Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Robot Recovery Mission is the most upbeat, light-hearted robot war that you may ever find in interactive fiction. Simple, short, and made with Ren’Py.

Cirq. An unremarkable rocky planet with four moons.

In orbit is Flywheel Station- home of the Cipy robotic race. But a recent attack by the Decabots, a rival robot group, has left the station in critical condition. You and your fellow Cipys have now been called upon to assist with repairs.

In a nutshell, the player visits Cirq’s moons to harvest gems that are brought back to Flywheel Station. These gems are needed to repair the station's vital systems. A set number of each kind of gem must be collected within a limited timeframe before the Decabots attempt another attack.

Gameplay is easy and uncomplicated. A point-and-click map is used for selecting destinations. Moons, mostly. Upon arrival, you select a mining method to extract gems which are automatically collected. Then it’s back to the map. And if you’re attacked along the way, combat boils down to a simple “Fight” or “Flee.” The time limit, however, is where the challenge comes in because all actions consume time.

Hull Integrity:
100/100
---------------
Time remaining:
100/100

Oddly enough, (Spoiler - click to show)running out of time does not result in a “game over.” The game essentially says, “you know what? Let’s reset your time limit and pretend this didn’t happen. Off you go.” You don’t even lose your gems. Which… I appreciate since time goes by quickly. But the game could be more subtle about it. Who knows, maybe this will be changed in the future. Fortunately, there is a respawn mechanic if your ship gets destroyed. This is a forgiving game.

Final thoughts
I wouldn't outright classify Robot Recovery Mission as a "kids’ game," but it would be a good pick for older kids. Middle schoolers, maybe? Heck, I could see myself playing this in 4th/5th grade, partly because most of the character art is reminiscent of a children’s sci-fi picture book. Professor Coghead could quite possibly be the mascot from some library’s summer “reading challenge” program. The streamlined gameplay is especially suited for such audiences.

And yet, more experienced players can find things to appreciate. While the gameplay may feel underwhelming, there is a charm to the “Oh no! Decabots!” dialogue during action sequences. I also liked that the cartoonish character art is contrasted with more realistic backdrops and differently stylized imagery. The game never fails to be visually interesting. A fun 20 minutes.

The bloom is a submission to Bare-Bones Jam 2025.

Told in first person from the perspective of a former staff member, the game describes the aftermath of a plant-like organism, known only as "the bloom," escaping from a research facility and the transformation it had on humanity.

Gameplay
Gameplay is entirely linear and only takes 2-3 minutes. Progress is made by tapping the screen. Skip and auto-skip features are also provided for your convenience.

Story
The story is limited, but what we learn is that the bloom breached the facility and reached populated areas almost instantaneously. At first glance, the bloom’s effects on human biology appear to be devastating…

One moment you were stood in a tiled clean room, the other - your lungs were filled with sweetest spores, with tears of pollen falling from your eyes.

…until the narrator informs us that these changes were a positive transformation. It allowed everyone to form a symbiosis with each other and with nature. People possessed a newfound patience and appreciation of the world around them. Strife and other obstacles to coexistence became obsolete.

Woven in this narrative is the overarching theme of belonging. The bloom’s universal symbiosis guarantees belonging even if you haven’t found the place you’re looking for. The game ends (Spoiler - click to show)with the narrator addressing the viewer and inviting them to join. And no matter what kind of restrictions you have, the bloom will find a way to make space for you.

Out of curiosity, I couldn’t help but wonder: Did people willingly embrace these changes or was the bloom merely taking control over their minds and bodies? Ultimately, I think it was willingly embraced, both because of the game’s tone and the absence of red flag indicating otherwise.

Visuals
This is the first Ren'Py game I've played, so this format was new to me.

As a Bare-Bones Jam submission, the game has an unaltered appearance. The game’s main text is set in a gradient grey panel at the bottom of the screen while links appear in text boxes located in the center. All of this is set into a black background.

Final thoughts
This isn’t the first game I’ve played where human civilization is ambushed by spores that disrupt the status quo. Calm, an IFComp game, is one example. The bloom, however, takes a different approach. Rather than the spores’ arrival being an apocalyptic event that heralds the end of modern life, they signal the start of a new chapter for all of humanity.

I enjoyed the story’s premise but wasn’t wowed by it either because it only skims the surface of its thought-provoking concept (though this is partly due to the short gameplay and low word count). That said, if you like surreal, vaguely sci-fi, and story-driven games, The bloom may interest you.