Ratings and Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You are a deputy summoned to investigate a murder in a casino. The game begins when you arrive at the casino. The manager tells you that a prominent guest has been murdered and that it would be appreciated if the investigation were conducted as quietly as possible. The FBI are planning to arrive the next day and would like you to narrow down a suspect.

Gameplay
The game is light on puzzles. They mostly involve traveling to different rooms to interview people and compare their statements. There was one puzzle about finding cheaters in the casino, but they were often found right in the lobby which made it easy to complete. This also seemed to be a bit of a side quest because you can ask the security guard if you could find more cheaters in exchange for chips. The game lets you play blackjack (and you do not even have to win) although (Spoiler - click to show) its only purpose is to attract the attention of Kat who simply gives you more information about the casino guests.

The game makes an effort at building atmosphere. There will be random characters wandering around to make it more like a busy casino. You have access to over a dozen locations including a poker table, blackjack table, bar, kitchen, private rooms, lobby, and other areas. This is roughly an hour-long game but can be completed in less time in replays.

Design
Redstone is a custom choice-based game that uses menus to create a parser-like effect. At first the point and click was slow, but you get used to it quickly. The game tries to streamline the gameplay by summarizing your findings with the “Think” command and marking off which discussion topics you have used with characters to avoid repetition. It is also cool how you can “undo” with this format.

For each location there are boxes that say "Examine," "Go to," "Talk to" (if there are people to talk to), "Think," "Inventory," "Look around," and other commands that may be unique to the situation. This all works together to create a parser-like experience. For instance, clicking on “Talk to” lets you choose which character in the room you want to interact with. On a slightly more complex level, if you use the “Examine” command and find something worth taking, then the game will implement the “Take” command. Play the game and you will get the hang of it.

The visuals are a bit rough-around-the-edges and yet they are consistent enough to create a solid appearance that carries it through. The art, though occasionally crude, I found to be oddly likable. And there is a lot of art to experience. (Spoiler - click to show) One little inconsistency that stood out to me is Kat’s dress. Kat is described as wearing a slinky red dress even though the drawing of her shows her in a dark navy dress. That kept bugging me. But that aside, I really did enjoy the art.

Story
It is an interesting story but none of it is particularly thrilling or exciting which is too bad since murder + casino tends to have no shortage of flair. The main issue is that it could have capitalized on some of the plot developments. The main one was when (Spoiler - click to show) Simon leaves his room and tries to sneak out. If the player goes to his room to find it empty the game has no reaction. No "Simon is no longer here" or "Simon is missing!" All we get is:

John Simon's room
You see a bed and a dresser.

No drama or suggestions to the player that this is a new plot development. There is not even a note under the “Think” command that acknowledges this. I was expecting a “Simon is nowhere to be seen! You should catch him while you can!” That would have been a great opportunity to turn up the heat. Instead, it just assumes that the player will notice that he isn't there and to respond accordingly. In other words, it is easy to put two and two together (Simon snuck out evade the investigation) to figure out what the game wants us to do (detain him in the garage) but there is no atmosphere to this development.

Final thoughts
I would summarize this one as a finished piece that offers some quality gameplay if you feel like playing a murder mystery game. I recommend anyone interested in the genre to play it especially if you are looking for parser-like gameplay in a choice-based format.