Reviews by Kinetic Mouse Car

Grocery shopping. Again.

You play as an unnamed protagonist who begrudgingly hauls herself into the local supermarket to complete the weekly errand of buying groceries. You only have $20 in your pocket, so budget wisely.

Gameplay involves going through the store and deciding which groceries to buy. It soon becomes clear that (Spoiler - click to show)buying groceries isn't important. Turns out this mundane errand is the protagonist's desperate grasp for any normalcy because, well... it's the apocalypse.

The strength of Errand Run is how the protagonist knows more about her situation than we do, leaving us in the dark until the end where it pulls a delightful bait-and-switch.

Now, we do know that something's going on. The lights are off, the AC doesn't work, and the store is understocked. But you can be fooled into thinking that the world is simply going through a rough patch. Local food shortages, overdemand of the power grid, etc.

With a sigh, you step through the automatic doors of the local supermarket. No blast of cool air whisks over to greet you; the AC's been acting up for months now.

Oh, no, no, no.

The game’s writing is frosting on the cake. Its cynical humor provides commentary about the task at hand without being too dire. The author builds on this visually through text effects and colours that convey (Spoiler - click to show)the protagonist’s wobbly mental state.

To conclude, Errand Run is a brief horror game about (Spoiler - click to show)crawling back to the familiar because the entire world has gone to pieces. It doesn’t go deep with its story, but it doesn't need to.

Where it doesn’t have depth, it sure has attitude.

Saltwrack follows a perilous expedition across an unforgiving arctic landscape. The story is bleak. The odds are grim. The characters search for secrets best left undisturbed.

Gameplay
Saltwrack describes itself as a “post-post-apocalyptic” story in a world that has been devastated by snowfalls of salt and an ice age. The land is now one vast deposit of salt, also known as a wrack. Human civilization resides in six cities, existing as points of light, huddled at the edges of this harsh wasteland.

You are an interpreter- a scientist. The Observational Society has agreed to fund your proposal: to journey to the center of a salty wrack to discover its secrets. No one has attempted such a journey.

But first you select two individuals to aid you on the expedition: a saltwalker and an oracle. Saltwalkers know the physical landscape through experience and excel at survival, while oracles have precognition and interpret dreams. There are two candidates for both categories, providing incentive for replays.

The entire expedition- traveling to the wrack’s center and returning to the city of Hearth- is expected to take 40 days. Player decisions center on navigating the land with the guidance provided by your travelling companions. The game keeps track of your progress at the top of the screen.

Day 1 | Miles travelled: 40 | Rations: Plentiful

You also collect specimens and samples as proof of your discoveries. And no save features, either. Death looms behind every action.

All sorts of unexpected things can happen.

What frustrates me about the gameplay is how your choices don’t always have as much influence as you would think.

For example, (Spoiler - click to show)the number of specimens I brought back to the Observational Society had no effect on whether they believed my account of the expedition. The protagonist takes notes automatically, but surely physical specimens are needed as proof, right? Turns out, you can skip every opportunity to collect samples, and the Society will still believe you.

There are also moments where the game overrides the impact of your previous choices in favor of a pre-determined outcome. Sometimes the (Spoiler - click to show)female saltwalker would leave even when I followed her advice and established a good rapport with her through conversation. It felt like the game simply wanted her to be taken out of the picture, rapport or no rapport.

Despite this occasional rigidness, the game still managed to surprise me. I didn't think it was possible, but I somehow managed to (Spoiler - click to show)make it to Hearth with the second oracle where we recovered in the hospital clinic together. Usually, the oracles either die or choose to stay in the wrack.

I enjoyed finding every salt-sign glyph encountered by the saltwalkers. I found glyphs for (Spoiler - click to show)Contamination, Trap, and Death.

Story
The game is somewhat reserved in the amount of backstory it provides, but from the looks of it, there is a dead city in the center of the wrack. This city was once a hot spot for technological advancement until something devastated the world. You intend to find its origin. Spoilers.

Fortunately, there are other endings that are slightly more optimistic.

Further impressions
The wrack is probably the coolest (I don’t mean that as a pun) piece of frozen wasteland I’ve encountered in interactive fiction.

It’s interesting how it (Spoiler - click to show)almost has its own consciousness, tied in with the local ecosystem and (I assume) independent from what we find in the facility. Exploring the wrack for too long can result in you becoming “wrack-touched,” where you gain oracle-like abilities that enhance how you perceive the world. Your body’s biology can even be altered.

The protagonist is surprised to see that the wrack is not devoid of life. Rather, unfamiliar organisms- extremophiles- have appeared, their biology allowing them to thrive in this cold wasteland. I love the concise yet vivid way the writing describes these creatures.

Hydras, polyps, a profusion of tiny invisible life.

This life, however, is absent in the city ruins. We learn, vaguely, that the (Spoiler - click to show)anomaly created in the facility would consume natural ecosystems and produce salt as a waste product. That’s probably the clearest answer we’ll get.

We tend to envision the future as being high-tech, but Saltwrack approaches this differently. It appears that the saltfall and ice age has knocked humanity backwards in technological advancement. Any tech we encounter feels rediscovered. While there is no mention of computers or radio communication, we wear clothing made of synthetic fibers and travel in an experimental machine powered by a motor engine.

Parallels to our world
As is often the case with my reviews, I like to take a detour to explore some broader concepts. Feel free to skip this part. I'll stick it under a spoiler tag to take up less space.

Visuals
Just a basic black screen with white text formatted neatly in the center. Links are underlined and stats are clearly listed at the top. Its lack of frills fits with the game’s grim, no-nonsense atmosphere.

Final thoughts
Saltwreck is an intriguingly desolate work of horror with vivid writing that conveys the bleak, salty expanse of the wrack and the expedition that attempts to cross it. There are a variety of events that can happen during the journey, encouraging many playthroughs.

Over time, the gameplay can start to feel inflexible, but the descriptiveness of the setting and its harsh realities make it difficult to turn away. I enjoyed it immensely.

(And if there’s spiky mold on your rations, don’t eat it.)

Grove of Bones begins with an intro in the form of a campfire story.

Years ago, the village was on the brink of death. No rain, no crops, no food, nothing. Then a man visits bringing saplings. He claims that the saplings will provide the village with everything it needs to flourish... as long as regular blood sacrifices are made. They are horrified. He knows he has them in a corner. If they turn down his offer, they won't last long.

He also knows how to stir the pot.

He tells them that guiltier the sacrifice, the better bounty the trees will provide. Suddenly, any moral qualms evaporate. Blood sacrifices aren't so bad if the person deserves it, right? And so, they agree. Sacrifices shall occur every blood moon. The saplings grew into trees located in an area they called the "Grove of Bones."

You play as one of the villagers listening to the story (btw, it’s also a blood moon).

The game lets the player choose their gender as well as whether they previously had a wife or husband. For some reason, your spouse was previously deemed a candidate for the grove. You still have your son, Treya.

Naturally, your son also becomes the village’s latest pick for the blood sacrifice. Gameplay involves making decisions to protect Treya. The defining choice in the gameplay is whether (Spoiler - click to show)you take a bottle of salt or some flint and steel with you as you take your kid to the grove. Both serve the same function but unlock two different achievements.

The game ends with a brief epilogue, and you can restart the game halfway for replays. I found three endings. I am pleased to say (Spoiler - click to show)none of them involve Treya being harmed. Take that, trees.

Intentionally or not, Grove of Bones makes it easy to dislike the village. Or at least, the village leader.

The game strongly predisposes the player into siding with the protagonist over the village’s needs. Collectively, the villagers are depicted as cowardly, spiteful, uncaring, more than ready to point fingers and throw their neighbors under the bus. And perhaps that is the nature of their community.

An interesting point is also made: the villagers have become so reliant on the trees’ apples that they’ve neglected cultivating other food sources. The implication of (Spoiler - click to show)destroying the trees becomes much worse.

I think the game could have been stronger if it elaborated why the protagonist’s spouse was taken. The characters say they were “guilty” of something. Did they do something sketchy or were they picked because of something trivial? This is important because it (Spoiler - click to show)triggers a fight among the children, a fight that results in the village condemning Treya to the grove. Further context would have made the children’s fight more understandable.

To conclude, I was expecting a long ChoiceScript game with lots of text.

Not at all.

Grove of Bones is a smallish-sized game that keeps its word count down to what is necessary to the story without skimping on suspenseful content. The story is evenly paced, the implementation encourages multiple playthroughs, and its use of sun and moon imagery adds flair.

It’s a game that forces one to consider the needs of the group against the wants of the individual while cutting us considerable slack (Spoiler - click to show)if we choose to grab the kid, turn, and run.

Frankenstein is at it again… and you’re the severed hand of one of the victims he butchered to make his creation. It seems you have unfinished business.

First impressions
Tone-wise, I thought Frankenfingers would take one of two routes: Either being full of humor (after all, a sentient severed hand?) or a gross fest (again, sentient severed hand). Instead, it sets a blend of melancholy, desperation, optimism, and yearning. And the story is told through poetry!

You're a handsome left hand, seemingly male, from the wrist two bones protrude. Around the ring finger you see an impression, where once was a band but now nude.

Despite what the title and cover art suggests, it’s not exactly a gory game. In fact, (Spoiler - click to show)Igor’s death is the only explicit scene that stood out, and even that is surprisingly low-key. And unlike the hands in the cover art, the hand we play as still has skin. I think most players will feel comfortable with this game. The use of poetry probably also downplays the ick.

Gameplay
As I mentioned, we play as a severed hand. We crawl around Frankenstein’s house with a vague feeling that there is someone we need to return to. Someone outside the house.

The gameplay later clarifies that the overarching goal is to (Spoiler - click to show)recover your ring so your wife, Penelope, will recognize you. Otherwise, she will understandably flip out when she sees the severed human hand crawl through her house’s window.

Frankenfingers takes place on a moderate sized map consisting of Frankenstein’s house, its yard, and the nearby town. I enjoyed this layout and how each area is revealed in stages. (Spoiler - click to show)Initially, you are limited to the house. Then, you gain access to the outdoors when the front door gets destroyed. Once outside, you can explore the house’s property, but the town is only accessible once you have a horse.

Overall, a smooth way of introducing new areas to the player.

Puzzles
I liked the puzzles. They involve creative thinking without being too technical. Its puzzles are generally rooted in common sense. I did need the walkthrough for one of the earlier puzzles: (Spoiler - click to show)fixing the wire. The walkthrough helpfully clarified that I needed an object to connect the two wires together.

The horse-riding puzzle, unfortunately, was a pain.

The only other complaint I have is a possible unwinnable state. In my first playthrough I ran into a problem with the two lighters. They both died. It seems that I used up their juice by lighting them while exploring and/or fooling around which was unexpected. I had no way of seeing (Spoiler - click to show)what was inside the box buried in the graveyard. I restarted the game.

> light lighter
The lighter seems to be dead.

Perhaps that’s my own careless fault, not the game’s. Do not waste the lighters!

Story
Frankenfingers advertises itself as “A Gothic Tale of Love, Redemption, and Dismemberment,” and we get to see all three.

The dismemberment part takes place before the game begins, thankfully. Frankenstein and (Spoiler - click to show)Igor have been kidnapping villagers and using them as “donors” for experimentation, cutting up their bodies and burying any possessions to avoid suspicion. The creature in Frankenstein’s lab is made of body parts from these villagers, including that of the protagonist who was merely traveling home to his wife and daughter.

If love is what brought the severed hand to life, redemption is the part that drives the protagonist to (Spoiler - click to show)go home one last time.

Characters
Frankenfingers is proof that even a severed hand can be something players will want to root for. My feelings about being a severed hand were not of disgust. In fact, there was something oddly endearing about a hand wearing a purse to cart around useful items while exploring a gothic household.

The protagonist isn’t out for vengeance or violence. We don’t sense anger or hatred. Only longing for what’s important. Motivated by (Spoiler - click to show)Penelope’s handbag and the smell of her perfume, the protagonist embarks with quiet determination to reunite with her, no matter how brief that reunion may be.

And surprising empathy is extended towards (Spoiler - click to show)Frankenstein’s monster who is merely referred to as “the creature.” He sees us and understands how we feel. We feel for him too.

Final thoughts
Frankenfingers is not the first interactive fiction game I’ve played that features a body part as a protagonist, but it certainly stands out and has left a lasting impression with its overlapping of gothic horror and love. I was not expecting the depth of emotion found in the final scene.

I’m giving it four stars because of the horse puzzle. It could use further refinement, or at least have the walkthrough further explain how the reigns work. Other than that, I am pleased with my experience. If you want a horror game with humanizing qualities, play Frankenfingers.

It's snowy outside. A great opportunity to drink tea and play a mysterious video game!

I am a big fan of games that present a mundane narrative only to peel it all back to expose something sinister underneath. Violent Delight is that kind of game. But unlike some games that simply strive to horrify their audiences, the gristle in Violent Delight is also embodied in societal issues that are their own kind of horror.

To get to the meat of this review, go to the Story section.

Remember: Violent Delight is a game about a protagonist playing another game called “The Playground.” A game within a game. Don’t get them mixed up.

Gameplay
Violent Delight begins with the protagonist buying a cartridge game off an online auction site and having it shipped to their home to play on their computer. Our screen is organized into three columns: The left for messages we choose to save, the middle for the protagonist’s thoughts, while the right column represents the protagonist’s own computer screen.

“The Playground” is explored in levels. Each level features a small, illustrated map that we navigate with arrows. The illustrations are clickable. Clicking on signs, screens, and faces brings up a black text box with white text that shares a character’s thoughts or displays readable content. There is also a DOWN and UP button below the protagonist’s computer screen that allows you to visit the levels as they become available.

When you turn on “The Playground” you have a limited amount of time to play until it shorts out. There are probably technical details that went over my head, but the jist is that the game’s cartridge can be opened and tinkered with to allow us to access more levels. Tinkering with it takes time, though.

Speaking of time, here’s a quality of the gameplay that may drive some players away:

It.

Takes.

So.

Long.

For things to load.

Each portion of gameplay is interspaced by wait periods in the form of a loading-in-progress bar. The bar is meant to mark the passage of time in the game, only allowing you to move forward once the bar has filled. Except this can take a while. Now, I understand the narrative merit of this. If the protagonist must wait for a package to be delivered, so do you.

…but for a whole hour?

Maybe not exactly a full hour, but pretty darn close. And no, demanding efficiency of the postal service has no result. I was amused to find that if you wait too long to answer the door the delivery man just leaves it on your doorstep instead having you sign for it.

I don’t necessarily see these waiting periods as a bad thing since they are tied to the story. It also helps that the other waiting periods are only a few minutes each at most. However, having to wait at all will likely be a turnoff for some. Yes, it fits with the story, but I don’t know if this is worth losing potential players. At least most segments can be managed by opening another tab and doing other things while you wait.

Answer the door.

Finally!

Of course, if I overlooked an obvious feature that circumvents this inconvenience, someone let me know.

A convenient feature of the gameplay is a “Print” button that saves any text from “The Playground” that sparks your interest. You can then read it while the game makes you wait.

Ultimately, I’m glad I stuck it out. In fact, I ended up playing this game more than once.

Story/Characters
Game within the game
“The Playground” begins in a place called “Park.” It predominantly features child characters, and while there seems to be no sole protagonist, it does give a lot of attention to a boy named Rupert. Rupert is quite fond of his duck toy Duckie and has an innocent whimsical view of the world. Soon that innocence gets chiseled away.

please Read our manifesto!!! The world isn't what it seems!!! We have to save our reality!!!

Even the characters know something is up.

Each level becomes darker and edgier, though this is expressed in different ways.

Blurring realities
Major spoilers in this section. Please play the game first for the full experience.

Recurring elements
Throughout “The Playground” we see recurring elements: Duckie, (Spoiler - click to show) wanting to play on the roof, a fearfulness of doors, someone named Carla. But the most common one is a ball. Somehow, things circle back to wanting a ball or having a ball and then losing it.

The significance of these is not entirely clear, but the ball and Duckie could be tied to the overarching theme of innocence lost, something that steadily occurs as Rupert and his peers move through each level.

“Park” is interesting because it is the rare level that allows us to alter the scenes themselves. There is a child in the upper left corner of the map with a ball, and a child in the lower right corner lamenting about not having a ball. You can actually take the ball from the first child and give it to the second child. Yay!

But then the second child loses it.

the ball's gone down there somewhere... isn't it amazing up here? you can see for miles.

I didn’t give this much thought at first, but (Spoiler - click to show)the phrase “gone down there somewhere” may- and this is just wild speculation- refer to the basement.

I would love to hear the author’s insights on making this game.

Visuals
I really like the game’s art. It’s crude in an appealing way. Reminds me of the art in the Quest game Space Punk Moon Tour but with less detail.

As I’ve mentioned, the game has three columns. They are colour-coded: red, bluish grey, and yellowish grey in that order. Font is stylized while also being easy to read.

Conclusion
Violent Delight is a potent example of surreal horror. Its cozy premise of playing video games amid snowy winter weather is flipped upside down as we’re drawn into the world of “The Playground” and (Spoiler - click to show)forced to witness it bleed over into reality.

I’m taking off a star because I think, for an IFComp game, the waiting periods (at least the wait time for the package) may be a lot to ask for players. But other than that, Violent Delight is one of my favorite games in this year’s IFComp.

Was I engrossed? Yes.

(edit: added spoiler tag/spelling change)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

For this game, we jump ahead to the year 2055. You are part of a team sent to investigate Neptune Base, a research and mining station at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that has been the recent site of accidents among its personnel. During the investigation an explosion shakes the base and knocks you unconscious. You wake up in a medical bed with the confirmation that foul play has occurred.

Now that I think about it, Neptune Base does not give the impression of being a mining station. Only for conducting classified research.

Gameplay
Gameplay has nice atmosphere. Escape from the Deep follows the trope of exploring a compromised near NPC-less structure after an unknown accident. You wake up in the medical bay and see carnage but no explanations. Finding answers and survival are intertwined. I have reviewed games like this from the past, and I find them to be tons of fun. Particularly with science fiction.

One thing I really liked is the “use [item]” structure in the gameplay. No need for “unlock door with key,” or- well, I shouldn’t spoil the solutions. Usually, two words is all you need. If you are stuck, you can go room to room using things at random, but the game is designed to still retain a sense of problem solving. After all, you must acquire the item first. There are occasional technicalities that dent the player-friendliness, but ultimately it is designed to keep the player moving forward.

Also: the game sometimes discards items that you no longer need. That was helpful. Especially since there is an inventory limit. Aside from the crowbar, diving attire, and keycards, everything only has one application in the gameplay. The evidence being priceless, of course.

There is a small in-game help system. It provided much appreciated assistance for (Spoiler - click to show) luring out the monster with the food pack. I needed help, and the game provided just that. However, there are puzzles that are equally/if not more technical that have no guidance. It seems like the support system is randomly scattered across the game, as if the author intended to provide an in-depth one but gave up on it halfway through. I am still grateful for it.

Challenges
The puzzles are fun! Most are intuitive. They felt satisfying and rewarding to solve. However, some could use smoother implementation. Please consider this part as a critique. I hope this does not deter you from playing. If anything, it might guide you.

It took FOREVER figure out how to (Spoiler - click to show) deactivate the laser grid around the strange artifact in the lab. The in-game help system had nothing to say about it. This was the puzzle that was keeping me from finishing the game. I wanted to review this game ever since it appeared on IFDB but could not get past this puzzle. I had to set the game aside and return to it several times before succeeding.

I had the right idea early on. (Spoiler - click to show) The only functioning generator in the other room kept glitching as the water level regularly spilled into its vents. This glitch kept the laser grid from shutting off due to security controls. Covering the vents seemed liked the answer, and it was. But with what? That is where the gameplay stalled for me.

The game needs to make it clearer that you can take a tray from the kitchen. After opening the fridge, "take all" results in picking up the small kettle and food pack.

You can see: Metal Trays, a Small Fridge, an Instruction Sign, a Kitchen Sink, a Small Kettle and a Food Pack.

Attempting the command again results in "There is nothing you can take at the moment." However, the game still responds to "take tray." I understand that it is up to the player to examine the room carefully, but this was one detail that could have been better implemented.

(Spoiler - click to show) To use the metal tray on the generator, you must also have the box of screws and screwdriver in your inventory. Otherwise, "use tray" will simply result in "not right now." No indicator that the player in on the right track. No "the vent is in the way," or "you need to remove the vent, first." Just "not right now." Sometimes, “no need right now.” And that is frustrating since it is a prompt that the game uses every time you try to experiment with your surroundings.

“Not right now” was the bane of this gameplay. In this case, “Not right now” makes sense since you just do not have the materials to complete the task. Generally, however, there is little way of knowing if what you are doing is productive or if you are wasting time because “Not right now” can be either. Sometimes the game will let you know if you are one the right track while messing around, but more often or not it was “Not right now,” when it came to experimentation.

An example of when I wasted time through experimentation was finding a battery for the wetsuit. This occurred when I first tried the game. The description of wetsuit is:

You notice however, the Thermal battery pack is EMPTY! Which makes it uselss in sub-zero waters.

I wondered if the kettle had something to do with it. The description reads:

It's a small kettle...It's cordless with a battery and built in boil function. Handy if there's a power cut or you want to be portable with it.

I figured that I could use the battery in the kettle- which is used for heating purposes- for the wetsuit. Playing around with the kettle to extract or examine the battery was a mix of “not right now” and “no need right now.” The solution lies elsewhere, but in those early stages I could not gauge if I was on the right path.

Stickler technicalities
There are technicalities. Bugs or things that do not hinder the gameplay but make it less immersive.

For example, when you look at the mirror in the crew bathroom for the first time, you catch a glimpse of the creature scampering down the hallway. However, this occurs if you do this after you (Spoiler - click to show) kill it with the expired food.

Or juggling the evidence on your person. Attempting to read the file after assembling and wearing your dive suit, swimming outside, and then returning indoors results in this response:

That is in a secure water proof pounch in you suit. Pulling them out in water will render them useless and any evidence may have had. (There are typos in the game.)

The game insists that you cannot reread materials even if you are nice and dry inside the base. Meanwhile, you can drop the item while swimming around. But that causes them no damage despite that dropping them means separating them from your waterproof pockets.

Story
The story sparks curiosity and offers a nice amount of suspense. The medical bay that you wake up in is trashed. A dead nurse is lying nearby. You have no idea of what happened, and yet it does not resort to the amnesia trope. Clearly something has happened on Neptune Base. Something that is still alive and lurking. And there are signs of it.

You call out, there's no response. You do hear a scurrying movement coming from somewhere. That's unnerving.

With Escape from the Deep, you can kind of see the story coming a mile away, the secrecy behind the research project. It consists of (Spoiler - click to show) sea monster experimentation where a fellow staff member takes one for the team and agrees (the level of consent behind this agreement is never clarified) to become a test subject for unethical science. Or “science” depending on how you look at it.

Escape from the Deep follows a familiar model found in some sci-fi and sci-fi/horror games. Its backstory can be recreated in a few easy steps:
(Spoiler - click to show)
Step 1: Scientists find DNA from an unexplainable life form. Especially one with dangerous attributes.

Step 2: Scientists ask themselves, “what could possibly go wrong?”

Step 3: Scientists combine said strange DNA/alien biology with that of a human. Bonus points if the human is a fellow scientist.

Step 4: You can probably fill in the blanks for this one. Things go wild. Scientists do not stand a chance against their own creation. The PC, regardless, if they are a test subject or a surviving scientist, now has run of the place. Gameplay begins.

This is just a general model. I can tell you now that the protagonist in Escape from the Deep is neither test subject nor scientist. I enjoyed exploring Neptune Base as an outside party. But the science-gone-wrong trope is obvious. That said, even if you have a feeling that you know what is going to happen, you cannot say for sure until you have played the game.

So, what exactly happened? My understanding is that (Spoiler - click to show) researchers found a bizarre creature and merged its DNA with a person- staff member, I assume- named Erik Stratton. The creature, whom we encounter in the first half of the gameplay, was contained in a laboratory tank but somehow escaped and chowed down on your investigation team. As for Stratton… Anyway.

I still want to know more about the explosion that damaged Neptune Base. And where does the (Spoiler - click to show) neolithic doorway fit in with all this? Furthermore, there are additional signs of (Spoiler - click to show) sabotage as you explore. Wide-spread sabotage. Based on the carnage, it seems like it would have required several people to have participated. Surely it wasn’t just Stratton and that other creature skittering around. Hm.

It would been helpful to be able to read the contents on the USB drive after you download them. In sci-fi games I half expect to have story context conveyed through computer files or logs (although games can also overuse it), but some, like Escape from the Deep, chose not to.

Current Drive has 243 Files - 42 Video Clips
Experiment 002 - May 15th 2052
Experiment 003 - June 3rd 2052

(No way would I expect to see 243 individual entries for the player to read. That would be overkill.)

In this case, it would have been an opportunity to fill in any knowledge gaps, though that would mean extra work on top of an already detailed game.

Endings
I have a bone to pick with the endings. The game informs you that the ending is graded based on how much evidence you bring back to civilization.

One can imagine what this would entail: Bring back one, people raise their eyebrows but admit something funky must have occurred. Two, people sort of believe you but still have unanswered questions. Three, people believe you but still don’t understand the full story. And if you bring back all four, you change the field of science and become a legend.

That’s not what happens. Not exactly. (Spoiler - click to show) You either get “Fortune and Glory and Fame,” or “A small house in nowhere's ville.” Bringing back 3-4 gets you the former. 1-2, the latter. It is not possible to have 0 since you cannot drop the strange artefact once you pick it up. This made no sense to me. The gradient part, that is. You definitely want to keep the strange artefact.

People act like you have no proof even if you cart back the strange artifact and, say, the vial of the creature’s blood. Seriously? Are you telling me that none of it has any merit? Or the USB flash drive with all the files? If you tack on the flimsy personnel file, suddenly everyone believes you. Any single piece of evidence, I feel, would have merit. The optimal ending conveys that scientists were wowed by the strange artifact. How come that’s not the case when it’s the only thing you bring back?

Also, while Neptune Base is falling apart, it is in the same condition as when you left. With the proper precautions, you can always send people back down there. Is it safe? Heck no. But still feasible. I think the (Spoiler - click to show) creature’s corpse in the lab says a lot about the shenanigans that took place.

(Spoiler - click to show) These two ending outcomes consist of two small paragraphs. In a way, it seemed like the author did not bother or want to write individual outcomes. I know that’s a harsh criticism, but if the player spent all this time carefully collecting this evidence, it would have been nice to see a payoff. Plus, I’m a little curious to know more about society’s reaction to these highly unethical science experiments at the bottom of the ocean.

You did it, you escaped the base and have the evidence to show what happened to you and the crew of that doomed station.

A brief overview to summarize all that we have learned would have also helped in wrapping up an otherwise fun sci-fi horror adventure.

And yet, it was still an exciting story.

Characters
This is essentially an NPC-less game. The PC is featureless aside from being a member of the investigation team sent to check out Neptune Base.

The fact that you cannot “x me” struck me as a missed opportunity for character context. If you examine the mirror in the crew quarters, you get a description of the mirror rather than of your appearance. Because of this, I thought something weird may have happened to them after they were knocked out and later brought to the medical bay. What’s the game hiding? Looking back, there is not really anything to suggest that, but that was the state of my brain when I first started playing.

I do like how the protagonist has reactions towards gruesome events, particularly ones having to do with the other people from the investigation team. This adds depth to the scene since its contents are acknowledged and connects back to the protagonist’s ultimate reason for being at Neptune Base to begin with.

Speaking of gruesome: There is gore, but not a lot. A reasonable amount given the circumstances. Instead, the game focuses on a sense of dread which is spiked when you see how “everyone else” died. If the visuals become too much, you can just turn them off.

Visuals
Not all Adventuron games have graphics, but it seems like most do and Escape from the Deep is one of them. They function as a nice visual aid, particularly for building atmosphere.

I liked how some action scenes had their own brief graphic, such as when you (Spoiler - click to show) poison the creature. When you glance at the monitors the game shows the “image” on the screen of the creature breaking open the vent.

The graphics for the (Spoiler - click to show) inside of moon pool scene were a bit cheesy. The moon pool itself was cool. Overall, the visuals were nicely paired with the gameplay.

Final thoughts
Despite some rough areas, this Escape from the Deep is one of the most entertaining Adventuron games I have played so far. You are probably reading this with skepticism given how much I complained, but I say it with productive intentions. I hope it is used that way.

I genuinely had fun with Escape from the Deep. It was one of those games that just comes along at random and appeals to your interests, mine being science fiction. The puzzles in particular offered a stimulating challenge, most being well-clued with creative solutions.

In case you are interested…
If you like the idea of galloping around a failing oceanic research base- especially one with questionable research projects- all (for the most part) by yourself, try A1RL0CK. Chloe, the protagonist, wakes up after an earthquake and gets to go wherever she wants, permitting that there is no locked door in the way. If I recall, the two games were released at around the same time on IFDB and complement each other in certain ways with sci-fi horror themes.

Escape from the Deep also shares similar vibes with The Pool, a Twine game about a marine research center that discarded its ethics for the sake of experimentation. To be frank, The Pool is not a quality game. It’s unpolished. That said, it has some merits, particularly with its distinct atmosphere and sea monster horror movie trope ambience. If you love this aquatic horror genre (a genre I just made up while writing this), The Pool might make a nice excursion.

When I first sat down to play A1RL0CK, I made a prediction based on the opening scene: The protagonist is a girl whose parents work in an ocean lab. After an accident damaging the base, her parents managed to leave a recording that tells her to seek safety with the hope to reunite with them. After playing the game straight through, I am amazed at how naïve I was.

Sure, I was in the ballpark for a few parts. But most of it? Not at all.

Gameplay
We do play as a young girl named Chloe. It’s clear that we are in a research base- Oceanus Prime- at the bottom of some unknown ocean. It is also clear that damage to the base has occurred… and that no one else is around. What really baffles us, however, is the sporadic intercom announcement system shouting instructions in ALL CAPS at random intervals. Something seems off. These messages are chaotic and keep telling us to listen to waterfalls, odd instructions for the situation. We do not understand the meaning of this until later.

At first, I felt like I was playing Chlorophyll where you are a humanoid plant girl exploring an unpopulated research station to save your mom after a vehicle accident. Due to these reasons, the protagonist justifies breaking station rules to enter areas that would otherwise be "adults only" out of necessity and/or just because she wants to. When she does something bad, the station's computer responds by informing her IN ALL CAPITALS THAT SHE IS MISBEHAVING. It is considerably more light-hearted than A1RL0CK but there is a similar sense of endangerment and freedom to break the rules.

The gameplay feels like it is split into two parts. The part when you are on the north side of the door, and the part when you reach the south side. If you have tried the game already, you probably know what I mean by “the door.” And I needed hints, available outside the game, for the first half.

Puzzles
This was a game where when I looked at the hints, I saw that I was on the right track most of the time but failed to make the key connections that would translate into progress. Sure, I may have gotten close to opening the door, but ultimately, I never did. That was the general sentiment if you look at my performance in the first half of my first playthrough.

The two bits that I figured out on my own was that the (Spoiler - click to show) disc was magnetic (after I tried to reattach the disc to the value), and that I (Spoiler - click to show) needed some kind of force to fix the dumbwaiter (after shooting it with the stapler). I also had a bunch of half-ideas (shaking the can to build pressure?) that failed to be productive.

Similarly, the game did not let me put the (Spoiler - click to show) meat in the water since that would be feeding the monster. Best save it for when you need to lure out some other creature later in the game. That last part was me overthinking things. I do that a lot. The real answer was much simpler. As nice as these partial insights were, I was stuck.

Everything about the puzzles seems so obvious now, but it felt more confusing than it should have been the first time through. I could be flimsy at solving puzzles, and I recognize that as a factor. Still, I think that the puzzle mechanics could be more polished for clarity and context. For instance, (Spoiler - click to show) the meat in the kitchen seems a little too perfectly placed. As if it were left there solely for the player rather than as a component of the game’s world.

But once I reached the second half of the gameplay, everything was smooth sailing. I did not need hints afterward.

Setting
I want to make a note on setting. In this game, we orbit Saturn on Titan, one of its moons. I get excited about these things, so please excuse this tangent.

Titan is the only moon in our solar system with an atmosphere, one that is so thick that we did not have a visual of what existed underneath until we clunked a probe, called Huygens, down onto its surface. It does in fact have oceans. Oceans of liquid methane. Well, lakes of liquid methane that you would see if you were standing on the surface.

That said, Cassini, Huygens’ spacecraft counterpart, did scans that suggested the presence of large bodies of liquid- oceans- under the icier parts of the moon. Could it be water? If so, the probability of life flourishes. As the sentiment typically goes: Where there is water, there is life. Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is a similar candidate for finding life-sustaining environments. Neat stuff if you like astronomy.

Anyway, I’m assuming that the Titan in A1RL0CK is an alternative or at least speculative version of the moon since it features deep and seemingly Earth-like oceans with whales. Now, that would be wild. Complex life in our own solar system. And I thoroughly love the author’s depiction of Titan. Usually when solar system planets get recognized in interactive fiction, Mars gets all the attention. I like how A1RL0CK expands to the other planets, or in this case, a moon.

Who knows, maybe there is life that can be sustained on liquid methane instead of water.

Story
To clarify, Chloe (Spoiler - click to show) is a test subject. Oceanus Prime is a research facility built for the experimentation of (Spoiler - click to show) splicing human biology with aquatic alien DNA. The project is managed by an entity called BioFarm, which seems to be a corporation. It certainly follows the corporate-unethical-research-at-all-costs trope.

BioFarm is messing with serious stuff. Apparently, the result of this research is (Spoiler - click to show) telekinesis: the ability to move objects with your mind. Chloe hardly realizes the extent of her abilities. She’s just tired of the tests and being knocked out when some scientist gets too nervous. Fortunately, she has the added benefit of a (Spoiler - click to show) close psychic connection to the ocean’s whales who sing to her from a distance. Which is a good thing since this (Spoiler - click to show) reckless research on whale-human hybrids is also what dooms Oceanus Prime.

There is talk about proteins. I am not entirely sure of its significance, but it gets a mention in the game’s description, so it must be important. We do get some protein action in the form of computer screens and paperwork.

Something to do with... protein? And other: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone appear often in lists and comparisons.

I do wonder: Are they (Spoiler - click to show) testing proteins on Chloe, or are they seeking to extract them from her body? Or something different altogether?

Themes
The story brings up an interesting point: do ethical standards for research on Earth apply to when conducting science on a non-Earth world? You can’t even see the Earth from the moon you are on. Suddenly, Earth protocols seem distant. I thought this was interesting.

This theme is found in (I know it’s a cliché reference, don’t roll your eyes at me) Babel. One of the defining qualities of the research base in Babel is its isolation in the Arctic and how it allows ethical standards to peel away. The base is staffed by a select few, has virtually no contact with the outside world, and was constructed with the unspoken sentiment that any science prohibited elsewhere due to ethical reasons is perfectly fine here.

No rules, regulations, or legal tape. The characters do not even try to dance around that fact. If you’ve reached the point to where you were assigned to this work, you've already learned to not ask questions.

All of this came to mind when the (Spoiler - click to show) “OOJ, A” abbreviation cropped up in A1RL0CK. It stands for (Spoiler - click to show) OUT OF JURISDTICTION, ALLOW. That is, allow for these insane experiments to occur since this place is halfway across the solar system, not on Earth. As Chloe is starting to realize. If being in the Arctic is isolating, imagine what it would be like as a researcher and/or (Spoiler - click to show) test subject on Titan.

You can find this theme across the sci-fi genre, and yet the type of research that occurs can be quite different between games. It always leaves room for interesting discussions.

Ambience
There is no denying that the game has atmosphere. It has some seriously creepy moments. The big one for me is when you (Spoiler - click to show) make it into the southern complex and go east into the eerie interrogation room (from Chloe’s perspective, “interrogation” would be the right word). The room description reads:

The condensation makes it inscrutable but, through it, it's easy to guess the shape of a human figure. It appears to be levitating, its long arms holding it in mid-air.

I just stopped for a moment. Many things went through my mind. So far, I knew that the base was messing around with life forms, including human life. Clearly this was one of them. Some sort of human hybrid who was probably watching us through the glass.

On the other side of it thick condensation prevents you from seeing through. But the figure that stands out behind it, albeit out of focus, is clear and monstrous: a being of the wrong proportions, with long flaccid arms that whirls sinisterly.

Yeah. I was genuinely afraid to (Spoiler - click to show) cut the glass and see what was on the other side. Would this person attack me? So many unknowns. Turns out, the truth was much different, and sadder: (Spoiler - click to show) Nurse Nelly.

Characters
Nelly
Chloe is the star of the game, but I want to discuss this NPC first. One tidbit I liked in the first half of the gameplay is the foreshadowing of a person named Nelly.

> break mirror
Nelly told you what happens when a mirror breaks.

> drink water
It's salty. Nelly told you what happens if you drink salt water.

> spray can
Nelly has always been clear about what happens to little ones who waste food. Especially cream.

If you found these descriptions like I did, the name “Nelly” circulates through your mind as you play. We sense that she may have a closer, and perhaps positive, relationship to Chloe, but all we have is a name and a few shreds of memory. Sadly, the extent of that memory is revealed when we (Spoiler - click to show) see her strung up by her own life support cables (how did that happen?) on the other side of the glass.

The memories we get are a mix of different things. (Spoiler - click to show) We see the happier- or at least happier given Chloe’s circumstances- moments of Nelly comforting her and treating her like a real human being, but these memories soon tilt to being experimented on by the other scientists and being contained for “safety” reasons. We also learn about Nelly’s death, but I’m not going to spoil everything.

I am at least grateful that the author gives us this:
(Spoiler - click to show)
Doing your best to ignore the massive gash that bisects her face, you give Nelly one last kiss.

It’s a bittersweet outcome.

And on that note, is there a consensus about the (Spoiler - click to show) SUPPOSED INTERCOM ALL CAPS ANOUNCEMENTS that we hear throughout the gameplay? Is that… Nelly’s voice? I would assume the dialog is in Chloe’s head, but given everything that has gone on so far, perhaps the voices are an external extension of her mind. Almost like how we can sense states of existence/awareness in Coloratura that are invisible to the human characters. That’s just me speculating, of course.

Chloe
When it comes to child protagonists in interactive fiction- and I don’t mean teens- the genre tends to be slice-of-life, sometimes with a mix of fantasy or other genres. But predominantly sci-fi paired with horror undertones? Less common. For me, at least. If anything, the more you play A1RL0CK, the more it slides towards a horror piece. Especially after you (Spoiler - click to show) break the glass wall in the strange room or visit the quarantine area.

One of the strongest aspects of A1RL0CK is that Chloe still feels like Chloe at any part of the gameplay. While we learn some startling things about her, you still feel like you are playing the same character. In other games, you can feel detached from the protagonist after a big reveal, but that was never the case here. What we learn about her feels like a leap in insight rather than a shift in identity. Not Chl03. Chloe.

Even though Chloe’s (Spoiler - click to show) connection with the whales has proven to be dangerous, or at least to Oceanus Prime, she still views all the invasive research and lab coated scientists through a childlike perspective. Of course, it is also refreshing to see her take survival into her own hands.

(Spoiler - click to show) At the same instant you aim the stapler at her. "O-O-J-A, Miss Celyne," you grin, and shoot.

Yep. Chloe is still Chloe.

Also: When you (Spoiler - click to show) win, there's a strong sense of victory that your biology is what saves you in the end. Perhaps a little bit of "I could breathe underwater this entire time?" but you feel thankful for that.

Final thoughts
I came extremely close to giving this game five stars. A huge fact is that the game kept urging me to play it again and again. I was not expecting to feel that way, but several times I would be combing through IFDB and suddenly have the urge to revisit A1RL0CK for its atmosphere and unique protagonist.

Still, it has some parts that are not as streamlined as the rest of the game. Particularly the earlier puzzles. Hence the four stars, but it easily has the potential to be worth five. It is a great game with a strong emotional impact. For me, that was its main strength.

Chloe’s predicament as a (Spoiler - click to show) test subject combined with her relatable mannerisms (like goofing around with items clearly not meant for play) make her character one with a distinct sense of identity even as her memory remains murky.

The setting was also memorable. Oceanic research bases are a familiar concept, but A1RL0CK distinguishes Oceanus Prime by placing it on Titan. It does an effective job in increasing the isolation that is already present when the game begins.

I would totally play more games featuring Chloe. She is quite an individual.

(In case anyone wants to humor me: I do have two random questions out of sheer curiosity. (Spoiler - click to show) First, is Chloe really wearing a clothing garment or is the suit fused onto her body? Or is it her skin, skin as part of her genetic cross with the whales? Second, when Celyne stabs you with the needle, the game gives you the *** You have died *** ending. Did that needle kill you right away, or is the game suggesting that in the end, you find death later as a captive?)

Oh, how embarrassing: You're carrying a suit (worn). That answers my question.

So warm. How lovely.

Welcome to your cabin.
Please, take a look around.

You find yourself in a cozy cabin surrounded by a winter wonderland. It belongs to you, and only you. It can be customized if you should wish. Just don’t mind me.

(wait a minute…)

Gameplay
Despite the surreal dreaminess that pervades the cabin, you can sense that someone is pulling the strings. And for good reason. I think the game's title gives it away, but I'll put it under spoiler tag anyway: (Spoiler - click to show) Your comfy cozy cabin is a simulation. None of it is real!

The gameplay follows an inconspicuous structure. There is a growing list of activities in the cabin for you to choose from. After three, you grow tired and fall asleep, unless you prolong your energy by drinking coffee (a clever little hack).

What would you like to do?

Drink something
Watch the fire
Read a book

Each time (or every other time) you wake up, a new activity is listed. Cozy activities. And. Activities that seem a little… out of context for this serene winter setting. For instance, the first new activity added to the list is "Watch the holoscreen." Huh. Seems a bit out of place. Things get weirder.

You also notice that the narrator has a habit of speaking directly to the protagonist. It is obvious that this entity controls the (Spoiler - click to show) simulation (again, I feel compelled to put that under spoilers), but the player feels powerless at interfering with the narrator’s soothing prattle. However, if there is a will there is a way. You have options.

Is possible to get under reality’s skin. The trigger to underscoring the (Spoiler - click to show) simulation is hard to find, and yet so cleverly hidden that I can hardly complain about its difficulty. I was too busy admiring this innovative way of using Twine’s visual features. Some players may find it too well-hidden, which is understandable, but it worked for me. Creativity like that pleases me in choice-based games.

I absolutely love the idea of a surreal game with unreliable layers of reality. That said, it could use a little more structure in its gameplay. There is no real sense of discovery where you are chugging along and stumble across something that tells you hm, this is different. A game that captures this subtly is The Twine Fishing Simulator. It strings you along but ultimately leaves it up to you when making the big discoveries. In COZY SIMULATION 2999, the narrator directly feeds the reveal to you. In fact, the narrator gives the impression of I’m totally not narrating the story! This is still effective, and even humorous, but much of the mystery is lost in the process.

So. How exciting can a winter wonderland be? Well, the story takes off when you fall asleep.

Story
When you fall asleep, the (Spoiler - click to show) simulation reveals its flimsiness. You have memories of (Spoiler - click to show) running through an industrial complex, being chased by unknown pursuers. Contrary to the safeness of your cabin, these dreams are a world of machinery, corridors, sharp edges, grime, and pain. The opposite of soft rugs and hot chocolate. The best part is when the game swaps out a new set of visuals that are FANTASTIC at conveying this change in tone. I’ll discuss that in the next section. FYI: (Spoiler - click to show) Memories can surface elsewhere in the game, but mostly through sleep sequences. That’s why it is important to explore every feature.

You want the truth? (Spoiler - click to show) After stubbornly refusing the help of the narrator, I realized that reality meant an industrial surgical ward operated by angels reminiscent of a Porpentine game. Turns out the angel- the narrator- attached to your body is the one pumping the simulation through your mind. And it means well, too. It was never, “ha-ha, you’re mine!” It wants to help you (sort of), but you can only live in a simulation for so long. Or maybe you can. The choice is yours.

I don’t know if I could go back to having pillow fights in the cabin while knowing that- I’ve spoiled too much. Please play the game for the full experience. There are three endings, and the author has kindly provided a built-in guide for reaching them. The author also says that neither are good or bad, but I suppose depends on your interpretation of quality of existence. Do you (Spoiler - click to show) want to know the truth and suffer or exist blissfully as external reality falls apart?

For those who have played the game: (Spoiler - click to show) What does everyone think? The narrator does not seem maliciously deceptive, only wanting to conceal the truth. Which I assume is that 2999 is a horrible year to live in. I thought the clementine description was an eerie indicator.

Sweet and juicy. A little remainder of what they once called summer.

Think about it.

There is some vagueness about being reborn. It’s something that appears in all three endings that I assume has to do with the shenanigans going on outside of the simulation. My guess is that the shenanigan in question is to integrate people into a hive mind as painfully and soothingly as possible. I suppose that is one way of being reborn.

Visuals
At first glance, even the game’s appearance oozes coziness.

The tan text is set in an off-white cream text box with a thick tan border. The font is small and delicate, with light tan links. Graphics are included along the text to depict cozy cabin imagery that adds nice polish. Finally, all of this is set against a white backdrop of a snowy tree, blurred enough to minimize distractions while finalizing the appear of a winter landscape.

Imagine my surprise when that changed. (Spoiler - click to show) Once dream-mode kicks in, the entire background goes black with thick dark-grey rounded borders crammed against the edges of the screen. The text is white, and the links are red. If you seek out the truth, some extra background visuals are added. They make you wonder if maybe staying in that warm winter cabin would have been a better idea than look too closely.

This change in atmosphere was perfect. The use of visual elements to signal (Spoiler - click to show) shifts in reality is one of the strongest parts of the game. Visuals have a lot of potential in storytelling, and I am glad that the author tapped into that. Going from a tranquil cabin to a (Spoiler - click to show) dystopian nightmare moment was powerful. That surprise of the screen going (Spoiler - click to show) dark with anxious-looking white and red text replacing the cabin paradise just had the feeling of Whoa. I love that sort of thing in interactive fiction.

The game uses visual effects in other ways to mess with reality. When text tears through the (Spoiler - click to show) simulation, it is shown in different text that makes it clear that you are straying from the program. For instance, consider (Spoiler - click to show) watching the holoscreen.

The new mental rewiring manufactory has reached 300% efficiency levels, according to StrexCo's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2999 financial results—

No, wait. That's not supposed to happen.

Just ignore that. I'm sorry.

Right. Just ignore it.

The first sentence uses a darker, bold text that is a sharp contrast to the rest of the writing. It represents a break from the façade where fragments of the past creep in. Clearly the narrator did not want the protagonist to see this. Naturally, this only makes it more obvious that the narrator is covering up the truth. The bottom two sentences are the standard text associated with cozy cabin land.

Through visuals you can clearly see the tug of war between the (Spoiler - click to show) simulated reality of the cabin and the nightmarish reality of the “outside” world.

Final thoughts
COZY SIMULATION 2999 is a great blend of sci-fi + horror hidden behind a seemingly innocent slice-of-life premise. There is a bit of everything! While I wish we could explore the backstory a little more (what is going on in 2999?), it feels like a complete game with a strong atmosphere and lots to offer.

It is also a strong first interactive fiction game. I know the author expressed in the game that they were not particularly confident with it, but heck, I had fun! Part of it does appeal to my love of sci-fi surrealness, but it really does demonstrate creative thinking while integrating story, gameplay mechanics, and visual design to create a piece that leaves you wanting more. And I want more.

(Note for the author: There is one small bug with the (Spoiler - click to show) holoscreen and the artwork activities. If you watch the holoscreen enough times, you run out of prompts and only see “lovely colours.” Similarly, if you keep making artwork, the option to do so is eventually replaced by “I don't like your art anymore.” I thought this was hilarious. The problem is that these remain unchanging when you start a new game. You can never revisit the interesting holoscreen channels or the cool artwork that you can “create.”)