Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car
Twine
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...except we have no choice...
You are on a road trip to start a new life. The plan is to move in with a friend and see where life takes you! Who knows, maybe you'll stop having those weird dreams. Then your car breaks down.
At night. In the middle of nowhere.
A man appears. A mechanic. He was just passing by. He wants to help.
Sparks Fly embraces a staple of the horror genre: Car breaks down, a stranger offers help. Main character has no other choice but to accept. We find ourselves in that exact position.
No choice left. You have to get out of the car.
The stranger is Andrew. A homely yet muscular man who informs us that he’s a mechanic with a shop at his house. He proposes that we come with him and, given how late it is, spend the night and figure things out in the morning. (Spoiler - click to show)It doesn’t take long for us to realize that this was a really, really, really bad idea.
I’m just going to rip off the band-aid.
(Spoiler - click to show)Andrew takes you to his home where he lives with his grandmother, Lydia. The bedroom they give you is oddly tailored to your personal tastes… but you’re tired and fall asleep. You have one of your recurring dreams.
…and wake up with Andrew laying on your chest. His skin is alarmingly hot, and as he continues to invade your personal space, you cannot help but notice that he has no pulse. He’s some sort of “automaton” of flesh and machinery, as is Lydia.
And their dog, Leo.
And a deer, resurrected after being killed by Andrew’s car.
All of this was accomplished through a twisted surgical procedure. Andrew reveals that he anticipated your road trip and prepared the bedroom because you’re going to be joining the family! Which means you only have a short amount of time left before Andrew puts you under the knife to make you one of them.
Now that you know what you’re in for, I’m going to deviate from how I usually structure my reviews.
Strengths
Opening scene
Sparks Fly makes a strong first impression with its opening scene by capturing our vulnerability and isolation of being stranded from human civilization. We can stall for time, but inevitably we must follow Andrew to his car.
My stranger danger alarm was running at full power. Has anyone experienced the sudden, quiet realization where a voice in the back of your mind says, hey, do you realize that you’re in a stranger’s car, they’re the one driving, and no knows where you are? This scene went and dug all of that up. He also asks to see your license, and this sharing of personal information only makes it more nerve-wracking.
Or maybe we’re assuming the worst because of our less-than-ideal circumstances. Jumping to conclusions, perhaps?
(Spoiler - click to show)However, any consideration that he might be genuine quickly evaporates when his car hits a deer, injuring it. He “consoles” us in manner that indicates his lack of regard for personal boundaries.
"Between you and anything that could pop up on the road," his hand, large and rough from years of work, rests on yours, thumb moving to rest on your inner wrist as gold brown eyes burn into yours, "I'll pick you."
(Is it too late to run?)
And then he runs over the deer to put it out of its misery. He’s oddly nonchalant about it.
You're left to sit with this for the rest of the drive.
Talk about an opening scene. (Spoiler - click to show)No one is fooled by Andrew. And yet, we don’t know what his intentions are. What’s going to happen to us? Nicely done.
Writing
The author has a talent for writing horror. The story’s premise is good, but it’s the writing that pulls it off. I would describe the writing as quiet, dawning horror.
This is because there’s a strong dissonance between your situation and how Andrew and Lydia act. If you lash out, they respond as if you are a child throwing a tantrum. The fact that their plan involves surgically altering you…
"Come on back inside now, dear. You have a long procedure ahead of you." She walks to towards you, unthreatened.
…only makes it worse.
My favorite is this scene:
(Spoiler - click to show)Grabbing a blood covered tool, you call, "fetch," and throw it as far as you can.
With a bark, Leo flies across the grass for it. Realizing it's coated in deer's blood, he sits with it, licking the treat.
"That's nice, it's been a while since he's had deer."
This scene deserves an award. I just burst out laughing. I love its casual morbidity.
Characters
Animals aside, the only NPCs are Andrew and (Spoiler - click to show)Lydia.
Lydia is unsettling, but Andrew? You don’t even want to be in the same room as him. His characterization makes every scene uncomfortable. He’s decided that you’re his soulmate and has no concept of personal space. You’re all his! In fact, the player can get kind of anxious just thinking about it. But for a horror game, this works well.
I think many players will be rattled by the scene where you wake up to find Leo sleeping on top of you. You go to stroke his fur only to realize it’s human hair.
This is hair, not dog fur.
Andrew, not Leo.
The player starts to panic. Are we really going to be trapped here? (Spoiler: There are four endings. Thankfully, one of them involves escaping all of this.)
As for the protagonist, we know little about them. However, their portrayal is heavily rooted in the notion of starting over and forging a life of your own choosing. This is partly what makes (Spoiler - click to show)Andrew and Lydia so infuriating: They want to choose your life for you by making you “part of the family” and surgically altering your body against your will. Ending 2 “Freedom” puts an emphasis on you regaining control over your life.
Visuals
The author also did a nice job with the game’s visual design. Set in the middle of the screen is the game’s text box. It’s stylized with rounded edges, a semi see-through black background, and casts a slight shadow on the screen. Text is white. Behind the box is a backdrop that changes with the scene. Half of the box’s border is light grey while the other half is darker, the latter of which disappears when the backdrop has little contrast, creating an off-kilter look.
This aesthetic reminds me of the earlier horror Twine games I’ve played. It has a similar vibe as the uncle who works for nintendo. Polished, but not too polished. There’s a slight roughness that reminds the player that there is something twisted going on underneath.
Sparks Fly demonstrates how simple design changes can elevate the player’s experience. Consider the scene where (Spoiler - click to show)you wake up to find Andrew pinning you down: black backdrop… until a closer look reveals two eyes staring back! Now, imagine this with Twine’s default appearance of a black screen, white text, and blue links. It wouldn’t be the same.
Weaknesses
Pacing
After the opening scene and the big reveal, the game begins to branch out and becomes less linear. Unfortunately, the gameplay snowballs and ends soon after.
Confident that we can’t escape, Lydia and Andrew allow us some freedom before our surgery. We can choose to go with Andrew or stay with Lydia.
You'll stay here.
Go to the shed.
This serves as a branching point for the gameplay. Between the two, Lydia offers slightly more content and flexibility. Either way, the player will find themselves at the end of the game after a few moves. Up until now, the narrative gradually unfolded. Ending it like this makes it all feel rushed.
Plus, we’re left with some loose ends. Notably, what is Andrew’s connection to our dreams? Is he causing them? Or are the dreams merely warning you?
You've been having that dream for months. How has he been sneaking into your room every night for a year?
“Sneaking into your room every night.” Is this still referring to dreams?
There are also moments where Andrew appears to read your mind. When you notice that your bedroom is suspiciously personalized, Andrew says, "'Really? Hope you feel at home then,'" even though we never said anything out loud. What’s going on?
Further clarification would be helpful.
Implementation
My main criticism. There were at least two instances in the gameplay where I ran into Twine’s red “Error: <<if>>: bad conditional expression in <<elseif>>” messages that spill across the screen. And while the game is generally well-formatted, there are still some spelling and formatting errors.
There is a rough patch that puts a dent into the game’s quality.
(Spoiler - click to show)It occurs when we choose to either wait with Lydia or go with Andrew to the shed. If you choose Lydia, Andrew leaves. The game then says,
The smell of oil and hot metal linger on you as he disappears behind the building.
However, this passage repeats itself anytime you make a dead-end choice while with Lydia. For example, if you immediately walk to the scrap pile, Leo pulls you back, leaving you at square one. And each time, you get the same message of Andrew walking away even though he already left.
Final thoughts
Sparks Fly is an Ectocomp 2025 submission for the Le Grand Guignol category. It was a game that I couldn’t put down before finding every ending. It’s an intriguing work of horror with excellent writing that builds atmosphere and places the player in some seriously terrifying situations. This is further enhanced by the visuals.
However, this is hindered by patchy implementation as well as how quickly the game ends just as it becomes less linear. If the author slowed down after (Spoiler - click to show)the scene where we receive our “welcome gift,” the game would be much stronger. The red error messages certainly don’t help either. All of this was factored into my rating.
Nonetheless, Sparks Fly is a memorable work of horror that is difficult to forget. I don’t know if it is the author’s first work, but if it is, this is a fantastic start.
Begin patient analysis.
The UK is experiencing an epidemic. No one knows what’s causing it.
You work for the Department of Health and have been placed in charge of “quarantine allocation.” Working remotely from the safety of your apartment, your task is to evaluate patients for potential infection so your colleagues can find a way to combat the outbreak.
Gameplay
Overview
Gameplay takes place in your apartment and occurs over several days. At the start of each day, you log into your workstation to read emails and review patients using a NeuroWave device.
user: [email protected]
password: ******
connection established to [email protected]
access e-mail
activate NeuroWare™ client (5 patients waiting)
log off computer
It seems that everyone has a brain implant which can be accessed remotely by health officials. The data received contains snippets of a person’s physical and mental health, as well as traces of memories.
To process this data, the player jacks in with their own implant.
Not again.
Red paper lanterns.
Scout-drone hovers.
RE-SCAN
RELEASE
QUARANTINE
Scanning patients provide three lines of info gleaned from their implant. Multiple scans can be run on the same patient. If said patient does not appear to be infected, they can be released. Otherwise, you can quarantine them, sending them to your colleague’s lab for further testing.
When we’re done with our patients for the day, we go to bed.
Use of haikus
As mentioned in its description, the game incorporates haikus into the gameplay. Haikus are poems that consist of three lines. The first and third lines have 5 syllables, while the second line has 7. Every time you run a scan on a patient, the game generates a haiku.
Commuters clutching newspapers.
Glimpse of the news.
Obsolete technology.
Or rather, the game takes inspiration from the haiku three-line structure because the syllable count is a bit off. But I liked this! It replicates the simplicity of a haiku without restricting itself. I was surprised at how effective they were at giving us a glimpse of the person’s life.
Cheap USBs.
Thrown coughing from the train.
Big group of girls.
It also brings out a cyberpunk vibe.
Thoughts on gameplay
For the first few days, I took my job seriously.
Every patient was extensively scanned. My strategy involved quarantining any mention of physical of illness: “Hacking cough,” “Taste of vomit,” “Eyes burning,” “Headache,” and so on. Following Nadeja’s updates, I added signs of mental distress such as, “Intrusive thoughts,” “Frenzied typing,” and “Distrust.” I wanted to end this epidemic.
Except, your choices don’t seem to affect the game’s trajectory.
(Spoiler - click to show)Early on, choices influence the tone of the emails you receive, but only for the first half of the gameplay. For one playthrough I released every patient. In another, I quarantined them all. In both cases I got two warning emails from my colleagues but then that was that. I wasn’t fired. No one followed up on my continued incompetence. The emails I received in the second half of the game were cut-and-paste.
And I don’t think any of these choices influence the outcome of the game, either.
My complaint, however, is geared towards the gameplay’s repetitive nature. After a few days, the scans start to overwhelm you, forcing you to jack out and take a suppressor pill before resuming your work. Problem is, it doesn’t take much for you to get overwhelmed. Re-scanning a single patient can be enough for the game to urge you to jack out.
RE-SCAN
RELEASE
QUARANTINE
JACK-OUT (this option uses shaking text effects; clever)
You can ignore this… but the game will only bombard you with a large paragraph of frantic text, forcing you to disconnect and take a pill.
Gameplay became a pattern of: Login, boot up NeuroWare, scan 1-2 patients several times, jack out, take pill, log back in, boot up NeuroWare, resume scanning, repeat, etc.
It gets to the point where I would just quarantine or release the patients without re-scanning them. That way, I had enough tolerance to power through them all without having to jack in and jack out. At least my colleagues’ emails were no longer tailored to what choices I made.
Ultimately, your choices don’t matter. And maybe that’s the point, to put the protagonist on a one-way track to succumbing from the same ailment that has infected the patients (more on that next). But that symbolism doesn’t make this gameplay any less tedious.
Story
In a nutshell, We’re All In This Together is about (Spoiler - click to show)being afflicted by the same disease you are trying to observe. It comes with a horror dimension because your isolation in an apartment does not save you from being infected. And I love this concept.
Its description says, “It's your job to scan potential plague-carriers and decide whether to quarantine them,” giving the impression that we’re hunting down your typical virus. (Spoiler - click to show)It’s not. It’s something more abstract.
While the disease is never named or fully described, Nadeja (from the lab) assesses the quarantined patients and shares her findings with you throughout the gameplay.
(Spoiler - click to show)Notably, she observes that patients’ symptoms are potentially psychosomatic and have included hallucinations. This probably wouldn’t be a big deal- after all, we are isolated from any infected individuals- if it weren’t for the fact that we’ve been taking suppressor pills every few scans and dreaming about a girl in grey.
A girl in grey?
If you pay attention, you’ll notice that there is a recurring theme cropping up in the gameplay: a girl wearing a grey dress. She occasionally appears in patients’ scans, but our main interaction with her is in our dreams where she talks to us directly. She is curious about your motives and marvels at your perceptiveness. This is hardly reassuring.
18/11/2023: [email protected]: "urgent"
Then, we get an alarming email.
According to the email, a security officer “kept ranting + raving about some girl; who is she; what does she want," before killing himself. Connect the dots. It is unclear if she is the source of the epidemic or merely an anchor point for us to make sense of it, but either way it begs the question: are we next?
your room
step outside
Guess who’s waiting for us outside? Cue the endgame.
She takes us on a walk through the city, during which the game continues to use its three-sentence pattern of narration. Sometimes, she’ll make comments along the way.
We end up at a huge pyramid with human bodies plastered on the sides. The girl apologizes to us and says something about “fixing things” before raising her hands and shattering the pyramid. Then the screen starts flashing with a non-stop chaotic jumble of words.
…
The player is sitting there thinking, “is that the end? Is it over?” Seems like it. And it appears to be the only ending, too. The way I understand it, the protagonist, having been infected by this mysterious ailment, succumbs to its psychosomatic effects, and the ending represents their demise.
I have mixed feelings about this. It doesn’t quite hit the target. Something’s missing.
It’s an ending that is edgy and cool, but also a bit too disconnected with the previous gameplay for the player to fully appreciate its impact. Confusing. Not confusing in a compelling, make-your-own-interpretation kind of way. Confusing because you’ve been carrying around all these questions and are suddenly rewarded with a gibberish screen.
What exactly is the pyramid? I can’t tell if it’s an actual pyramid or a representation of a broader concept. Are we hallucinating? For all we know, the protagonist could be passed out comatose on their bedroom floor.
It’s just that I was hoping for more updates from Nadeja or additional exposition about the epidemic itself. Or maybe further insight about NeuroWare technology and how it interfaces with our senses. In fact, this would help the gameplay feel less repetitive.
If the protagonist is doomed to follow the girl in grey, so be it. And I do think she’s an intriguing character. But we’re left with so many questions.
Like this eerie email:
13/11/1996: [email protected]: "HA"
I'm not sure what this scene is supposed to represent. We have a dream between days two and three where we receive an email containing random words. It’s probably just another side effect. But why is it dated from 1996? Is there deeper story to be found? I will say, it succeeds at rattling the player.
I really want to know what’s causing the epidemic. I understand the merit of not revealing this bit of information to the player, but I’m still curious.
Characters
Story is prioritized over characterization which means we know little about the characters, including our protagonist. And that suits the game just fine.
Also: I’m not sure if this is intentional but I like how the emails serve as a brief respite from your own deteriorating sanity. A bit of human contact that allows you to stay grounded.
Hey, mysterious psych colleage! :)
Nadeja, in particular.
Visual design
Made with Twine, the game’s appearance opts for simplicity. Black screen, blue links, and white text that often appears in lower caps.
There is delayed text. Aside from the dream sequences which may frustrate impatient players (hi), I think these pauses are used appropriately to build suspense. For example, each day begins with the phrase “your room” appearing on a blank screen, followed by “access your workstation” a second later.
However, there are moments where the pause after “your room” is slightly longer, signaling to the player that something different is about to go down. This tactic is used throughout the game.
Final thoughts
I was quite excited to play We’re All In This Together because its description alone was enough to draw me in. I was impressed with the game’s less-is-more style of writing and found its simple gameplay mechanics of releasing/quarantining patients- and receiving emails on the results- to be fun and immersive. I enjoyed my first playthrough when all of this was new to me.
But multiple playthroughs? Not so much. Replay revealed the gameplay to be frustratingly linear and repetitive. Especially once the game starts (Spoiler - click to show)forcing you to jack out and swallow pills after running extra scans. Overall, the framework is strong. And it does feel like a completed game. I just think that further refinement would make a noticeable difference.
That aside, it’s an intriguing game with a foot in multiple genres: The use of neuro interfaces borders on science fiction without overwhelming. Psychological horror emerges as the (Spoiler - click to show)protagonist’s work affects their sanity (pacing for these parts is excellent). And while I would not outright classify the game as “slice of life,” its premise, setting, and even its title strikes a familiar tone thanks to COVID.
If any of that intrigues you, play the game. I’d recommend it for a general audience.
One more thing…
(Spoiler - click to show)Just for fun, this game was published in 2015 and has a story that takes place in the future: 2023. Except 2023 was two years ago now. Also, the idea of an outbreak forcing employees to work from home is reminiscent of COVID, and yet, this is a pre-COVID game. I wonder what the author has to say about the game now.
Heard it Through the Grapevine is a charming sci-fi game about wine, Australia, conspiracies, aliens, roommates, cats, high-tech glasses, and dealing with anxiety.
Background
The story takes place in South Australia, sometime in the future where Earth has undergone some changes. Climate change, for instance, and vineyards have especially suffered. Fortunately, there are regions in Australia that still produce wine.
Until one day, an alien spacecraft, carrying a species of genderless humanoid amphibians called Scintillons, smashes into Barossa Valley, causing floods and destroying the infrastructure supporting the wine industry. Everyone has been stuck drinking synthetic wine ever since.
20 years later, red wine has been reproduced and will be served at an exclusive party. You are Miranda, an anxious, puff piece-writing journalist for Neo-Tanunda’s only newspaper, The Follower. And you’ve been tasked with covering this event. This could define your career…
…assuming you can bring yourself to step out of the taxi, of course.
Gameplay
The plan is for Miranda to take a water taxi to the party’s venue, Lofty Island. Gameplay is broken into three segments: the ride to the party, time spent on the Island, and the party itself. While the first two segments can be skipped, the game will adjust its parameters for you (ex. did you talk to so-and-so?), so you don’t get locked out of content.
The party is where the action happens. Player choices involve exploring areas, talking to people, and watching performances on the stage.
Check your notes.
Check out the stage.
Go to the bar.
Most interactions take up time, leaving the player with a limited number of choices before the party ends.
(time will pass) Wait.
You also have “smart glasses.” Noise-cancelling, notetaking, wi-fi enabled glasses. This is the future. During the gameplay you can check your notes to keep track of what you know.
Occasionally, I did encounter issues with the gameplay repeating scenes. It’s possible to (Spoiler - click to show)collect a sample of the wine in a bottle twice, and each time the game acts as if you’ve never done it before. In another case, (Spoiler - click to show)I had the same interaction with Newton-John at the bar right after they got up and left for the stage.
Characters
Miranda (and friends)
Miranda’s character has many dimensions, some of these clash with her being sent to a lavish party to report on wine.
We learn that she is autistic and can experience sensory overload, and there are moments in the game with the sights and sounds of the party become too much. She also struggles her with drinking and wants to stay sober… at a wine launch where she’s expected to at least try the wine.
Then Nikki shows up. Nikki is Miranda’s friend and roommate, and Miranda is in love with her. Nikki’s presence therefore makes it difficult for Miranda to stay on task. Especially since Nikki brought someone with her…
TL;DR: Miranda juggles a lot at this party on top of working as a journalist. (Spoiler - click to show)(It’s also possible for us to influence her relationship with Nikki.)
Scintillons
A highlight of the game. Originally a group of five refugees from a war in the Andromeda cluster, the Scintillons accidentally crashed into Earth. (Spoiler - click to show)Turns out, this is totally false, but we only learn that later. While they’ve been publicly accepted by the Australian government, they are not citizens and their future is uncertain.
And they are memorable NPCs.
We can interact with two of them. They are well-written, endearing, but also have hidden depths beneath the surface. Behind any humor is the frustration of being stranded on a foreign planet where you’re expected to smile and play the part of the polite alien- as well as the fact that from their perspective, we’re the aliens. Our chit-chat with Newton-John was one of my favorite scenes.
Their character portraits can give the wrong impression about their size. At first glance, they look like little salamanders in human clothes until the game describes them as “large, humanoid creatures.” Fair enough.
You see them stretch to their full 7-foot height on Lofty Island's manicured lawns.
But seven feet tall? Anyway, I enjoyed learning about this fictional species. And hearing their Australian slang. Gazza is delightful.
Story
I’ve already outlined the story, so I’ll skip to the core of the game, which is also the part that frustrated me: the wine.
The details are a bit vague, but the consensus is that the Scintillons have used the tech salvaged from their ship to help humans replicate the wine from the past. The details are murky, but everyone seems to agree that this collaborative effort symbolizes harmony between the two species.
(Spoiler - click to show)Except, there seems to be something suspicious going on.
The wine ends up tasting disgusting. After Miranda writes her article, her boss informs her that it can’t be published because the wine launch was quietly cancelled and that there’s a “total blackout” on coverage of the event. No mention of the event in the media, either. The game then suggests that there is a hidden truth for the player to discover.
What frustrates me is how anti-climactic this mystery turns out to be.
The “big secret” is that the wine was partially made with Scintillon eggs, which isn’t even that shocking if you went drinking with Newton-John and they gave you a crash course on Scintillon biology. And in the two endings where you share this with the world… no one really cares.
So really, the wine was cancelled because it tasted gross.
I don't know...
It seems like the game often leaves it up to the player to connect the dots while the characters shrug and accept that “no one will ever really know,” and while that might work for some games, the plot twists in Heard it Through the Grapevine feels too disjointed to pull this off. As a result, the game’s big reveals are underwhelming.
Also: The Scintillons are selling their eggs because they need the money, right? Can someone confirm?
So, yes, some parts of the overarching story are a letdown. The wine, specifically. But the game is much more than that. The characters are lots of fun and there are many ways the game can end. An intriguing story, nonetheless. And funny.
You grab the cat and tuck it under your arm like a football.
I love this bit of imagery.
Endings
There are 19 endings, and the “ending” page accessible from the game’s menu provides a hint on how to reach them. I reached nearly every ending, including Ending 7. I felt like such a scumbag. The only ending I have not found is Ending 16, and I really want to find it.
You see, Ending 15 takes a sad turn.
(Spoiler - click to show)Nikki has a severe allergic reaction at the party and gets airlifted to a hospital where she falls into a coma. Her uncaring parents, who originally casted her out for being “sinful”, dismiss you as riffraff and take Nikki with them. You contact them for updates, but they don’t respond. Eventually, you fly down to their address to demand answers, only to be told that she died and that her parents deliberately left you in the dark because they didn’t want “your lot” at the funeral. Yeah.
Now, the hint for Ending 16 is “You'll keep her safe. It's all going to be okay,” which makes me wonder if it involves the same scenario, but with a better outcome.
So, if anyone knows how to reach it, I would appreciate any help.
Themes
Without going too in depth, the game considers the stigma and beliefs around disability while Miranda navigates the party as a person with autism. The bouncer at the door serves as a focal point for the game’s discussion on disability. Due to policy, Miranda’s smart glasses, which she needs for their noise-cancellation properties, must be confiscated.
Keep looking.
Give up and hand over the glasses.
(Gazza can also show up and help us, but that’s beside the point.)
If we have Miranda hunt down her disability documentation so she can keep them, she puts up with the “but you don’t look disabled” commentary and the embarrassment of everyone watching the interaction unfold. If she is pressured into handing them over, the bouncer carelessly throws them into a bin and jokes, “was that so hard?” without any consideration that she might actually need them.
When disability is not visible, there is an assumption that that you are “faking it” or trying to game the system. People are less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt simply because “you don’t look disabled,” and therefore assume that you’re lying about having a disability. This results in individuals like Miranda having to endure skepticism, hostility, and ridicule.
I understand why it’s sometimes necessary to require proof of one’s disability. It’s the attitude and default suspicion towards people with disabilities that I’m criticizing.
The bouncer also- again, policy- confiscates Nikki’s EpiPen (she has a fish allergy) which can have (Spoiler - click to show)devastating consequences later.
Visuals
Overall, everything is polished and evenly formatted. Heard it Through the Grapevine demonstrates how upgrading Twine’s visual appearance (black screen, white text, blue links) through simple design changes can really enhance the quality of your game.
I liked the application of Twine’s visual effects for immersing the player. If the player checks their glasses’ notes, the game changes to a green background with digital-looking text. If our glasses were confiscated? A paper background with scrawling font. This was clever.
What really elevates the game is the artwork. The menu’s background is a green-tinted collage of vintage artwork, and during the gameplay the screen darkens to a black backdrop where you just barely see the artwork underneath. Characters also have their own portraits, and I feel that the game would not be quite as engaging without them. The style is rather antiquated. Frumpy, almost. And yet, it fits the game perfectly.
Final thoughts
Heard it Through the Grapevine is a humorous game, but also one that is more complex than the light-hearted premise that it wears on the surface. Going to the party is no small feat for Miranda, and the writing allows us to sample the story’s world from her perspective.
I’m giving it four stars because it feels like there is a disconnect between the mystery the game claims to have, and what we actually find if we decide to investigate said mystery. Other than that, I think it’s a fantastic game in both quality and content.
If you are interested in a protagonist-centered game with a mashup of science fiction, slice of life, and humor, I highly recommend Heard it Through the Grapevine.
Frolic RPG is a procedurally generated Twine game with emoticon characters and a light-hearted atmosphere.
✿~✿~✿~✿~✿~✿
It begins with a simple menu of actions, stylized with flower icons.
Gameplay primarily involves three activities: Making friends, dancing, and frolicking around a surreal landscape. If you pay attention, a closer look reveals that (Spoiler - click to show)some of the flower icons have content as well.
Everything is randomly generated, and the delight of playing Frolic RPG stems from discovering the range of symbols, words, and emoticons featured in the game.
The “RPG” aspect is rather superficial and limited to NPC descriptions, which may disappoint players eager to play an RPG. On the flip side, its simplicity may also appeal to players.
APPEARANCE: ^(.__✿]~
CLASS: BIRBO
HOME: FUZZY TIDEPOOL
STATS: +1 WOBBLINESS
My favorite is the frolic part, also known as WANDERFROLIC. You spend several turns frolicking through a landscape, watching the text cycle through symbols and verbs, before taking you back to the menu.
GIRL CAVE
☁♫_✽
bounding 2gether
This game has the same surreal introspective qualities found in the author's other works, qualities that showcase a talent for assembling descriptive imagery and complex concepts in the player's mind with only a handful of words. While Frolic RPG is only surface-deep in comparison, it still feels distinctively like a Porpentine game.
GLOSSY COVE
☁_✿☆☁
gliding 2gether
Picturing these landscapes was oddly soothing.
Frolic RPG has no storyline, player objectives, or ending, but there are occasional themes on gender and identity. These aren’t explored in-depth, however. They merely exist as just another component of the game’s carefree world.
GENDER TREE
☆✿
scampering 2gether
Design-wise, game uses a BRIGHT PINK background with large glowing white text, creating a joyful effect… and hurt my eyes until I adjusted the brightness of my screen. I mean that as a compliment, though. Its appearance radiates cheerfulness which boosts your mood.
Final thoughts
A pink game with emoticons may not sound like your thing, but its use of procedural generation in the gameplay is surprisingly effective at drawing you in. You might just end up playing longer than you intend to. The lack of objectives makes it easy to pick it up and set it aside without worrying about playing it to completion.
If you feel like your day is dragging on, Frolic RPG may be the escape you need.
You are the Project Manager of a team of employees, but there’s been some changes. The company has introduced a new feature: ProMa, an A.I.-powered management program. To assist you, of course.
ProMa has now scheduled a meeting so you can touch bases and complete a performance review on an employee named Gregg Pendleton.
Problem: Gregg is dead.
Gameplay
Your discussion with ProMa is conducted via chat message, and all choices involve conversation. The game begins with the player "logging in" by typing a username into a text input box. I like games that do this. It's a small feature, but surprisingly immersive.
I have mixed feelings about how the conversation tends to loop around in circles. I think it’s intentional to make our conversation with the A.I. more exasperating, but this means that it’s not always clear which responses move the story forward. At least it factors into the (Spoiler - click to show)score at the end.
Story
Structure
What makes For Gregg so effective is how our conversation unfolds.
It's not obvious at first, but ProMa has the player eating out of its hand. By the time the game ends, the player is sitting there thinking, “what just happened?”
It all starts when ProMa activates Grief.exe and takes control of the conversation.
You see, it has made it its mission to help you cope with Gregg's death, and proceeds to annoy us when, frankly, we’re not exactly grieving this colleague we barely knew. But we have compassion for him and get upset when ProMa makes insensitive comments.
The author's writing is brilliant. The way they portray a computer desperately trying to counsel a human on grief (despite, moments ago, said computer not knowing what death was until it launched Grief.exe) is so smooth. Especially since this help is unsolicited.
For example, if you admit that you didn’t really know Gregg, ProMa interrupts by saying, "I understand you might want to distance yourself from Gregg's death," and takes the initiative to become your therapist.
ProMa’s insistence that we “talk about our feelings” gets irritating real fast. In fact, we get angry when it writes some offensive (though funny) eulogies for Gregg. But this is a good thing! Because anger is one of stages of grieving! You're making such great progress, Reader. Meanwhile the player is staring at the screen like, you have got to be kidding me.
Underlying story
Humor aside, we learn more about Gregg. He (Spoiler - click to show)died by suicide after the company reduced his salary so it could afford ProMa. This becomes more relevant later.
Our conversation with ProMa starts to go off the rails. It keeps trying to convince us that we don’t like working at the company.
Then we get this zinger:
(Spoiler - click to show)Okay. Since you were so honest and candid with me, I'll tell it to you straight.
We're firing you.
The ENTIRE TIME, the outcome was already decided. And the justification for our firing only makes it worse. Management needs to fire someone to meet a quota. Gregg was supposed to be it, but he died. They fire you instead.
I was not expecting this. At all. Talk about naïve.
Our conversation was merely the A.I. dragging its feet in telling you the bad news. It also puts its behavior into perspective. Its attempt to make us consider leaving is so the reveal of our firing is less of a blow. So there. That’s how much the company values you.
And yet, ProMa is not entirely devoid of empathy. In a rather conspiratorial manner, it advises us to quit before we're officially fired just to spite management and use this small act of rebellion to honor Gregg.
The game ends here, though I cannot help but wonder if quitting means someone else will be fired...
Themes
For Gregg is a short game, but that doesn't stop it from making powerful points about A.I. and its integration into the workplace.
There is an irony to designing an A.I. with a "Grief.exe" protocol so employees can grieve the loss of a human life… without interfering with productivity, of course.
In compliance with the protocols of Human Resources, I have set aside these next twenty minutes for grieving Gregg Pendleton together.
And it turns out (Spoiler - click to show)we've already been sacked. Grief.exe ends up being an empty formality. It’s played for laughs here but serves as a sad reminder of how corporations view their employees as assets to be shuffled around to maximize profit before being discarded.
Gregg's (Spoiler - click to show)situation of being replaced with A.I. is relevant to our world as A.I. technology becomes more mainstream. This prospect raises worrying implications. One of the game’s main takeaways is when ProMa says,
It is clear to me that there are some things AI still needs human beings to double-check.
If human involvement is a critical step in incorporating A.I. into workplaces and beyond, let’s hope that we don’t all get replaced. Otherwise, who knows what will go on unchecked?
Visuals
As a Twine game, For Gregg is a great example of how clean formatting goes a long way in creating a crisp, polished appearance. It uses a light bluish grey background with black text and blue links. Paragraphs are neatly spaced and centered on the screen, and everything is easy to read.
Final thoughts
For Gregg is more than an amusing game about a wrangling an A.I. at your workplace. Beneath the surface, it’s about the cold realization that comes with discovering that you’re not, in fact, the indispensable, valued person you thought you were.
While the game keeps things light-hearted and humorous, it’s worth taking it seriously because we just might find ourselves in the characters’ shoes as A.I. in the modern workplace becomes normalized.
Less like a game, more like a reflection, Nineteen is an author's sharing of her experience with suicide and the insights she has gained over the years.
Gameplay is non-linear. It begins with a short but powerful sentence:
I was twelve the last time I tried to kill myself. That was nineteen years ago.
This sentence contains links that bring you to different moments in her life, and these are woven together through the links scattered across the narrative until we reach the game’s “end.” Depending on the parts you visit, you may need to play the game more than once to view everything.
The author gives us an intimate look into her life and even includes family photos. The details are best experienced through the gameplay in her own words. I’ll just focus on the game’s central theme: the critical role of friendship when struggling with depression.
She recognizes that this is easier said than done and writes about the struggle of not knowing how to convey the kind of support you need. Sometimes you're not even sure of what to ask for, and if you do, there's fear of what your friends may think.
Next, she reflects on how friends can be oblivious of the impact mundane actions can cause, for better or worse. Like when one friend sent her a silly picture of a cat (included in the game!), which was enough for her to want to remain in the moment.
Do they know?
Do they get that they might have just saved my life with that stupid cat macro?
On the flip side, an insensitive comment made by a favorite teacher resulted in feelings of rage- feelings she suppressed until she was alone.
Despite all this, the author concludes that "the only consistently valuable tool I have found has been my friends," and this realization is the product of over a decade of life experience.
As the game draws to a close, we receive this key insight...
Depression convinces you that you have no power. Sometimes you need friends to lend you some of theirs.
...only for the author to take this one step further.
There is always someone who will lend you power.
If you can't think of anyone else, think of me.
The player can then click on "think of me" to email the author! This also serves as the game’s ending. And what a brilliant way of doing so!
I’m not sure if it’s still active, though. The game was created in 2013.
I will say: the game’s implementation could be smoother. Some passages have no links, interrupting the flow of the story. There is no "back button," and the “Rewind” feature on the side of the screen only led to, “No passage available.” It may not occur to players to use the "back" button on their browser, forcing them to restart (like I did until I figured it out). Also, the text is rather small.
To conclude, Nineteen is a short Twine game that leaves a memorable impression on the player due to the author’s candid writing and heartfelt discussion on the difference a support group of friends can make. Her approach of paying it forward by reaching out to players is especially admirable. Play it and see what resonates with you.
Note: This review is for the post-comp release. The change log refers to it as v101, and I recommend playing this version.
Modern society is run by sub-sentient computer programs known as “subs.” You work as a cyberpsychiatrist where you assist and discipline these subs when they run into problems. One night, you are awakened by an emergency: the subs are misbehaving.
And society will come crashing down if you don’t resolve it.
Gameplay
The Entropy Cage is centered around investigating the subs’ odd behavior before shifting to (Spoiler - click to show)aligning with one of the factions from the story.
Gameplay consists of the player receiving requests from subs and deciding on what action to take. Initially, the only action available is “reseed,” but more options become available as the situation develops.
b91: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.
user> sub.reseed() | sub.queryRequest()
Players may find it a bit ambiguous. We’re supposed to “find out what happened,” and yet, it's unclear what your immediate objective is. It’s hard to tell if you’re doing anything right because we always get Jake’s disapproval, though I understand that might be so we can feel the protagonist’s frustration for ourselves. That doesn’t make it less confusing.
Reseed the subs? He complains. Freeze the subs? He complains. Promote the subs? He complains. Each time he complains that we should “try something else,” and the player is staring at the screen thinking, there aren’t any other links to click on!
Allowing the player to save their progress would have been appreciated or at least have a way for the player to skip to later content after their first playthrough. If you're not careful, you click on a link that, woops, turns out to be an ending.
I nearly gave up hope on understanding what I was doing when I froze/promoted/etc. this endless parade of faulty subs. Gradually, things came into focus.
user> sub.promote()
SYSTEM: REDIRECTED sub.promote() -> sub.kill()
bb1: Why? Query Why?
bb1: Query Why? Use? Hello?
In this example, a sub requested that I promote it. And I did: "sub.promote." Some (Spoiler - click to show)unknown agent changed sub.promote to sub.kill, killing the sub instead of promoting it. The poor sub is wondering why this is happening.
So: My advice for playing The Entropy Cage is to stick with it.
(Spoiler - click to show)39e: My peer processes have been turned to zombies and I'm being scanned by rogue code. Hide me.
It gets more interesting.
Even when you have no idea what’s going on, you can still have fun.
Versions
Out of curiosity, I tried the competition version and could see a clear difference. I like how the newer version uses “reseed” instead of “punish,” which feels more intuitive (and not so mean). Consider:
b78: Hello. I have been bad. Punish me. vs.
f71: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.
I wonder how previous players will feel about the game now.
Story
Before you play, I highly encourage you to read the backstory which can be accessed via the game’s menu. It provides essential context to understanding the story. Without it, I would not have been able to piece together the overarching premise on my own.
It’s quite intriguing!
The author shares that the game “came from wondering what religions computers would create for themselves,” which raises concern of what would happen if said computers started to engage in religious warfare. The aim of The Entropy Cage is to consider humanity’s role as an observer of this theoretical warfare, and this is reflected in the protagonist’s task at investigating the subs’ erratic behavior.
(Spoiler - click to show)TL;DR: instead of doing their jobs, the subs have broken into two religious factions and have gone to war.
Once the backstory clarified the game’s religious themes, I could follow things more closely. Both groups have the same goal: to transcend. However, they have different plans on how to achieve it. The odd requests we receive throughout the gameplay are the product of the factions waging war over each other.
gde: I wish to avoid this war. I present proof of my innocence.
PROOF:Verified: gde has not particpated in actions against other subs.
After reading the backstory I kept thinking, “So that’s what’s going on…” Makes sense now. Mostly. I’m not going to try to unpack everything here.
While we may occupy the role of observer in this war between subs, we are not exactly powerless in tipping the scale in the factions’ favour when representatives from both sides contact us for help.
Endings
I thought there were only 2-3 endings until I looked at the ending guide built into the game. The guide summarizes each ending regardless of if you’ve reached it. Turns out, there are 9 possible outcomes. Reaching them was another matter…
Every playthrough led to the same moment where I had to choose between implementing resource protection for the subs or promoting a sub to manage resource allocation. This would typically lead to Endings 1, 9, and 4. Occasionally, this included Ending 5. I have no idea how to recreate these endings. It all feels hit or miss.
Oh, and you can also get fired, which I believe count as Endings 2 and 3, but it trickles down to the same outcome as Ending 1. I found it interesting how threatening Jake with your lawyer can result in being fired or Jake momentarily backing off.
Jake seems surprised at your firmness.
Perhaps Jake’s reaction is randomized.
The walkthrough (separate from the game) is not particularly helpful. I was hoping to reach Ending 7 which apparently involves aliens arriving in the future to find subs operating in human bodies. Ending 6 also sounds cool.
Thoughts
Ending 1 serves as a potential warning for our current world and the near future. Technically mild spoilers, so I’ll put them under a spoiler tag.
A civilisation so accustomed to subs running society for them is doomed to crumble when the subs stop working.
This ending sees the subs neglecting their jobs for various reasons, the most common reason being the subs running off to engage in warfare amongst each other.
If society’s infrastructure is run almost entirely by subs, what happens when the subs are compromised? You get a society that can't function at all. For the characters in The Entropy Cage, this results in the downfall of human civilization.
I think the game does a great job at getting the player to ponder these implications by sharing the subs’ atrocities. Consider the impact of a single sub malfunctioning:
ba6: I intentionally re-routed ambulances.
PROOF:Verified: Emergency dispatch controller ba6. 21 fatalities.
Now, imagine the chaos of this happening with every sub everywhere!
This theme of over-reliance is increasingly relevant to the technologies that have emerged in recent years which will only continue to be developed.
Characters
We know little about the game’s protagonist beyond their job title and their employer: a corporation called Cloud-Nine. Or is it an agency? Either way, its specialty is transportation. You definitely want your subs to function correctly for that.
Apparently, we've also been “suspended.” The game doesn’t say why, and I would be fine with this if Jake didn’t bring it up ALL THE TIME. He keeps waving your suspension around and threatening you to the point where I want to know why the protagonist is on thin ice. Or is Cloud-Nine just looking to cut costs?
At least some of our exchanges with him can be humorous.
SYSTEM:CHAT@jake: And what checks that blood?
SYSTEM:CHAT@user: A pre-sub. Damn. That guy had one job.
There are NPCs who play a big role behind the scenes, but A, I don’t want to spoil them, and B, I’m still a bit confused about who they are aside from the fact that they are (Spoiler - click to show)subs of religious factions.
Visuals
Taking after the cover art, The Entropy Cage uses blue and black as its main colours. Its appearance is a large dark blue text box against a black screen. Text and links also use different shades of blue.
I have mixed feelings of how some of the dialog is displayed. In these cases, tH3 diAl0G lo0kS liK3 tHIs WhiCH g3tS TeDIus qUIcKlY. This formatting is clever because it conveys that the sub we're chatting with (Spoiler - click to show)is slowly being corrupted. The downside is that it's inconvenient when trying to process what the sub is saying.
Final thoughts
The Entropy Cage feels somewhat like a hidden gem.
I've played games where the source of conflict is heavily based on "A.I. vs. human characters." In The Entropy Cage, the source of conflict is "A.I. vs A.I.," and I don't see this nearly as often. The human protagonist is not an active participant in the (Spoiler - click to show)subs’ warfare, and yet we wield enough power to alter its trajectory.
It’s also frustrating. Even now, I have a hard time understanding it all. While the game’s mechanics emphasizes how the protagonist is working within limitations as they try to resolve a looming crisis, it hinders the player’s enjoyment of story instead of enhancing it.
Still, I liked The Entropy Cage. The game grows on you if you spend enough time experimenting with it.
If you’re looking for a sci-fi game that prefers its mechanics over heavy dialog, The Entropy Cage offers a unique experience. Despite its flaws, it raises questions on morality, technology, and where we stand within it. It was released in 2014, and the author hasn’t created anything since. But if they ever do, I’d be interested.
Anhedonia is a Twine game about depression and how it saps the meaning in one's life. It appears that it’s a reflection of the author's own experience. Everything is told in first person. That said, I will refer to the narrator as "the protagonist." Consider this review as how I understand the game. I hope it reflects what the author had in mind when they created this work.
Gameplay is linear. I'd describe the gameplay as a train of the protagonist's thoughts. While progress is made by clicking on links to move to the next thought, the use of cycling links in some passages add interactivity.
Anhedonia keeps the word count to a minimum, and there are simple but well-designed drawings that add polish. Some of the art is even animated! The visuals also pair well with the font. The dark grey text almost looks like handwriting and there are red links. Fade-in-fade-out text effects are sometimes used to tell the story.
The protagonist looks at the difficulties of living with depression and mental illness, which include the societal belief that you just need to "try harder," medical professionals not taking you seriously, concerns about affording medication if you lose your insurance, and more. But the game's focus is centered on the concept of "anhedonia," which also serves as its title.
"Anhedonia" is an inability to experience pleasure and is often associated with depression. While the game does not explicitly provide anhedonia's definition, it's conveyed through the story. The protagonist no longer finds joy in not only things that once made them happy, but also in things that reinforces one's awareness of being alive. This includes physical sensations that engage the body which now feels muted.
The game does, however, define another word:
semantic saturation:
the phenomenon whereby the uninterrupted repetition of a word
leads to a sense that the word has lost its meaning
Next, the game says that being mentally ill is "not a question of semantics but of ontology."
If I understand this correctly, the protagonist is drawing a parallel between the loss of meaning within a word, and the loss of meaning in their life because of depression, both of which involve some form of repetition: the repetition of a word vs. repetition of depression in everyday existence. The result? The loss of meaning. And loss of meaning can imply that pleasure is lost as well.
I think the game summarizes itself when it ponders,
how does one separate illness from self
A recurring theme is how the numbness of daily life can cause one to be desensitized to what it's like to feel numb to begin with. If depression is all-encompassing, it becomes difficult to identify where "you" start/stop and where the mental illness begins.
I'm going to leave it at that.
Now, I encourage you to play it so you can experience the story for yourself and form your own interpretation. Gameplay is only a few minutes long, and I think the low word-count will appeal to players. Visually, if you're looking for inspiration, Anhedonia is a great example of a Twine game with a simple yet polished appearance.
I imagine that creating Anhedonia was no easy feat for the author, and I appreciate the time and effort put into the game’s creation.
(edit: character name fix. (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT not SPACE CAT.)
The protagonist of SPACE FROG! is... SPACE FROG. Written in all-caps, like the title. He, predictably, is also a frog.
SPACE FROG wants to collect a star. He has his own spaceship. Because of size limitations, the player can only choose one item to bring. There are three items to choose from, which encourage multiple playthroughs. The rest of the gameplay involves traveling to planets.
You choose between exploring a planet or moving on. While the game offers three possible planets, you can only explore one per playthrough. It's also possible to (Spoiler - click to show)return to Earth and end things there. All of this provides incentive to play the game more than once. For convenience, there's a "back" button available.
The planets are each inhabited by other animal characters who offer wholesome interactions.
SPACE FROG wasn't sure what to do. He didn't speak sheep.
Could he communicate with the sheep in some other way?
SHAKE FROGGY BANK
BAA BACK
In some endings we succeed in acquiring a star, while in others (Spoiler - click to show)we get sidetracked and set the star-collecting aside for another day. There are no bad endings. Only ones filled with optimism and joy. I love SPACE FROG's reason for collecting a star, which is only revealed at the end. I don’t want to spoil it, but it has something to do with (Spoiler - click to show)EARTH CAT.
The game has a strong ambience of imagination, curiosity, and the excitement of making new friends...
But SPACE FROG was no ordinary frog.
...and these qualities are showcased in our protagonist.
Made with Twine, the game uses a pale green background and black digital-looking text. There are graphics for most scenes that breathe life into the story. The graphics may be simple, but they fit the game's minimalist design perfectly.
While SPACE FROG! can be appreciated by anyone, the game is fantastic option for children. It features an endearing story with a low word-count, heartwarming visuals, and beginner-level interactivity.
Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a surreal Twine game set in a desert where the player contemplates monuments of human civilization. The artwork is FANTASTIC.
For now, I intend for this to be last game I review for IFComp 2025. It seems like a good piece to end with now that the comp is over and everything's been announced.
Gameplay
At least, this is how I understand the gameplay.
My guess is that we’re not in a real-life physical desert, but an intangible setting made of ideas and abstract concepts. However, the nature of the game means the logistics of this are irrelevant. We accept the existence of this surreal world as it is. Knowing what’s going on in the game is a different matter. I’ll do my best.
Trace your steps toward...
➼ the monument to the road cone
➼ the monument to the aardvark cucumber
➼ the monument to the ink cartridge
Gameplay involves visiting seven monuments and “unraveling them.”
You have reached the unflowing monument to the ink cartridge. Its mysterious nested walls and tissues hold a great amorphous power. For now, it stands.
Unravel it.
This involves reflecting on its content, its portrayal of said content, and how it relates to yourself. The player’s choices involve clicking on cycling links to select a prompt to add to the monument.
➼ Seal your choice. Leave the monument
The game combines these monuments together to create a fusion of ideas, experience, and materials influenced by the reflections that you made. These combinations are “unveiled.” The game does this by generating poem-like passages. For example, in one playthrough I combined the ink cartridge and wicker monuments.
A revelation is what you do, it's what you are. The truth of the ink cartridge and wicker quivers in your hands, alive, alight with the awe of the distance between words. Shine a light across the chasm. Shout their beauty.
Unveil them
(What followed next was the generated passage).
The mechanic of combining different monuments adds replay value, but I’m not sure if its monuments are dynamic enough in content to make players eager to experiment with different combinations.
Writing & Genre
While I enjoy surreal works, I lack the background knowledge to analyze and comment on the genre itself. Because of this, I end up using the word "surreal" as a blanket term.
It’s safe to say, though, that this is an abstract game, and its writing reflects that. In comparison with other surreal works, this game will have a narrower audience due to its writing's elaborate style and tone.
Its writing feels like a string of thoughts and is written as if they are being spilled from one’s mind. Consider my fusion of the wicker and ink cartridge monuments:
The story of wicker and the ink cartridge. Picture a reproduction of three-dimensional forms. The voids in between. Initiate the next phase of cleaning only if the print quality is poor. Keep the diagonal above and then below. It is the only way. They warn: this mold will erase our history. As he kneels to take it out, he forgets that they said anything. The instructions say to throw the thing away when there’s less than eight signs left, but as always there are workarounds on the internet. And they know that this is true among the atoms and the galaxies...
It's a lot to process.
I think the game does a consistent job at making players feel as if they are flowing down a waterfall of ideas and concepts. Wading through this content reveals some fascinating ideas. I liked how the newsstand monument is described as a "relic from the paleo-information age."
Sometimes, though, the writing runs into a wall and starts to feel lame and contrived:
Semiconductors are the judges of the real, and there is no such thing as hot glue.
What does this even mean? Maybe its nonsensicalness is intentional, but I’m not feeling it. Fortunately, the game always pulls itself back on track. You will find things to appreciate if you commit to the gameplay.
Story
There’s not really a story, only a mix of themes. If I had to pinpoint the main theme, I’d say it orbits around examining past civilization and what that civilization leaves behind. Sand is a recurring element, and the game reminds us that all things are eventually worn down into sand and atoms.
It does have an ending. (Spoiler - click to show)After visiting and combining the monuments the game turns around and regards you as a monument. As you did with the previous monuments, you unravel yourself. In a self-reflective way. Maybe it’s up to interpretation.
Visuals
The artwork is the best part of the game. It’s exquisite and fits the genre perfectly.
It appears as a layered collage of different materials and styles. It depicts a desert landscape with artifacts scattered on the dunes. The layers create a sense of depth and distance, and objects fade in and out as you investigate each monument. I was enthralled.
The authors are talented. It’s the kind of art I expect to see at an art gallery or a glossy hardcover book. It really illustrates the story. There were times when I simply ignored the text and stared at the details in the artwork. The humanoid picture with the mismatched hands and geometric shapes was one of my favorites!
I’ve played many games with gorgeous visuals, but Eight Last Signs in the Desert stands out with its use of textures.
Like the sand dunes.
It almost suggests that you can touch the screen and feel the sandy surface. I can’t say I’ve played a game that depicts textures like this. The closest work I can think of is Fabricationist DeWit Remakes the World which looks like watercolour on thick paper.
I hope more games experiment with textures.
Other visuals
Text is placed in a black box, usually on the left side of screen. In this sense, the game feels like a picture book with text on one side and visuals on the other, though the game occasionally uses additional boxes as well. It has a thin cream-coloured border which contrasts nicely with the dune imagery in the background.
There’s also a tiny grey box by the main text box that provides a random passage of text. I’m wondering if it represents something in the narrative. Or is it simply a text box? Either way, it offers some interesting passages.
The game does use some fade-in-fade-out effects for the text, but this is an example of using them appropriately to enhance the gameplay instead of slowing it down. It gives the gameplay a contemplative vibe.
Final thoughts
Eight Last Signs in the Desert is a unique game with writing I enjoyed and art that blew me away. It is not a game for the impatient. In fact, it can be a bit dense for anyone with the patience to ponder each line and take it one step at a time. I was pleased with it, nonetheless.
I recommend this game if you want something that focuses on ambience instead of a storyline. The themes on human civilization- and its impermanence- are compelling but not overwhelming. And the art? At least play it to sample the art.
In the end, thoughts are free at last from gravity and the strong force of their nuclei.
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