Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Founded in the mid-1970s by Gregory Korda, Armature Studios produced a wide variety of films, many of which received high praise from critics and audiences alike. But the studio seemed… cursed. Every year, someone would die, often under suspicious circumstances.

After going out of business in 1998, the studio sat in abandonment. Prime real estate isn’t as desirable when it has the reputation of being haunted. Jump forward to 2025. You are a freelancer whose work deals with the supernatural. Recently, the studio’s lot was purchased, and the new owners have hired you to rid the studio of whatever haunts it.

In other words, Kinophobia is a ghost investigation game that takes place at an abandoned movie studio. The game is made with Inform and is also a submission to Ectocomp 2025 in the Le Grand Guignol category.

Gameplay
At first, I found the game to be quite intimidating. My initial impression was that there were tons of things I had to juggle. Notebook. Binder that gets filled quickly. Phone. A pendant with some kind of substance in it. And verbs. RESEARCH. CONSULT. WRITE. Something about CONCLUSIONS.

I was overthinking it. Soon enough, it clicked. Kinophobia quickly became a lot of fun.

The gameplay involves exploring the studio for newspaper clippings, posters, memos, letters, and other readable material that name-drop people, films, dates, and incidents tied to Armature Studios’ history. Along the way, you can also encounter haunted objects that provide further clues.

As you pick up the shotgun microphone, you feel a slight tingle of static electricity.

The main goal is to identify the 24 ghosts that haunt the site. This is done by finding the person’s name, cause of death, and year of death, which you record in your notebook. Once everyone has been identified, you go to the one room that has been off-limits during the gameplay. But I won’t spoil it.

The gameplay’s structure is a bit unusual. When it comes to games about ghost hunting or exorcisms, I imagine the player running around to find and confront/banish ghosts directly or solving scenery/object-based puzzles. Kinophobia is more of a research-oriented investigation. After collecting readable material, you sit down to analyze it. My favorite part of this is Ari, our research assistant who will look up topics and text us her findings. Sometimes she’ll text us at random to make sure we’re doing alright. She’s awesome.

Ari tells you that the top hit for this name is a "dadfluencer" based out of Cleveland. The person you're looking for is probably not that.

There is so much content to explore. It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole as you chase every bit of info that you find. I love this sort of thing. After a while, you almost forget that you’re investigating a haunted movie studio. Almost.

You think you hear a voice behind you - there's nothing there when you look, of course.

The game makes sure to remind the player of where they are. This includes (Spoiler - click to show)experiencing eerie visions. I actually wish there were more of these. It’s also possible for ghosts to appear visually, but this is more for atmosphere than anything else.

I did need the walkthrough to finish the game. 24 ghosts are a lot. I enjoyed the challenge, but some were too cryptic for me. For example, (Spoiler - click to show)I think reading the “Whatever happened to Magda Marcel?” article and concluding that she was murdered is a bit of a leap, though I appreciate how the game confirms this through a text message we receive from Ari as well as the appearance of Magda’s ghost (a gnarly murder, from the looks of it). Also, I was more inclined to classify hairstylist Melissa Wong’s death as “illness” (chemical poisoning) than “accident,” considering that it was due to routine exposure to toxic hairspray.

Story
To avoid spoiling the immediate story, I’m going to focus more on the worldbuilding component. After researching the daylight out of everything, one could almost believe that, despite being a work of fiction, the people, films, essays, organizations, and other subjects in Kinophobia are real, perhaps because much of it feels vaguely familiar. I should note, a few things do exist, like Letterboxd. But most of it is fiction.

There’s even commentary on these fictional works.

Ari shares a Letterboxd review of Ampersand (2008): "What if all your failed Hinge dates showed up to your house to kill you with hammers but you were too busy having crippling gambling debts to notice. Five stars."

These were a delight to read.

I’m not the first to make this comparison, but Kinophobia reminds me of Excalibur, a Twine game where you navigate a convincing Wikipedia-style “website” about a TV show of the same name. Both have an investigative element where you dig for info and draw conclusions. But what I especially like is the depiction of a creative endeavor that once lived in its heyday. Through your investigation, you start to imagine what it was like before the television show got cancelled, or before the film studio went out of business. As dysfunctional/cursed as they were, there was a moment when they shined. It’s neat to contemplate before returning to the present.

Also, the author describes Kinophobia as a “database thriller,” which may just be my new favorite genre.

Visuals
I like that the game uses a black screen and white text. Much spookier than the default white screen with black text. The cover art also has a nice appearance with black and white imagery + a splash of orange.

Final thoughts
Will everyone fall in love with this game? Not necessarily. But I do think it has something for everyone. There are parts you will appreciate.

As for me, I had a blast. It featured some of my favorite things: An atmospheric map that you roam freely, and a story that you piece together through research. And while it’s a long- and sometimes difficult- game, the walkthrough is well designed. It cuts to the chase so you can dive right into the essence of the gameplay.

So far, Kinophobia is one of the best ghost investigation games I’ve played!

Note: I've decided to make my rating not count towards the game's average because while the rating reflects how I feel about the game, I did not exactly play it in the spirit the author intended: That is, I took the easy way out with almost every puzzle.

We play as Galaxy Jones, a heroine clad in a high-tech suit. She’s on a mission to save Mars from being destroyed by its own moon, Phobos.

Gameplay
Background: There are two factions present in the story. Humans and the Sirius Syndicate, a collective of alien cyborgs who have a touchy history with humanity. The Syndicate has decided to weaponize Phobos by sending it on a collision course to the red planet.

The game takes place on a (mostly) evacuated Sirian base located in Phobos’ Stickney Crater. Gameplay is centered on bypassing colour-coded doors through hacking. To do this, the player solves math-oriented puzzles. I can’t say this was my cup of tea. Math is not my strong point. My hat is off to those who excel at math, but me? It went over my head.

Thankfully, you can always smash through most of these doors with your powered Smart Suit! The catch is that you don’t get any points for doing so. (For what it’s worth, the (Spoiler - click to show)purple door can’t be smashed, but I ended up enjoying the puzzle to bypass it. It’s a translation puzzle where you match numbers with symbols to input the door’s code.)

I’m glad that the game provides a way for anyone to finish the game so they can see the story to its conclusion. My high score?

There are also materials written in an alien language that can be partially translated, and our translations steadily improve the more we translate. We even start to understand the intercom messages, revealing that the facility is counting down to when Phobos gets fired at Mars. This adds urgency without rushing the player since the game is extremely generous with this time limit.

I will say, Phobos: A Galaxy Jones Story is rather sparse in content. I understand that the focus is on the door puzzles. But the rooms seem so… empty. Their descriptions are brief and miss the opportunity to create atmosphere and/or worldbuilding which could be done without taking focus away from the puzzles.

Story
At first it seems like Phobos: A Galaxy Jones Story is going to be a stark binary of humans (good guys) vs. irredeemable cyborg alien race (bad guys), which is common in science fiction. The game goes in a different direction.

A more accurate way of putting it would be, (Spoiler - click to show)“humans are jerks, and the aliens are tired of their crap,” prompting said aliens to lash out by slamming Phobos into Mars… killing innocent people. Both sides have a hand in the mess that Galaxy Jones is trying to resolve.

There’s not much meat on the bone in terms of backstory. What I gathered was that (Spoiler - click to show)the aliens lived on a temperate planet until their star, Sirius, destroyed its solar system with a solar flare. Humanity came along and offered sanctuary and assistance, only to take advantage of aliens’ desperation by strictly controlling their way of life.

The Sirians have had enough…

…and yet, (Spoiler - click to show)they aren’t the unwavering anti-human faction they seem to be when we first step foot into their base.

Characters
For such a cool character, Galaxy Jones gets little attention in this game, which is in line with the game’s puzzle-oriented nature. I should note that Phobos: A Galaxy Jones Story is an offshoot of Galaxy Jones, a Spring Thing 2023 entry. While I haven’t played that game to completion, it seems to have more coverage on our protagonist.

There is one notable NPC: (Spoiler - click to show)a guard who is also the last Sirian left on the base.

Final thoughts
I love science fiction, and while Phobos: A Galaxy Jones Story fits that genre, I realize I’m not its target audience. It’s math-focused puzzles are the main event, and I confess that I caved with them. Because of this, I’m not able to give this game an entirely fair assessment.

That said, the game feels a bit too barebones, regardless of puzzles. I’m not asking for more characters or plot twists or inventory items. But a little more content in the room descriptions would go a long way. And yet, the game still has its heartwarming moments.

If you like math-based puzzles, play this game. And if the premise interests you, play it because you can always smash down (most) doors like I did. Otherwise, it may not be the game for you.

...early spring in the valley of glass, the first of the seven years you promised to the village blacksmith. Your breath clouds in the crisp morning air as you walk the North Road, your borrowed coat wrapped tight against the chill...

Gameplay in valley of glass is brief. You start on a road.

One thing is clear: you have journeyed a long way to where you are now. Traveling in different compass directions from this starting point allows you to sample some of the protagonist’s memories of their journey- but only briefly. Ultimately, the only place for us is south: to a village where we begin the seven years of working for the blacksmith.

It’s easy to overlook this fact, but the game is a snippet borrowed from the “Black Bull of Norroway,” a folk tale from Scotland. Feel free to look it up if you want the full story. (Yes, I crawled to Wikipedia). Here is what I gleaned about the backstory:

The protagonist is female. She is the youngest of three sisters (hinted by the boots’ description), all of which were sent out on a quest to learn about their futures. The fruits we have in our inventory were gifts from a friendly bull.

In the folk tale, she and the bull travel until they reach a place called the “valley of glass.” At one point the bull has business to attend to and gives the girl some instructions. While he was gone, she was not to move. At all. They would continue traveling upon his return. Unfortunately, she flubs these instructions (although it's hard to blame her).

And so, she finds herself stuck in the valley. She cannot escape- it's made of glass. Too slippery, apparently. All she can do is commit to serving a blacksmith in a nearby village for seven years. After seven years, the blacksmith gives her a pair of iron shoes that allow her to climb out of the valley. There’s more to the story, but I’ll stop there.

Having read all this, I found it easier to appreciate the game. It was kind of fun seeing what details in the game are taken from the folk tale. The protagonist’s reason for carrying non-edible fruit now makes sense.

If you’ve not read the folk tale, the game feels disjointed and directionless. It essentially boils down to (Spoiler - click to show)going south and going in (to a house). The end. No character interactions or explanation. You think that’s it? Reading the folk tale in advance provides needed clarity.

I understand that with this game, less is more. I like that it does not try to fit the entire folk tale into the game. But rather than providing a succinct, minimalist experience, it feels under implemented. The default parser response ("as good-looking as ever") for examining oneself also contributes to its sparseness. Guess-the-verb is also an issue when trying to (Spoiler - click to show)enter the blacksmith’s house.

The game needs further development before I can give it a higher rating, but it’s almost there. I encourage the author to deepen the interactivity available to the player and provide a bit more exposition on the protagonist. A post-comp release, maybe?

Ultimately, I like its atmosphere and concept.

You turn your back on the ridgeline, and return to the work ahead.

You've been informed about a photography contest.

A contest where participants explore abandoned buildings to photograph "something never meant to be seen." Sounds like your idea of fun. Following a map found on Reddit, you sneak into an abandoned underground train station in hopes of finding the perfect shot.

Gameplay
Gameplay involves exploring the station, including a non-moving train. The player is armed with a camera that can take 10 photos, all of which will be submitted to the contest and determine your score at the end of the game. You meet characters along the way and open doors that you’re not meant to open.

Implementation needs work, especially with guess-the-verb challenges that stand in the way of solving otherwise easy puzzles. This occurs primarily with using the key cards to unlock doors and combining the carabiner with the rope.

Overall, there are rough areas that could be smoothed out. For instance, the game never acknowledges the backpack it claims you have:

>take carabiner
Carabiners have many uses besides rock climbing. You toss it in your backpack.

>x backpack
You can't see any such thing.

It's also possible to pick up the vending machine.

You are carrying:
a vending machine (closed)

Nonetheless, I did enjoy the puzzles and the colour-coded tunnels. There are several get-past-the-locked-door puzzles, but they are fairly self-explanatory. I also like how there are two ways of (Spoiler - click to show)bypassing the door that leads to the green tunnel.

Story/Characters
I was initially frustrated by the characters because the game seems to shoehorn the player's actions with them. There's a lot of "maybe you should do such and such first before [your desired action]" which can strip the gameplay of its dimension.

>x key card
A small dark blue card, about the size of a credit card. It appears to be significantly worn from years of riding around in the officer's uniform.

>take it
You feel like you'd better ask about the card first. It's the polite thing to do.

Only for us to lull the officer to sleep so we can steal it. Not so polite, after all.

Plus, characters’ behavior did not seem entirely rational- suspiciously tailored to the player’s task. In fact, you can skip the Lily puzzle if you already know about (Spoiler - click to show)Barry. She has no other stake in the game.

(Also: Rat Man was fun. 'RATTY' Ralph from Gerbil Riot of '67 came to mind when I saw him.)

Final thoughts
Clickbait has a strong overarching premise and builds on the appeal of sneaking into places we’re not supposed to be. The protagonist is clearly psyched to win the competition, and this enthusiasm is conveyed in the gameplay. That said, the quality is hindered by rough implementation, largely with guess-the-verb.

It’s not a seamless game, but the author seems to have put a lot of thought and care into its creation. It doesn’t take long play, and the twist at the end gives it greater depth than what appears on the surface.

Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus (aka Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus, Part 1: The City of Dol Bannath) is an RPG fantasy game that follows the journey of a warrior poet (not poet warrior, mind you) who has embarked on a task…

…a task they received because no one else wanted to find someone more suitable do it. Both capable and perhaps a little out of their league, they face their journey head-on, or else they won’t officially graduate from the College of Myth and Legend.

The city of Dol Bannath is where their journey begins.

Gameplay
About this task. The overarching objective of Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus is to hunt down someone named Professor Zylock who stole an important poetry artifact. We don’t get anywhere near to achieving this since this is only Part I of a larger game.

Instead, the game’s objective is for the player to (Spoiler - click to show)seek passage to the Island of Attar, though this isn’t clear until you’ve spoken to the cleric about the tombstone descriptions. After that, the gameplay boils down to acquiring an amulet from a goblin by doing her a favor so you can afford a spot on a ship.

Ultimately, gameplay consists of buying and/or selling items to maximize your stats to prepare for fight sequences. With just under two dozen locations, there is plenty to explore.

Also: The game needs to make (Spoiler - click to show)Chantal more obvious in the room descriptions, especially at the Oasis. There is a lot of text for that location, and you only see her by examining an ornament for sale. To make things worse, my hamster brain naturally read “talk to goblin” on the walkthrough as “talk to the elf shopkeeper,” in the game, initially leaving me unable to make further progress. Fortunately, I figured it out.

RPG elements
There is a neat RPG system in the game, featuring armor for defense, weapons for physical attacks, and relics that enhance the strength of your Rhymes.

Some may be skeptical at the idea of fighting fire with poetry, but I think the concept of a warrior poet is clever and a nice change of pace. Rather than the player choosing between character classes of a scholarly poet or a skillful warrior, why not combine both?

However, I hope the author refines the game’s implementation of poetry because I often had a hard time taking it seriously. For instance:

When your words come, thunder cracks, the sky opens up, and a fount of terrible beauty expels from your lips like magma from the earth -- like wildfire -- like death! You cry out:

"This little piggy went to the market..."

Yes… Mortals will tremble at the mere mention of This Little Piggy!

Annihilating someone through the power of poetry has the potential of being an awesome moment, but that won’t happen when the protagonist is throwing out Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Also, it’s hard not to win. Within three moves I beat my opponents.

Tone
I have a hard time identifying whether the game is trying to be a silly game or an epic fantasy game filled with danger and strategic thinking.

When it comes to using poetry in combat, I envisioned it being taken seriously in the game’s world. Just how the characters in Counterfeit Monkey, a wordplay game, accept word manipulation as an established fact, I thought the characters in Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus would universally acknowledge that spoken words, like poetry, could have a tangible effect on the physical world.

And the characters (or at least some) in Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus do acknowledge the power of poetry, but when it’s Mary Had a Little Lamb… How serious is it?

I will say, while Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus is not a wordplay game, the description on the tombstone in the cemetery reminded me of the implementation of language in the world of Counterfeit Monkey.

Ozul, born almost 600 years ago in 1023, is a famed hero, whose Rhymes were instrumental in the War of Antiphocles that resulted in the independence of Mourdrascus.

Compare with the description for Counterfeit Monkey:

Anglophone Atlantis has been an independent nation since an April day in 1822, when a well-aimed shot from their depluralizing cannon reduced the British colonizing fleet to one ship.

In both cases, language can be wielded in powerful ways. Of course, Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus is still in development.

Story
I quite liked the story, even if it’s mostly inaccessible for the player. The protagonist’s determination and enthusiasm for their studies made their pursuit of the task compelling.

You, a warrior poet, came from a place called Mourdrascus where you pursued your studies in the Department of Poetry and War at the College of Myth and Legend (what a wordy sentence). However, interest in the department has declined. Administration is considering discontinuing it altogether. And this frustration is felt all too often in real life.

When Professor Zylock, head of the department, nabs the Mantablasphere, a valuable poetry artifact, and flees, your chance of graduating is jeopardized. The Academic Tribunal doesn’t care enough to formally chase him down. Instead, they send you, a go-getter student, on a quest to apprehend their rogue colleague.

Looking past the cheesy poems, a highlight of the game was the writing because it gives the impression that the author wants to offer the player a scenic gameplay experience in a fanciful city on top of their main objective of tracking down the treacherous teacher (alliteration!). Like when we get a room at the inn.

Your stay includes a breakfast of mogwai eggs baked in a tortoise shell with tengo root, grilled asobi fish, a side of tremor fruit, and hot black coffee, all delivered on a tray to your room in the morning by a smiling attendant. You consume the meal heartily. After finishing, you take up your pack, leave the room and lock the door behind you.

Five pieces of gold well spent. More exploring awaits!

Oddly enough, the game can also be sparse in implementation. On one hand, the game’s locations are dynamic in detail. On the other, it uses default parser responses for basic actions. Examining yourself only gets, “As good-looking as ever.”

Despite the unevenness, there is something pleasantly atmospheric about the gameplay. I genuinely wanted to visit every establishment and see what was for sale even if I could only afford one or two items.

Characters
I was shocked to discover that our protagonist is rather arrogant… and kind of a jerk. I was imagining a humbled, disciplined, warrior + poet, but instead? We get:

And as if that were not enough, you say, "The cove was crawling with dangerous pirates, but they were no match for my destructive Poetry and the lethal sharpness of my blade."

Okay, hotshot.

To be fair, the protagonist is not usually a jerk. But when they are, it makes you think who is this guy? It seems like I seriously misread them which can be off-putting.

Final thoughts
Warrior Poet of Mourdrascus is a creative fantasy RPG that promises a grand story of hunting down a runaway professor and poetry artifact. However, for it to truly shine, the implementation needs to be refined so the player has more direction of what to do. Ensuring that detail is evenly distributed throughout the gameplay would also help.

As standalone work, it’s a dead end since we never come close apprehending Professor Zylock. Fortunately, the game is merely Part I of a larger narrative, a narrative I look forward to playing in the future.

Seriously, though:

"Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet..."

Please do something about this.

You’ve been told to keep your blood pressure under control. One way to do this is by walking. Fortunately, the air is crisp, and you have access to a lovely beach.

Gameplay
A winter morning on the beach can be played with a keyboard or by clicking on links. The gameplay is simple. You walk as the game counts your steps.

However, you must pace your walking so you don’t wear yourself out… but linger too long and a seagull will come swooping in to cover you in droppings, resulting in a game over. That’s about it. It seems like the author intends the seagull to be an active dodge-the-seagull-puzzle. Instead, it ends up being a frustrating mechanic.

As a result, the gameplay mostly consists of walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, take a break/take a deep breath/admire the view, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, take a take a break/deep breath/admire the view, you get the idea.

The location titles are merely Zone 48, Zone 49, Zone 50, etc., and while I can understand how this may be borrowed from real-life zoning laws, it feels sterile for an IF game. These locations’ scenic detail is limited, and examining the scenery that is present puts the player at risk of being pelted by the seagulls. I just wanted to look at some shells.

A strength of the game are the beach’s signposts that contain messages on environmental conservation and human achievement. These are found every few steps.

During the summer season it is used to display notices and bans, while in winter it is replaced by citations on the protection of the marine environment.

This reports:

"An understanding of the natural world and what's in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment."

- Sir David Attenborough

Who doesn't know Sir David Attenborough? Born in 1926, he's THE voice behind BBC and Netflix nature documentaries, and a huge advocate for all types of life on earth.

This signage was a nice, contemplative touch. And yes, I read this in Attenborough's voice.

Story
There is an uplifting story at the end. I won’t spoil it but just know that (Spoiler - click to show)walking eventually takes you to a walkway with more content. I recommend saving the game once you reach this part.

Visuals
This isn't your typical black and white Inform parser game. Instead, it uses dark green text against a black screen, a combination that was harder to read. I did like the beach imagery behind the game. It added a soothing, calming ambience.

Final thoughts
A winter morning on the beach has a lot of potential for being a chill, meditative exercise in taking care of oneself. Instead, the author tries to incorporate a timed puzzle that distracts from the game’s casual atmosphere. With some refinement I could see this becoming a successful walking simulator.

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)

Notes on genre
I would classify Clean Air as a horror game. It does seem that way at first, though. For first time players, your reaction will likely be "seems normal, that's nice, how quaint, WOAH. That escalated quickly!" That’s one of the game’s biggest strengths. The shift from mundane existence to something more sinister.

There is a faint One Eye Open (my favorite horror game) vibe to the horror half of the game. It's gory in a descriptive way, but, unlike One Eye Open, it does not require you to roll up your sleeves and do violent tasks (and significantly less gory). It’s not exactly for the faint of heart, but its potency lies more in leaving things up to the player’s imagination. I think most players will be glad that they gave it a shot.

Gameplay
Clean Air takes place over three days and begins with you in your apartment. I will break down these days in the Story section of my review. There is no directive or objective provided at the start of the game, but this suits the game just fine. The fact that there is no immediate story presented at the start simply compels the player to set out and find the story on their own. The map is fairly small, consisting of an apartment building and a swath of urban landscape.

It took me about an hour to complete the gameplay. However, it is one of those games that you can complete within a few minutes once you know what to do. Part of that hour was due to some clunkiness with the implementation, so pay attention to details in room descriptions and tinker with verbs. There was only one puzzle (not that there are many) that slowed down my progress: (Spoiler - click to show) The tap. (Turn on tap? No. Turn tap? Yes.)

There is room for improvement. Scenery is not always implemented. Being able to examine the location descriptions would have gone a long way. Especially for moments like when (Spoiler - click to show) you stand before the monolith. This is what you get:

>x monolith
You can't see any such thing.

I mean, the thing is towering right over you.

That said, the game does take care not to bog down the player with details.

There is one puzzle that the author may have originally planned something more complex but then backed. It has to do with the (Spoiler - click to show) key puzzle. BIG SPOILERS:

(Spoiler - click to show) It’s simple. On Day 1, you take the key and duplicate it using the locksmith machine. That way, you have two keys that you put together to make a combined key. You need this to open a crucial door in the restaurant. Now, you find corpse with a note that says they hid one of their keys in the grille in the storeroom. Supposedly, you can access this key in the grille, but the grille is empty. Then I realized that the grille is meant as a place to hide your stuff so you can retrieve it for Days 2 and 3 and still have full access to the map.

Thing is, it did not seem to make a difference when I returned to these areas of the map during Day 2 and Day 3. It still took me to the same ending, which was a letdown. Why bother with the grille? Also, why does the locksmith machine generate two copies of your key (for three keys total) when all you need to make a combined key are two keys? Maybe the author had something else in mind, maybe not.

This does not get in the way of completing and enjoying the game, but I would like to know if I overlooked something.

Story
The game's biggest strength is its story. It is spot on. In fact, if you don’t feel like reading this entire review, focus on this section. While the premise may be familiar for some audiences, the execution of the storyline is what sets it apart: Existential horror with a quiet, resigned leave-it-up-to-the-player’s-imagination kind of acceptance. I think it takes the game from "okay" to "hidden gem."

I am hesitant about sharing the story because A, spoiling the big reveal may take away the desire to play it, and B, readers might find the story contrived by reading about it in a review rather than experiencing it within the context of the gameplay. The great thing about Clean Air is that once you’ve played it and know the truth, you see everything with a new perspective.

I like discussing things and sharing ideas, especially when it’s a game that’s received no coverage, so read this at your own risk. MAJOR SPOILERS! If this game seems interesting to you, I STRONGLY encourage you to play it first.
(Spoiler - click to show)
→ Ripping off the Band-Aid: The awful truth
The Earth that we all know and love does not exist. Your apartment and everything else around it- the streets, the burger restaurant, the skyscrapers in the distance- is a habitat. A manufactured world. And behind it all? Some higher entities have decided to harvest humanity for their flesh, assumedly as a food source.

My first thought was to default to science fiction. Technologically advanced aliens who decided to visit Earth? Mad scientists with a chip on their shoulders? The reality of Clean Air is a bit more abstract, leaning away from sci-fi and more into speculative fiction with a splash of existentialism.

Truth is, we really don’t know who They are or where They came from. In fact, the game only refers to Them collectively as “They.” All we get are impressions. There is almost a godlike element to Them which makes sense since They are the creators of the protagonist’s reality. I feel that this approach will make audiences more receptive to the subject matter, which they might otherwise avoid.

→ Clock motifs
There is a lot of symbolism with clocks. It also shapes the gameplay for Days 2 and 3 (more on that later). Humans are born and live their lives in their manufactured world until they are old enough to be harvested. This is done in batches as they reach the age of maturity. The mysterious entities have clocks counting down for each batch for when their time is up. Then they disappear to be slaughtered.

Clocks represent the actual clock mechanisms that work behind the scenes, which we see in the slaughterhouse/workshop. Literally counting down for each batch. But the presence of clocks throughout the gameplay also symbolizes the notion that time is running out for everyone.

Room 204
A room, stripped bare of even dust. The air here is thin, almost empty. An analog clock stares down at you from its post on the wall, the only inhabitant of the room.

Time ran out for the occupant in Room 204. It’s not obvious though until you learn the truth. Suddenly, the emptiness of the apartment gains meaning.

→ Thoughts on the PC
We know almost nothing about the protagonist. Nor do they have any reaction to the game’s horrifying revelations. Now, this lack of characterization would typically be a detracting quality, but Clean Air makes it work because it amplifies the feeling of existentialism and mystery that underscores the horror elements of the game’s genre.

You’d think that the PC would be wondering “What happened?” or “Where is everyone?” Nope. But in a way, this lack of engagement gives the player the vague sense that the PC may have already cultivated some suspicions about their reality.

Ultimately, the protagonist serves as an empty vessel for the player to draw their own conclusions rather than forcing a particular perspective. Plus, this minimal characterization stresses the fact that a person’s identity has been implanted by entities solely interested in harvesting humans as livestock. It also makes the reveal more shocking for first-time players.

→ Thoughts on NPCs
Saying that there are NPCs in this game is a bit of a stretch, but they arguably classify as such. In this section, I’ll focus on the ones that engage directly with you.

Let’s go back to the mysterious “They.” What makes Them so intriguing is Their motive and perspective on what they are doing. The big WHAM moment is when you sneak up on two of Them having a chat (in this scene, the game cleverly uses alternating black and red text to mark their conversation).

Four more?
Only three, in fact.
How so?
One broke out.
Again?
It seems so.
One sometimes wonders if they are capable of thought.

The conversation continues, vaguely mentioning the existence of clocks, implants, and erasing memory. Then the kicker:

Lower your volume. One is looking at us right now.
Oh. Take it back to its pen.

That’s right, it’s you They are talking about. They (and we all know what They do to humans) see you watching Them. Creates such a feeling of Uh oh… This scene was the highlight of the game. And yes, they send you back to your pen. Also known as your apartment.

Realizing that humans have become a food source is hard enough, but the mundanity of it all is a shock. Our entire world is simply a business-as-usual operation. We see that They genuinely think humans lack understanding and awareness of what’s going on, that we are indifferent to what is happening. There truly is no malice or ill-intent. Just a casual attitude of “welp, one just escaped its cage. Time for another a batch.”

I found this intriguing because it goes against the “humans are pitiful, unintelligent, and must be put out of their misery and/or used for profit” narrative that is seen in science fiction and horror stories that involve humans being slaughtered for meat. It brings something new to the table. And yet, the horror is magnified because of this dissonance in the predator and prey relationship- and how they both fail to perceive each other’s realities.

Equally interesting is the possibility of Them realizing that humans are sentient and capable of thought. Of course, it’s possible that some of these entities are given more information than others but we really have no way of learning about the society They live in.

One other NPC appears during the most unsettling (in the best way) scene. Naturally, the scene occurs in a slaughterhouse/workshop- though it is more ethereal than your typical slaughterhouse. You are fooling around by the conveyor belts when suddenly:

It is here.

(…?)

You hear It coming.

(!!!)

Oh, you know, just something sinister that is closing in. The sense of dread in this scene was powerful and memorable. Protecting yourself from it is also one of the few puzzles in the game. Be sure to prepare in advance.

I do, however, have questions about this “It,” since the interaction is so brief (It either kills you or you evade It). So: Is It a member of “Them” doing an assigned job, or is It completely different type of being? Is there malice when It kills you or just a “get this pesky creature out of my workspace” sentiment? Either way, the sense of dread you get is effective. Especially since it catches you off guard (I really hope you played the game before reading this).

→ Thoughts on theories
This is when things get a bit more interpretive.

On Day 3 we learn that each batch of humans has been implanted with memories to create a sense of normalcy and lack of suspicion when their peers go missing. These memories also make humans think that they have lived longer than they have. Batches are harvested everyday depending on the maturity of each human.

Each batch, produced. Domesticated. Harvested. Then cleansed.

I would genuinely like to hear players’ take on this part. If anyone wants to offer ideas, I’m here. Going back to the conversation we eavesdrop on, I assume the “four more” refers to the occupants of the four-unit apartment building. Regarding the statement “One broke out,” are they talking about the protagonist or the tenant of Room 201? Let’s compare.

Tenant as the escapee: I’m pretty sure that the corpse we find in the slaughterhouse/workshop is the tenant. Room 201 is the room where we find the key and the illegible papers. The tenant clearly discovered the truth of what lies beyond the meat locker room in the restaurant and did so before the time for their batch ran out. The note on the corpse explains these efforts. Not that it saved them from being slaughtered. Does “One broke out” refer to this sneaking around?

Protagonist as the escapee: Well, we seem to be the only living soul around, almost like we missed being harvested. And we are sneaking around in places that are meant to be off-limits. After all, by leaving our apartment we’ve escaped our “pen.”

So, who’s the troublemaker who broke out?

I also have some thoughts on how the game is structured around days. As I mentioned earlier, there are 3 days. After the entity says “Oh. Take it back to its pen,” time resets, and you are dropped back into your apartment with the message “It begins. The hand is 3 minutes from completion.” You are trapped in your apartment for these three turns, triggering Day 2.

Day 1 was fantastic in terms of length and content. But one thing I did not like about the game was the pacing for Days 2 and 3. They felt rushed and failed to make key aspects of the story come to life. The objective of these two days is to show off the clock mechanism in action to illustrate how it dictates humans’ lives and their inevitable demise. But the way it is implemented in the game loses some of its impact.

Days 2 and 3 involve wandering around the map while the game feeds you scraps of exposition. When Day 2 begins, you can leave your apartment. However, the key needed for the door puzzle is gone from Room 201, making half of the map inaccessible UNLESS (I discussed in the Gameplay section) you took certain steps during Day 1. Not that it matters since the gameplay is focused on you taking in this new knowledge. Then time “resets” and… you end up in your apartment again. Repeat wandering around, absorb info, time resets, (etc.), and suddenly it’s Day 3!

Unfortunately, Day 3 is much of the same thing when finally: You are out of time. It is your turn to be harvested. The one difference is that on Day 3, Room 202 is mysteriously open for you to explore.

I don’t have a problem with the general blueprint of Days 2 and 3. It makes sense because it supports what we’ve learned in the story. I understand why it ends this way. But they are so brief and repetitive that it leaves the player asking, “that’s all?” The loops were hard to keep track of especially since the “It begins. The hand is 3 minutes from completion” phrase was injected randomly. What exactly is going on? It gives the impression that the author was not sure of how to wrap up an excellent idea.

Some things could have been clarified. I am a bit confused about the concept of batches and what they mean for the apartment occupants. It seems that the tenants of Room 201 and 204 were harvested before the game began since they have empty rooms, and that whoever lived in Room 202 was taken to be harvested between Days 2 and 3. And of course, at the end of Day 3, it’s your turn. Am I correct about this? And why do we keep getting away with escaping our apartment “pen.”

Additional insight from the author would be nice.

(It also occurred to me that the protagonist portrayed in Days 2 and 3 were separate humans with identical memories, but I don’t think that’s the case).

→ Thoughts on endings
I believe there is only one ending- the fate of all humans. I found two ways to die prematurely, though. Note that NONE of these outcomes are graphic.

→ One more thing…
Does anyone get the meaning of the title? The closest thing I can think of is the vapor emitted from the meat as it’s being processed. Otherwise, I don’t see the relevance. Just curious, that’s all.

Conclusion
I must say, if this is a first-time game for the author, it’s fantastic. Now, I realize it is several years old, but if the author ever reads this- great job. You really have a knack for horror.

If you like horror games that slowly peel away the normalcy of the setting to reveal a more sinister truth, Clean Air is the game for you. Now, I have been wavering between giving this game 3 or 4 stars. I'm doing a tentative 3 because the implementation could be a bit sharper, and the pacing becomes a tad too abrupt in the second half of the gameplay. But the story? Fine work.

You are a crew member of a spaceship that has run into a problem. Everyone is dead. Except you. For some reason, your cryo-pod is the only one that did not suffer a malfunction, leaving it up to you to find out what happened.

My guess is that this is the author’s first effort at a parser game. They also note that this is in a Beta stage of development. Please consider this more as feedback than criticism.

Gameplay
It needs a lot of work. My main critique is its lack of interactivity. Any attempt to examine inventory items results in "You see nothing special about the [inventory item]." In addition, room descriptions are unimplemented.

Bridge Hallway
You're here. Not that it was difficult at all, it's just amazing to you. Time to find out what's going on. You slip into a chair besides a large terminal and type in your access code. You read vast ammounts of data, sifting through it all and finding interesting bits of info. TYPE SOUTH TO CONTINUE.

>x terminal
You can't see any such thing.

>read data
You can't see any such thing.

Another example would be the room description for the Cryosubmission Chamber. It says you can check the codex for more info, but all you get is "You see nothing special about the codex.”

Also, the inventory items (codex, plasma welder, keycard, etc.) have no use. Plus, "take all" often results in picking up things that seem a little odd to pick up. Such as the debris and corpses. I don’t think I need to go further with this.

At its most basic, the game is just (Spoiler - click to show) walking through some hallways to reach the ship's bridge . It can be completed in 11 moves. I think it’s safe to say that it has no puzzles. There is one locked door in the Level 1 Hallway, but I could not find a way of unlocking it or breaking into the room, even with the plasma welder and keycard.

Story
We learn that (Spoiler - click to show) Life Support systems malfunctioned, causing your crewmates' bodies to thaw out. We don't actually get to learn anything else. Then (Spoiler - click to show) an asteroid strikes the ship... and has no effect on the gameplay other than to (Spoiler - click to show) have you exit the bridge and step into space. Then it’s over. Simply ends in space. Sparse, but provides an interesting skeleton for a deeper storyline.

Characters
There are four crew members, not including yourself. All we know about them is their first names. Examining their bodies results in generic responses that could have been opportunities to build a little background.

>x captain's corpse
You see nothing special about the Captain's Corpse.

The closest description for the characters we get is if you try to take their pod.

>take captain's pod
The pod is welded to the ship. Our captain, Captain Grant, is here. What a horrid, yet peaceful way to go...

Just something to consider. And we only know that the protagonist is an engineer.

Conclusion
I was hesitant about making my one-star rating influence the game’s overall rating, but I figured it might give it more visibility (or am I wrong on that?). Hopefully my rating does not scare people away from giving it a try and offering feedback since it is clearly a game under development. That said, this game was produced in 2015- a decade ago at the time of this review- and is most likely abandoned. But hey, there is always a possibility. The whole waking up-in-a-cryotube-following-a-disaster scenario may feel overused for some audiences, but I happily devour it.

The author notes that this is supposed to be part of series. If that's the case, I am looking forward to the rest.