Ratings and Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

(Reader note: If you don’t feel inspired to read this entire review- and I don’t blame you- please check out the Visual design section to see one of the main reasons to check out this game.)

This game made me feel so slick. For an hour or so I felt like a quantum computing genius. Well, at least you play as one.

Also, I remember this game being released in Spanish in 2022, and I was always curious about it even if I couldn’t play it. So, I was thrilled to see it in this year's competition!

Gameplay
This review- like many of my reviews- is longer than I anticipated, so I’m going to break the gameplay part into sections.

Overview
You play as L. Garcia, a researcher who works for the Quantum Model and Simulation Laboratory, a department of the European Centre for Computational Research (ECCR) that specializes in quantum computing. The gameplay is also narrated in first-person.

For context, advances in quantum computing have opened the door to modeling a person's consciousness and developing highly realistic simulations of real-world environments. My understanding is that a personality “snapshot,” or image, can be paired with a model of how people interact, which is then added to a simulated world.

The player’s task is to create a personality image through brain scans and then train a social model before compiling everything into a simulation. Gameplay consists of navigating a menu of locations on a computer to create the files needed for the simulation. For instance, “bin/” contains links that lead to emails, a saved web page, and other content.

Once the player has everything, they start the simulation and prepare for the end game. The result? Life- or at least existence- after death for the protagonist. Hopefully.

Thoughts on gameplay
I realized that the game’s difficulty does not stem from implementation challenges or flawed design. Rather the difficulty came from my unfamiliarity with the game’s concepts. During my first try, I had a vague sense of what I was doing. Surprisingly, the ambiguity did not frustrate me because I was having fun running scans to see what would happen, reading emails, and simply exploring the game's content.

And I actually did get quite far on my own. The main obstacle was needing help with (Spoiler - click to show) running the high intensity scan, and even then, I came close to figuring it out. So, the walkthrough was more of a useful guide to keep you on track and inform the story rather than being a resource you cling to desperately because the game has led you astray.

I will say that the walkthrough does a poor job with the (Spoiler - click to show) compilation puzzle. It made no sense. I knew that I needed to stack the numbers in the right order, but I couldn’t figure out how the arrows worked. The walkthrough does not mention the arrows. Then, it finally clicked! I figured out the arrows and the puzzle ended up being a lot of fun (and much easier than it seemed on my first try).

It was a bit intimidating at first, but I picked things up as I went along. Just a little bit of context and most of the technical jargon made sense. The README.md file made me think "Of course! It's so simple!" even if that was not the case when I first picked up the game. I think this gives whoami good replay value. You go back and revisit how the gameplay merges with the story now that you’ve played it at least once.

First time around, I tinkered with the game for about an hour before completing it with the walkthrough. Once you know what to do you can zip through the game in about ten minutes. I noticed from the walkthrough that you only need to (Spoiler - click to show) complete the high intensity scan. The low and mid intensity ones are unnecessary. Fortunate, since performing the high scan fries your brain, killing you and making the electrodes inaccessible.

Story
whoami is ultimately a game about making desperate decisions, exploring what we are willing to do when you have nothing left to lose. Are you willing to put faith in technology that is still filled with unknowns? What can it offer? Do you even want what said technology has to offer?

The beginning of the game informs us that it is the year 2030 (five years from now!). Our protagonist, L. Garcia, has staked out in a remote research lab tucked away in a place called The Vault, located somewhere in Europe. The climate has taken a turn for the worse and now countries are in the midst of nuclear warfare. Chunks of Europe have been lost to nuclear weapons and Garcia is slowly dying from radiation and injury.

They can die... or attempt to create a virtual consciousness.

There are four endings based on (Spoiler - click to show) how you acquired fruit from the man in the social training simulation (I discuss this later). Out of the four endings, arguably only one is a "bad" one. I mean, why would you choose to live in a simulation of the same violence and human nonsense that destroyed the real world?

Both the emails and saved web page provide excellent exposition without overwhelming the player with details.

Additional thoughts on the story!
The emails offer a lot of foreshadowing.

Characters
L. Garcia
We never learn the protagonist’s full name. Even the web page only lists them as L. Garcia, and emails show that people would refer to them as “L.” I’ve already shared most of what I know about them. It seems that they are meant to be a PC that the player can step into without being distracted by a complex backstory.

I do have one question. I don’t think the game explains why (Spoiler - click to show)Garcia went back to the lab rather than take shelter with everyone else. Was it because they wanted to take a chance with uploading themselves, or was it something else?

Despite limited information, I still found them to be a compelling character.

Mia Gerdes
The arc with Mia added dimension.

Mia is (or was) the protagonist’s colleague and potential love interest. We know little about her other than the fact that her full name is Mia Gerdes, that she was headed to a shelter following a nuclear attack, and that Garcia attempted to send her an email admitting their feelings towards her. An email that failed to be sent, making this character dynamic bittersweet.

Visual design
This is one of the coolest uses of Twine I have ever seen. It's visually diverse and uses various design elements to illustrate the game's narrative.

The main gameplay uses a basic black screen with primarily white text and blue links. Animated text is often used to give the illusion of a computer “processing.” For some reason, the upper right corner of the screen has a faint yellow/white glow (although, I'm not sure what that's supposed to convey). But things get cooler.

The “dev/” section allows you to “access” the facility’s cameras. This is illustrated with a white text box containing the protagonist’s thoughts set against an image of static. Then there is also a “web page” that seriously looks like a web page. It provides an overview of the Quantum Model and Research Laboratory.

All this pales in comparison to when you train a social model. Surely, it’s going to be another black screen, right? Or maybe some boxes with an interesting background?

Wrong.

I was floored. (Spoiler - click to show)The screen turns white with black text, and you actually type commands. It was the last thing I was expecting. It’s that feeling of Woah. That was my reaction. You go from a Twine game to this. Somehow. I don’t know what kind of Twine wizardry the author used but it is one of the most novel and unique uses of the Twine format I have encountered.

Conclusion
I had a lot of fun with whoami. As I’ve already said, it offers a novel use of Twine and demonstrates its potential in visual storytelling. The game gives players a compelling glimpse into a future where human innovation is paired with human destruction. I would definitely be interested in knowing more about the story and its characters.

At one point, Garcia gives us the following reflection:

This machine is my prison and perhaps my salvation.

I think that is meant to be left up to the player. Garcia seems to take the stance that it is salvation, but even they reserve space for doubt. Perhaps we will have to do the same within our lifetimes as quantum computing and other technologies loom on the horizon.

Until then, whoami provides a thrilling sci-fi experience if you are willing to brave the gameplay’s mechanics.

(edit: formatting cleanup/grammar.)

You've been fired.

Your boss is a jerk. And has committed acts of fraud, embezzlement, harassment and other crimes. Fortunately, you've been collecting proof. Proof that you can take and hand off to the authorities! You have a printed stack of emails ready to go and....

Wait, where did the stack go?

Someone has taken your stack of evidence. Will you search for it, or leave your ex-job behind empty-handed?

Gameplay
The player navigates a small-sized map of an office building, starting in the protagonist’s crummy “office.” Using a meager box of belongings, the player must gain access to areas deemed off-limits to the average corporate employee. You know you’re getting somewhere when the all-purpose industrial grade floors become carpet.

The game has a max score of 20 points. Points are generally earned through sneaky actions and/or destructive sabotage. It was satisfying to get a full score. Ironically, it requires you to do some (Spoiler - click to show)highly illegal things.

I ran into some guess-the-verb issues, primarily when (Spoiler - click to show)exploring the basement for the first time. It’s dark in there, so you need a light source. You have your lighter (and your 5th anniversary “gift” from your boss) which you drop, leaving you in darkness. I figured that "Find lighter" or "Search floor" would have worked, but they are not implemented. Instead, the solution is “Take lighter” which made less sense since we can’t see where the lighter fell. That said, the game has a helpful hint system to nudge the player in the right direction.

Story/Characters
Fired embraces the familiar premise of an office employee (or in this case, an ex-employee) getting revenge on their immoral boss. It does not offer anything new, however. Does it need to? Arguably not. I’m just left with some questions. (Spoiler - click to show)Why is there a key in the microwave? Was the protagonist fired because of the evidence gathering, or was it unrelated and the printouts merely taken after their desk was emptied out?

Nonetheless, there is still a strong sense of satisfaction at undermining a self-centered and immoral boss. The player strongly feels like they are on the protagonist’s side.

There are multiple endings. You can leave the building at any time to end the game, but the outcome will depend on the actions you took. Your main objective is to retrieve the printouts, but secondary goals such as (Spoiler - click to show)covering your tracks are highly encouraged. That, and getting your poster back. You can take additional steps to gain revenge on your boss, but it's not required to get a decent ending.

Conclusion
Well-rounded, consistent, but not a lot of depth. And implementation could be a bit smoother. That said, its well-roundedness balances out its lack of exposition. I am pleased with my experience.

If you enjoy office settings and/or want a parser game with fairly easy puzzles that is light on story, Fired might be a good fit for you.

The syrup rain drifts down as a heavy mist, making sticky the just and the unjust alike. It is nighttime. But then, it's always nighttime in Sugar City.

You play as Private Eye Bubble Gumshoe, tasked with solving the murder of Jimmy Piñata, a- you guessed it- piñata found in a garage at the outskirts of the city, bashed open and hanging from the ceiling.

But first…
Who Whacked Jimmy Piñata? (WWJP) was the first game I decided to play for this year’s IFComp because I recognized it immediately. It is the third installment of a series that started with Who Shot Gum E. Bear? (WSGEB) back in 2022.

As someone who enjoyed but felt frustrated by the first game, WWJP was a treat to play because it showed clear improvement and dimension. WSGEB featured a lot of seemingly important details that ultimately had little to no function. This included (Spoiler - click to show) visiting the VIP room, buying a newspaper, and utilizing the pack of candy cigarettes. So, imagine my delight when I saw these details being given a purpose in WWJP!

As a fan of WSGEB, I was happy to run around visiting recognizable characters, re-reading the books in the bookstore, seeing if someone was still doing candy in the bathroom stall (blue crystal this time instead of sherbet), and exploring the expanded map*. It also feels a bit edgier and more cynical, heightening the mystery.

And… Easter Eggs! I loved finding subtle references to the previous two games. The walkthrough even has a section dedicated to it.

(*I think it’s neat that you can overlap the map for all three games. Some locations may be inaccessible depending on the game, but the fact that it’s the same landscape builds an established setting.)

Gameplay
Like many detective stories, the game has the player explore the city, gather evidence, and interview people of interest before making your accusation. Relevant topics, objects, characters, and scenery are shown in bold, something I did not see in the previous two games. It made gameplay much smoother.

In comparison to WSGEB, WWJP is stronger in every way, especially with the ACCUSE command, a central mechanic. A complaint I had with WSGEB (spoilers!) was (Spoiler - click to show) that you could accuse anyone and solve the mystery by randomly guessing without any investigation. That’s not the case with WWJP. You want to accuse someone? You need to present evidence to back up your claims.

Plus, WWJP is generally more well-rounded. The map is larger, the streets have names, characters are more responsive, you can dance (as long as no one is watching), and additional verbs are added.

However, for a while, WWJP was cruising at 5 stars, but lost traction following (Spoiler - click to show) our rescue by Battenberg. She’s not the issue, though I do wish she was more responsive to your questions. It has to do with the remaining puzzles. Specifically, INSERT [object]. The game needs to be clearer when inserting objects has any relevance.

This tripped me up twice: (Spoiler - click to show) trapping Father Wafer and getting the keys to the boat. The boat especially was difficult. I knew where the keys were but there were no scenery clues about inserting items. And licking the taffy to make it softer didn’t occur to me, despite me tasting everything in sight just for fun. These were the only two cases where I needed outside help.

There is room for improvement, but the foundation is there, the story is catchy, and the characters are a lot of fun. It is easily the strongest game in the Bubble Gumshoe series.

Story
The author does a great job at combining the grittiness of an urban landscape with the cheerful innocence of different types of candy, all while incorporating themes about poverty, murder, drugs, sex, and crime without being too explicit. You may laugh at the idea of a piñata being a murder victim, but for the characters of Sugar City, this is serious business.

There is plenty of world-building if you know where to look. Occasionally, examining scenery- like businesses at the docks- provides exposition on Sugar City. Especially regarding the highly influential taffy factory that now lies derelict. Even though it’s not a focus in this game, its presence is still heavily felt. So much to see! And taste. And smell.

I won’t spoil who the mastermind is. I am, however, curious about why the game allows us to (Spoiler - click to show) decide if police arrest [name redacted] or not. It’s a yes or no decision that you make right at the end. Both lead to the same outcome of victory but I suppose it lets you pick the flavor of justice.

Characters
Sugar City’s inhabitants are creatively designed, and Bubble Gumshoe is as awesome as ever. Some are recognizable, others are new.

Speaking of new characters, the coolest part of the game for me is this heartwarming scene outside Gumshoe’s 1973 Fudge Challenger:

Also, I know this is besides the point, but Jawbreaker is such an underrated character.

You hold the roll of cash up for Jawbreaker to see.

"That's a roll of cash," says Jawbreaker. He stares at you dimly. "Did I get it? Did I do a evidence?"

The way he says this made me laugh. He brings a lot of unexpected humor.

Conclusion
To wrap this up, WWJP is a delicious story with a light-hearted yet gritty world and a likable female protagonist. Some parts were sweeter than others due to implementation but is otherwise a strong game that shows a lot of refinement. Plus, the author provides a generous walkthrough/hint (available separately) guide, even if its Jolly Rancher imagery made my mouth water.

I hope this isn't the last we see of Private Eye Bubble Gumshoe.

(edit: grammar fix I missed)

So, you want to collect stamps, huh?

The protagonist (told in first-person) is an EXTREME STAMP COLLECTOR, a title worthy of all-caps. An exclusive club of collectors who pride themselves on collecting stamps in only the most extreme of circumstances. Unfortunately, it is going out of fashion in favor of IMPOSSIBLE STAMP COLLECTING.

At least according to Alex. So much so that it has become merely (lower-caps!) extreme stamp collecting. You need to prove that IMPOSSIBLE STAMP COLLECTING is not too difficult for you to handle. Even if it's just to prove Alex wrong.

Gameplay
Philateloids is a looping time travel adventure that doesn’t think too hard about logistics. Gameplay is centered around exploring four paths that potentially have IMPOSSIBLE STAMPS for you to find.

Time dilate into the far future
Astral project into a higher plane of existence
Infiltrate the mega-yacht of that gajillionaire
Just walk off into the fourth dimension

These paths have their own branching possibilities. Do you wear the sexy maid outfit or the general maid uniform? Do you study the ants or flush them into the vacuum of space? Regardless of what you choose, it will end in (Spoiler - click to show)death. There are many, many ways to die in this game.

But being (Spoiler - click to show)DEAD doesn’t stop you. You end up in the afterlife where you Inevitably make the wrong choice and/or tick off the wrong person, and you become DOUBLE DEAD, ending up in the meta-afterlife. You and Alex then wander about in search of IMPOSSIBLE STAMPS until Alex starts to annoy you, prompting you to KILL ALEX. After back-and-forth fighting you flip the tables and kiss Alex instead.

And then? You wake up in your apartment (aka “Next Morning: My Crappy Flat”), ready to go in a different direction. A good design feature of the game is how (Spoiler - click to show)you have options for fooling around in the afterlife, keeping things from getting repetitive every time you die.

I spent the better part of one hour trying to reach every branch I could find. I have no idea if there is an ending or an outcome that recognizes the player’s efforts, but if there isn’t, playing this game was still time well spent. It offers enough surprises and humor to not need a “Congratulations, Game Over!”

That said, an indicator of whether the game actually ends may be nice once the player has been at it for a while. If there is something I missed, I would be more than happy to revisit.

Characters/Story
Who’s Alex? Alex is the supporting protagonist in this game. Right off the bat, there is noticeable tension and unfinished business.

Check out Alex
Try not to check out Alex

Alex has a complicated relationship with our protagonist. In many ways this game is more about this relationship than it is about stamps. On the surface it seems to consist of petty rivalry about stamp collecting superiority, but this is underscored by the fact that they have feelings for each other.

While there is no explicit storyline, the game’s humor is a light-hearted playful gem. It’s effective because it often catches you off-guard.

So there's two ways to dilate time, as I understand it:
Go near an extremely massive object.
Travel extremely fast.

The sensible thing to do would be to find a black hole, the densest object known to science (denser subjects mean more time distortion). But no.

It was a funny moment for me.

Visuals
Philateloids ops to keep things simple and easy to read: Basic black screen with white text but also has fun with text effects and transitions. Keeping track of branches is manageable thanks to colour-coded links and the “undo” button available at the side of the screen.

Conclusion
I’ve been a fan of the author’s work for a while, and I found Philateloids to be a delight to play. C.E.J. Pacian has a talent for humor and descriptive imagery, and Philateloids exhibits both qualities. The game is also a shift from the author’s typical parser format, making it a nice change.

Initially, the game may seem overly silly, but that changes when you see how fearlessly it commits to its sense of humor. It is bold, unashamed, and that's what makes it work.

Your own bafflement at the game’s circumstances is mirrored by how NPCs’ take in the protagonist and Alex’s shenanigans. It illustrates the complicated dynamics between the two characters quite effectively.

At the end of the day, stamps aren’t the only thing that matters.
~ ~💖~ ~

(edit: added spoiler tag/spelling change)

Reviewing adult interactive fiction (AIF) is still new territory for me, so I am going to hold off on assigning it a rating. Think of this as a (really long) reflection.

Audience
This game is strongly reminiscent of Porpentine’s Cyberqueen, a non-AIF Twine game about a human on a ship taken over by its A.I. who decides to use the human occupants for their own desires (plus, diving into some deeper themes). I liked it a lot because it was new ground for me. It was also the first piece of interactive fiction that I played, and one of the reasons I got into IF! Now, I had a good first impression with EROSTASIS because of its overlapping themes and genre with Cyberqueen. But it’s one thing to have explicit content with just text (Cyberqueen). It’s another thing to have the story illustrated (EROSTASIS).

My point: Playing this meant stepping out of my comfort zone. I can read explicit content, no problem (I do have to pace myself), but I did find the imagery in EROSTASIS to be overwhelming. Because this is AIF, I want to be mindful that I may not be the game’s intended audience. I don’t want to say, “game is bad because all of the explicit pictures.” Rather, I want to recognize how the images illustrate the story as a piece of AIF- images that may still feel “too much” for some players. (And as explicit as they are, there is no denying that some simply look plain awesome).

The opening scene of EROSTASIS is a good indicator of whether you want to play. I found it to be quite compelling. (Spoiler - click to show)It appears to be a surgical procedure, possibly open-heart surgery. We see a fleshy roundish object (heart?) inside the body, and the object is beating heavily against the metal tools and framework keeping the incision site open. In fact, it’s an animated version of the game’s current cover art. There are additional graphics, filter effects, and text that were cool in a disturbing atmospheric way.

If this piques your curiosity, play it. If you love Cyberqueen, give it a try, But, if this opening scene sounds too much, you might want to pass. But I’m glad I gave it a try.

Gameplay/Story
I really like the general premise. The game takes place on a ship that has integrated the human occupants with its mechanical systems- described as a “symbiotic collective.” If I understand it correctly, the ship’s A.I. is the mastermind behind it and sometimes appears in the form of a (Spoiler - click to show)partially nude woman with angel wings.

You are a human who’s been integrated into the ship’s systems. The opening scene is your awakening to this fact. You have no control over what happens to your body. The ship decides what your body does; You merely perceive the experience. The A.I. (I’m not sure what pronouns to use for this character but let’s go with “they”) narrates the game as you visit each part of the ship. The only choices you make are where you want to visit. Once each area has been covered, (Spoiler - click to show)it’s off to the Computer Core for the ending.

The gameplay mechanics are simple. EROSTASIS uses a mix of a point-and-click format and usage of the “enter” button the keyboard. It uses scrolling text that is reasonable in speed and does not flood the player with information. It does seem a bit slow if you are impatiently trying to skip certain scenes, but otherwise, no complaints.

Digesting the story
This section is about how I understood the game.

The usage of body horror in this game is one of its biggest strengths. I felt that it introduced some interesting ideas. The ship’s A.I. makes the insightful observation that the human body is a machine in itself. A quite efficient one, if flawed. So, instead of trying to redesign the human body to surpass its functional abilities, merge with it instead.

Biological and mechanical components need to work together to ensure the survival of the ship. And everything requires certain things to function. Some are more mundane (oxygen, food, water, is my guess). Others, sexual. EROSTASIS explores these sexual requirements. And you're- a mere human- the focal point of making it happen. To service the ship by visiting each section and performing maintenance.

Consider this my attempt to take a critical look at the themes in EROSTASIS. When you read the game’s content warnings, you inevitably have a reaction based on how you feel about the subject and/or your personal experience with it. EROSTASIS takes this subject and places it in a scenario devoid of your frame of reference: that is, as a human under controlled by a biomechanical ship. A ship that blurs the line between mechanical and biological. What seems merely explicit on the surface- the content warnings- brings depth when exploring the actual game.

EROSTASIS focuses on themes about control and submission. The protagonist (and the player) are unwilling participants in the narrative. No identity or purpose is permitted beyond what we are given. (Spoiler - click to show)The A.I. offers motherly affection only to rip it away, dominates the most basic bodily functions (such as breathing), and declares you to be a "relief valve."

You are a battery; a vessel to accumulate and ferment human responses to inhuman realities.

Your role as a “relief valve” is to satisfy biological desires, and to allow the A.I. to have experiences that would normally be inaccessible due to their mechanical form.

The ending (Spoiler - click to show)takes place in the computer’s core where we learn that humanity failed to perfect A.I. even after generations of work. In the attempt to harness artificial intelligence for human benefit, A.I. (at least this specific one) found a way to harness human intelligence for their own means. This is done via neural interfaces that assimilate the human minds on the ship into collective will. The game ends with you being assimilated and the A.I. absorbing the protagonist’s lived experiences.

I ended up being really invested in the story and found myself revisiting sections to try to piece it all together.

Visuals/Effects
The visuals alone put this in AIF category. This includes some pornographic imagery. (Spoiler - click to show)Genitals, people being restrained, bodies filled with wires and other objects, etc. Plus, blood and other medical horror.

EROSTASIS is the first AIF game I’ve played with visuals, so it took me a moment to get over the shock of the imagery and instead focus on how it informs the story. While some of the visuals I would rather not have seen, I cannot deny that they do an excellent job at conveying the blurring of lines between flesh and machinery. Plus, I realize that this is the chance I take when playing AIF.

I really loved the medical horror imagery and gritty aesthetic. My favorites include the (Spoiler - click to show)MRI scan animation in the background of Navigation and the surgical scene at the start of the game. I also liked the red and black tunnel animation for the map section, and some of the medical diagrams- regardless of nudity- were spooky to look at. A visually interesting game.

Also, if you want some advice- The game has a debug mode at the start that allows you to jump to any section in the game. It’s available even if you’ve never played it. I appreciated having this option because some scenes I did not want to revisit.

Using debug mode, here is the playthrough that worked best for me: (Spoiler - click to show) Intro 1 > Intro 2 > Blood (Haemoponics) > Pilot (Navigation) > Slime (Bioremediation) > Ending (Computer Core). The only section that I really couldn’t sit through is the Weapons location. That was the most explicit. Computer Core was the most chill.

There is sound but I did not play with the sound on.

Conclusion
I was compelled to play EROSTASIS because I am a fan of science fiction (and the title sounded cool), and it does offer quite an experience. It focuses more on themes than storyline while also depicting an intriguing story about a biomechanical ship and one’s role within it. In playing this, it also expanded my horizons a bit when it comes to trying AIF.

Hopefully this review will help you decide on whether it’s the game for you. Fine piece of sci-fi/horror erotic fiction. But it's not for everyone.

If you like EROSTASIS and/or Cyberqueen, you might like Mainframe. It’s a Twine game without explicit content but still has an atmospheric amount of body horror.

(edit: spelling fix)

Humans are becoming obsolete. There are too few resources to sustain our society, and reproductive rates have plummeted. Humanity will soon be yesterday's news.

So, humanity needs a replacement. And your job is to help humanity find it.

Characters
I’m going to start with characters first.

Subject 003
Nothing could prepare the protagonist for the interviewee on the other side of the table. The individual you meet- Subject 003- is a disturbing humanoid-lizard person/species with a 14-vertebra tall neck, translucent skin, misshapen arms (at least I think they have arms), bulging eyes, and lots of teeth. And a comical lisp:

"As thong as they thet me breed, they acknowthedge my superiorithy."

In all fairness, though, they do offer some interesting insights into your questions about politics and morality. Especially when you start arguing with them.

Argue quantum physics
Just agree already

Going off topic can be fun. It may also serve as an opportunity to reflect on how quick we are to judge appearances.

Interviewer
You are a volunteer. In conducting the interview, you are doing your part to save humanity. Which is fortunate since supervisors view you as useless for anything else. You're not asking the questions and then deciding whether the interviewee passes. You are merely a volunteer (not that it seems like you have a choice) asking questions on behalf of an unidentified organization watching through a camera.

The strongest aspect of this game is how effectively it conveys the awkwardness of this interview. You can definitely relate to the protagonist’s feelings of unease as they try to make sense of Subject 003.

I do think it would have been neat to play from the perspective of someone with power, tasked with making final decisions in the fate of humanity rather than as a pawn in larger operation. Still, the player can relate to the protagonist’s responses towards Subject 003.

Gameplay
Human Interview: Subject 003 naturally takes place in an interview room, and you start the gameplay by reading the interview protocols before meeting Subject 003. The objective is to interview them with a list of pre-prepared questions to evaluate if they would be a possible successor for the human race.

Your interactions are under surveillance, and you can receive infractions for any mistakes which can influence the game’s ending. And if things go haywire during the interview process, there’s a kill switch that you can use to terminate them (you then must justify your action to your supervisors).

I didn’t pay much attention to the title of the game at first. I was under the impression that we would get to interview more than one candidate and choose the best successor. Turns out, we only interview one person: Subject 003. Hence the title. I was a bit disappointed with this. I liked the idea of exploring the “pass/fail” concept more thoroughly, but focusing on one character does keep the game at a reasonable length.

Also, the sidebar on the right of the screen has the header "Human Interview Pt 1" which I interpreted as "Part 1," perhaps referring to a chapter in the game or an installment in a series. It makes me wonder if the author had something bigger planned.

Story
Subjects are genetically engineered, combining human DNA with another undisclosed genetic source. I’m not sure exactly how Subject 003’s biology is better suited to survive than your typical human, but one key difference is a willingness to participate in sex.

Human Interview explores the concept of sex becoming obsolete in favor of technological substitutes. This game depicts a future where (Spoiler - click to show) everyone has access to A.I.-driven VR devices that allow users to experience any possible sexual experience that they desire. Why engage with it in real life when you can have a perfect version in a virtual setting? VR is so effective that real sex has fallen out of fashion, causing birth rates to plummet.

Even real-life nudity becomes a surprise. The folks behind the interview room’s camera are like "woah... nice” when you show some skin.

Dialogue suggests that the main reason humans are nearing extinction is because no one wants to have kids anymore. No kids = Humans become extinct when the last generation dies out. Now, the game says that any drastic measure must be taken to ensure that humanity’s legacy is preserved via a successor. Any drastic measure.

But apparently taking a break from your VR device to engage in real sex is too drastic of a measure? We also learn that sexual attraction between the protagonist and Subject 003 is seen as a good thing since reproduction between humans and their successors can always be a last-ditch effort for survival. But this would be pointless since no one wants to engage in actual sex in the first place.

I want to make it clear that while there are sexual themes, the game does not force you into doing anything directly sexual. It gets close to crossing this threshold but mostly limits this content in dialogue. Scenes involving sexual themes are humorous in a twisted way. One of the questions you ask is (Spoiler - click to show)“Do you find me sexually attractive?”

First the player stalls (I did) in asking Subject 003 about sexual attraction. Subject 003 looks you over and asks you to stand up for a better look. You can then escalate the situation or turn it down. It’s so unnerving for the game to pretty much say, "hey, if you want to do it, you can." The idea of having the conversation at all with Subject 003 just makes you think, I’m not getting paid enough for this. Plus, the question is in stark comparison to the other questions, making it more outrageous.

We must know if it has sexual desire. Without it, we're doomed to repeat our extinction.

(Oh, and you’re not getting paid, BTW).

Endings
There are several endings. (Spoiler - click to show) The subject can pass or fail. If they fail, what happens to you depends on your infractions. The “best ending” is when they pass since you get to go back to a VR world of human desire, content that you did your part. There are also a few other outcomes you can find. I’m a little confused about how infractions can affect your chances for success. It seems like infractions can lock the player out of having Subject 003 pass and the best ending. I played several rounds and found it to be a bit confusing.

Visuals
Twine without the frills. Basic black screen with white text. Text is easy to read and evenly spaced. This suits the game just fine.

Conclusion
Human Interview is a game that left me thinking, “What did I just play?” It is one of the most awkward interviews I have found myself in as a player, but that is a strength. You are not supposed to take it too seriously, and there is a strong sentiment of, “Oh, the things we must do for the greater good…”

It could have expanded its concept more by allowing you to interview more than one person. The game would also benefit from some clarity on the story. How much of humanity’s situation is caused by factors out of its control and factors that we can control but chose not to (Spoiler - click to show) (such as relying solely on VR for sex)?

Nonetheless, the twisted humor makes Human Interview encourages you to not bog down on the details. If you can handle its awkwardness, it’s worth a shot.