in this game, you must use A.I. or get an abrupt GAME OVER.
One Step Ahead also needs more testing and proofreading. Some passages lead to a dead end. If it weren’t for the little “↶” arrows at the side of the screen you would have to restart the game. There was also one instance where I got an error message: Sorry to interrupt, but this page's code has got itself in a mess.
Story
Story-wise, there’s not much to experience. There’s a shift halfway through the game where (Spoiler - click to show) the protagonist becomes worried about how involved the A.I. has become in their life. The A.I. soon picks up on these doubts and throws a hissy fit when the protagonist tries to delete it for good.
In fact, the game ends right as the story gets interesting: (Spoiler - click to show) the A.I. declaring that they’re “always one step ahead” (hence the title), forcing the protagonist to crawl back to it.
Perhaps the lack of choice in the game is meant to represent not having any choice in using A.I. in real-life. If that’s the author’s intent, the delivery needs work because the game is too linear and undeveloped to explore these ideas meaningfully.
Choice is a muscle.
The less it’s used, the more it withers.
This point would have more impact if the player could actually choose not to use A.I. and see the impacts of that choice beyond a sudden GAME OVER. Instead, we get shoehorned into one gameplay route.
RegrettablyDue to consecutive nights of staying up late.
You developed an acute heart condition and had to be hospitalized for recovery.
In other words, you can either use A.I. or end up in the hospital. Not a strong message.
Further discussion
There’s little room to explore the game’s themes on A.I. reliance. I found myself approaching One Step Ahead with some cynicism especially since what we know about our protagonist is only skin-deep. Do they seriously think it’s acceptable to use A.I. to do all their academic work?
I don’t want to be quick to antagonize.
Society sets educational milestones for literacy, math, and other skill sets, and individuals who lack the opportunity to meet these milestones end up swimming against the current of a society that may not offer support in helping them catch up. I can understand seeking assistance. Having someone or something (like an A.I.) summarize content (a book chapter, for example) so you can better understand it serves as a steppingstone for producing your own original work.
Not everything can be accomplished through effort alone. You lack formal training in computer science, and the task exceeds your current capabilities.
There’s a balance. A balance of academic integrity and making sure students have the tools they need to perform in academic settings. We all need help, and we’re all responsible for our own work. But balance is not explored in this game.
Where does this leave the protagonist? There is one instance where they struggle in a class due to a lack of prerequisites, but they just opt for A.I. without sharing any perspective on their choice. As for the other assignments, the protagonist simply seems to not want to do the work. And there is never a point where they reflect about the potential consequences of using A.I. to do their assignments for them.
Or I could be overthinking things. It’s unclear, is the author trying to make commentary about the usage of A.I., or are they just wanting to make an interesting story about an A.I. (Spoiler - click to show)forcing itself on a human user?
Visuals
I think the author could have had some fun experimenting with Twine’s visual effects rather than opting for the default black screen, white text, and blue links. In fact, I was expecting something like the cover art which reminds me of the Blue Screen of Death.
Of course, if the author is new to Twine, I can understand why the game uses a default appearance. The (Spoiler - click to show)chaotic red text used for the A.I.'s meltdown was clever.
Final thoughts
I would love a post-comp release of One Step Ahead because its overall premise is highly relevant to the technological landscape we live in now. But as an IFComp game, it has a lot of rough edges that need to be sanded down. The formatting is messy, there’s at least one bug, and the gameplay could be better implemented. It simply feels too much like a draft.
Ancient China.
You are a poet whose family fell from grace, making you somewhat of an outcast. But time has passed, and you’ve now carved a simple existence out of reading and staying out of the public eye.
Then, one night, a court official visits your home. You are informed that your poetry has caught the attention of society’s elite. Coincidentally, the Emperor is hosting a banquet to select a new court poet, and you are invited at his request.
Gameplay
you are an ancient chinese poet at the neo-orchid pavilion (aka YAAACPATNOP. Naw, too long) revolves around a sole task: creating a poem to present at the banquet.
The Emperor has a special request for you. He wants your poem to reflect the current climate of his court and the motivations of the people within it, citing your reclusive lifestyle as making you a neutral judge of the factions present at the banquet.
Gameplay is structured into sections where the player interacts with characters or scenery to develop each line of the poem. To provide inspiration for the guests, multiple activities take place at the banquet.
North, in the direction of a fruit orchard in the distance.
East, to a field where the polo court lies.
South, to where a stage for outdoor opera sits.
West, towards a set of low set buildings.
Each activity is run by a group that shares an ideology. For example, visiting the polo courts introduces you to the School of Numerical Perfection, a group that is attempting to create the perfect poem using math because they believe that human experience can be quantified to create order.
You visit two groups, sampling the different ideologies at play. You then decide whether to agree or disagree with the group’s beliefs, forging a new line of your poem. The climax of the story occurs when you choose to meet with either Princess Anying or General Zhang to further investigate the court’s alliances. Once the poem is completed, the endgame reveals the impact of your words.
The game allows you to start from the beginning of the story or to start at the banquet, encouraging replays.
Story
The story is interwoven with political undertones of factions vying for power. The Emperor’s sister, Princess Anying, and his cousin, General Zhang are major figureheads in the court’s politics. They make an appearance at the banquet, and while the three appear to tease and cajole each other as family members, unseen plans lurk under the surface.
When you reach the lake, you decide to walk…
Clockwise, towards the blooming lotus.
Counter-clockwise, where the wild reeds ramble.
Visit the lotus for the Princess, the reeds for the General.
Your interactions with the banquet guests and either the Princess or the General are conveyed through your poem and thus determine the story’s outcome. For instance, (Spoiler - click to show)you can align yourself with the Princess, resulting in an ending where you become her court poet. Assuming the rest of her plans fall into place, of course.
Endings
There are 23 possible endings. So far, I’ve only found: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 23. That’s not even half. I tried to create a spreadsheet to keep track of how to reach them, but it became too complicated.
I will say, some endings feel cut and paste with their writing. Consider endings 2 and 10:
(Spoiler - click to show)Although your poem is not overly adulatory towards the Princess Anying and the factions she has been secretly supporting, it manages to convince the emperor that she is not the looming threat he should be wary of.
Although your poem is not overly supportive towards General Zhang and the factions he directs, it is enough to convince the emperor that he is not the threat that the emperor considers him to be.
Same outcome, just with the characters swapped out. That said, this only became apparent to me after I replayed the game countless times to try to find every ending.
Theory on endings
Just some ideas.
It seems that disagreeing with The Conscientious Anarchists always leads to a negative ending steeped with civil strife, regardless of whether the player makes approving choices in every other interaction.
Beyond the Anarchists, it’s difficult to pinpoint the specific effect each group has on the end. It does appear that disagreeing with both groups (remember, you choose two) has an effect. For example, if you disagree with both and do not support the Princess or General, the Princess/General won’t have enough power to overthrow the Emperor.
On the flipside, if you agree with both groups but decline to support the Princess/General, the Princess/General will take power and leave you in the dust.
As long as you don’t upset the Anarchists, you can displease both groups and get a (more or less) good ending by supporting the Princess or General.
At least, that’s my best guess. Probably not 100% accurate. I still haven’t been able to find every ending.
Characters
The protagonist’s own story is more of a backdrop to explain your presence at the banquet rather than forming the main narrative. We don’t know a lot, but the amount we do know suits the game’s purposes just fine.
I will say, it’s kind of shocking to see Princess Anying act so affectionately towards the Emperor at the banquet (Spoiler - click to show) only to have him (and her cousin) executed in ending 8.
Or when General Zhang reminisces about chasing fireflies with the Emperor and Princess as children (Spoiler - click to show)before taking the firefly off your shoulder and crushing it. He, too, is more than willing to eliminate his relatives.
Also, I kept getting Attendant Zhang and General Zhang mixed up.
Visuals
The visuals are simple yet elegant.
Text is placed in a cream-coloured panel set against a backdrop that changes colours as we explore the banquet. On the right side of the screen is a small photograph, such as a lake, for every location.
Overall, its appearance is bright but not distracting. The author seemed to put a lot of care into conveying simple elegance.
Conclusion
As an entrant to this year’s IFComp, this is a game that you play with for a few minutes before rushing off to play one of the more fast-paced entries. But later, you find yourself drifting back and giving it more attention, taking your time to glean how your choices influence each ending. And I enjoyed it.
Now, the game can get repetitive if you try to strategize to find every ending since picking apart the variables makes the story feel more superficial. However, most players will be content to play it a few times for the overall experience. Carefully crafting a poem can serve as a meditative exercise for anyone.
And on that note… an obligatory poem:
The lonely bird's call battles laughter and music,
Swimming fishes surge to meet the sporting waves,
One with the earth, soil underfoot,
Pouring pearls forth, set loose into the world.
This review is based on the NORMAL Mode setting of the game.
It’s not every day you get reprinted.
But then again, you are Jean Wilson, Comms Officer of Theseus, a cargo ship that has experienced a catastrophic collision. A collision you did not survive. Thanks to printing technology, your mind and body have been reprinted so you can figure out what happened.
Also, this review spoils the heck out of it. Please play the game first.
Gameplay
This isn’t a mere explore-the-spaceship game. It’s also a resource management game with awesome mechanics. It involves finding items around the ship to recycle and then using the resources to fabricate useful items. You also have oxygen, water, and food levels to manage.
Current resources:
Biomass: 22 | Metals: 49 | Water: 15 | Minerals: 35 | Polymers: 12
Puzzles largely consist of bypassing locked doors and barriers, but there is enough variation to keep things interesting. The author also provides a generous walkthrough/hint system into the game.
Detritus is an example of a Twine game with free range of movement, meaning that the player can wander around a map and interact with people/objects in each “room,” much like a parser game. This, paired with the recycle/fabricate mechanics, may appeal to players who like the idea of resource management gameplay but are intimidated by the parser format. Similarly, if you prefer parser games or are not a huge fan of Twine, Detritus is dynamic enough to be engaging.
You can also play the game in Story mode. There is something for everyone!
Story
Main story
The story revolves around a corporation called Rainforest™ that employs the ship’s crew. Unsurprisingly, it puts profits first. But now, it’s taken things too far. (Spoiler - click to show) The crew finds out that the “luxury goods” in the cargo bay is just a cover for the truth: Rainforest™ is planning on using Earth as the galaxy’s new landfill. Plus, cost of upgrading the fabricator, which is practical for productivity, comes out of the crew’s wages. Unacceptable.
Anyway, (Spoiler - click to show)the crew had enough and planned to go on strike by taking control of the ship. Meanwhile, GAIL has been closely monitoring the crew and recording every interaction, and these recordings are automatically company property. So, when GAIL goes silent as the ship wrestles itself from the crew’s control and into the path of an asteroid, things are looking awfully dire.
So: Can we trust GAIL?
As in, GAIL the corporate A.I. who’s been quietly recording and ghosting the crew members right up until the accident? The answer is:
(Spoiler - click to show)Heck yeah.
I’ll admit I had some doubts.
After all, corporate A.I.s in stories tend to be antagonists. And GAIL is not portrayed in a reassuring light as we try to piece together what happened. The flashbacks we see indicate that the crew distrusts her and the lower clearance terminal logs are just as worrying. And then, right before the collision, she goes silent and unresponsive? Hm.
Also, this little gem…
"Daisy, daisy, give mee yoooour annnnnnswe…"
…does not help her case either.
And yet… I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. If Rainforest™ is capable of screwing over its human employees, surely it can do the same to its A.I., too. Still, it leaves the player not knowing what to think.
After seeing the crew’s talk of a strike from GAIL’s recordings, Rainforest™ commanded GAIL to fly the ship into a collision course. She refused, prompting Rainforest™ to initiate Command Omega to take over the ship and do the company’s bidding.
Indicators of GAIL’s loyalty are only revealed later, and they can be overlooked if you simply skim the text. In fact, I think one of the most exhilarating moments in the game takes place via a terminal log that we read:
› Rainforest: Initiate: Search for and wipe any crew body/mind backup data
› GAIL: Internal: Begin compressed backup of main / memory cores
› Rainforest: Remote command: Shut down main engines
› GAIL: Internal: Wipe Rover
› Rainforest: Goodbye GAIL
› GAIL: Internal: Begin data transfer…
› Rainforest: Initiate: Full reset. Wipe onboard AI.
It’s easy to underappreciate her fancy footwork here if you’re not paying attention.
As Rainforest™ uses Command Omega to take over the ship, she quietly transfers herself to the ship’s ROVER droid as her memory cores are being purged.
The quietest of battles. And Rainforest™ never stood a chance.
This means the GAIL in the archive room is a copy. You get to meet GAIL for real at the end of the game. It’s revealed that after the collision, she spent four months using her ROVER body to “rebuild” the crew with her recordings and the biological material in the cargo.
With varying success. Turns out our body is made of trash and the recycled remains of failed clones. Yeesh.
Thoughts on story
Detritus already has received high ratings which makes me feel like a wet blanket by giving it four stars. It has to do with the game’s delivery.
There are two big reveals that overlap. The first is that GAIL is, in fact, on our side. I already discussed that. The second is the nature of our existence as a recycled being. This one didn’t quite stick.
I feel that there is some hand waving regarding the plot twist. The mind and body backups of the crew were deleted by Rainforest™ when it initiated Command Omega. Thankfully, GAIL saved the recordings she made of the crew to recreate the mind backups and used the waste in the cargo to reconstruct bodies via the fabricator. Got it.
Problem is, I’m having a hard time imagining GAIL’s recordings of the crew’s conversations being complex enough to replicate an entire human mind. I would also like clarification on the nature of the PC: Is this primarily Jean’s mind that includes the fragments of the crew, or are they equally a blend of the crew but are given the impression that they are Jean? As in, a fifth character? I still felt like “Jean,” so maybe it’s up to interpretation.
It’s an odd thought to think that theoretically, if the ship was built a certain way, it would be possible, if illegal, to bring all the crew members back to life at the flip of a switch! The fact that mind and body data can be stored and then used… or erased is mind boggling. I assume the printer on Theseus can only print one person at a time because of legal reasons, not because it’s scientifically impossible to do so.
Printing your mind in someone else’s body, well, you could simply take their place and claim their identity!
Like we do in the game. No wonder it’s illegal.
Also: If we’re recycling our body to reprint the captain’s body, why do we climb into the fabricator instead of the recycler?
Themes
Detritus acknowledges issues faced in today’s world about corporate accountability, greenwashing, waste disposal, the replacement of human jobs with A.I., and socioeconomic inequalities. There’s even brief mention of microplastics in food.
Rainforest™ heavily relies on greenwashing to sell their narrative. Greenwashing is deceptive marketing where a corporation portrays itself as environmentally friendly to divert attention away from its environmentally unfriendly practices. Predictably, Rainforest™ loves this tactic and uses sound bites such as:
At Rainforest™, we hate waste™.
More like (Spoiler - click to show)“we hate waste so we’re going to dump it on Earth, so we don’t have to deal with it!" And the irony of the name, considering what’s happening to the Amazon rainforest.
I like how the gameplay had data pads scattered throughout the ship to provide backstory without dumping loads of information onto the player. Data pad (f) is especially interesting because it features a newspaper clipping that resembles our world today.
…with the invention of Recycler technology, has the galaxy's waste problem been solved? Not entirely! All planets have signed up to the 'zero-waste' agreement; they are legally responsible for their own waste disposal.
The use of language like “zero-waste agreement” is akin to the pledges countries make, and often neglect, at summits to reach shared sustainability goals. By (Spoiler - click to show) designating Earth as a landfill, Rainforest™ is seriously violating galaxy policy. Another real-life parallel is Nadir, an “ultra-wealthy” planet that sends its trash to Earth, just as wealthier countries export their trash overseas.
In theory, anything can be recycled, but as the quantities increase, so does the energy required. Recycling is not a solution to unchecked pollution.
The game also considers the effectiveness of recycling in being a blanket solution for environmental concerns. There is an ongoing debate about how “clean” the recycling process is since it, too, produces waste. And even if we perfected the science of recycling, we would still need to make other changes as a society to reach our sustainability objectives. While the game does not go into too much detail, it makes some powerful points.
Plus, a few other digs.
"Remember, smart companies don’t pay taxes!"
"We want to make the galaxy great again!"
I’ll leave it at that.
Characters
GAIL
I liked the depiction of A.I. in Detritus because it moves away from the plucky Good A.I. (I’m here and happy to serve the PC!) or Bad A.I. (I’m clearly against the PC’s best interests and I don’t like them either) binary that we often see in science fiction.
Detritus differs from Twine games, such as Lux and A Long Way to the Nearest Star, that center the gameplay on an A.I. NPC guiding the protagonist around a facility/ship. In both games the player communicates with the A.I. and even, for better or worse, forms a rapport with them. With GAIL, it’s different.
While the game’s description describes her as M.I.A., we find her in the “Admin” room. However, she is disconnected from the ship’s systems and has had her memory erased. You can visit her in the room for help but are otherwise left to roam the ship by yourself. And while, yes, (Spoiler - click to show)you can eventually reconnect her from the Helm, doing so offers little in further interaction with her, heightening the mystery.
As we investigate the ship, we receive mixed messages about GAIL’s intentions. As a result, the gameplay is infused with do-we-trust-the-A.I.? undertones that create suspense. This leads to a buildup when (Spoiler - click to show) we meet the “real” GAIL.
Our limited interaction with GAIL means we have less opportunity to get to know her as an individual. In (Spoiler - click to show)helping the protagonist is she merely clinging to the directive of Crew, Ship, Company, or is there a deeper emotional commitment there? By recording the crew, was she only trying to maximize the chances of them being recreated in an emergency or does she secretly want to relate to them more? Plus, Kashvi mentioned in a flashback that GAIL had been suffering from hallucinations, but we never learn what that was about.
Crew
After rambling on and on about GAIL, I don’t have much to say about the other characters since I found them to be less compelling than GAIL. That said, I did think the writing did a good job at conveying the close-knit nature of the crew. Their optimism was vividly conveyed in flashbacks, making it (Spoiler - click to show) especially sad when we find their dead bodies.
Visual design
I love the visual design of this game.
It's all glossy surfaces and sleek edges with text that is easy to read and stands out against the background. Text is a mix of yellow, grey, and white with blue links set against a dark grey backdrop. It also recreates a polished “computer screen” appearance when the player accesses a terminal.
Plus, there’s extra flairs to make things more interesting, including an in-game map of the Theseus. For atmospheric effect, the beginning and end of the game has animated starfield that makes you feel like you’re moving through space. Special animated effects for flashback sequences are also featured.
Conclusion
Detritus is an exciting sci-fi game with all the traits of a high-quality game. I can tell the author left no stone unturned. Personally, there are parts that felt one-dimensional to me. I really liked the (Spoiler - click to show) plot twist with GAIL’s true allegiance. The logistics of the (Spoiler - click to show) PC’s identity were fuzzier in comparison.
Part of me feels that my view of this game is influenced by my experience with The Den. I won’t spoil it, but the big twist (or, arguable, twists) made a chill go down my spine that made me think, woah, that’s brilliant. Not quite as much with Detritus.
Nonetheless, this is a game you don’t want to miss. It can be played at Easy, Normal, or Story mode, allowing you to set the gameplay at your comfort level. As for the ending… well, it just might surprise you.
Also: If you are curious about Twine games that involve your body being reprinted to cheat death, check out Trigaea.
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