Reviews by IFforL2

This bilingual point-and-click manual is a pretty cool cultural demonstration via the internet. It's not text-based, nor is it interactive fiction. But it would be a useful teaching tool in the Spanish language classroom both for its cultural demonstration and language options.

The first puzzles of this work feature routine usage of household vocabulary without guess-the-verb difficulties. The vocabulary becomes more complex as as progress is made, just as in most literature. I'd recommend this story for students who are learning household and food-related vocabulary. The vampire theme helps to enhance the mood of what might otherwise be an academic exercise. (Spoiler - click to show)In this game, the player is asked to prepare a snack. Many language teachers are familiar with the humorous mini-lesson where the teacher asks the students to make a PBJ sandwich. The first two puzzles are similar, but, obviously, reading-base. The parser, of course, takes the role of the teacher either understanding or misunderstanding the students' very specific directions.

Several people have told me that this is one of their favorite works by Incanus. I certainly enjoyed exploring and reading his descriptions and narrative. I was frustrated by guess-the-verb difficulty in two of the first puzzles. I finally found the right word in the first. However, in the second, I did not find the right verb even after reading the "pistas." The quality of the writing is such that I may actually consult a walk-through, simply because I enjoy the reading. I would not recommend this for an intermediate-level Spanish language learner unless she were already quite good at text adventures.

Esta historia permite al usuario a escoger inglés y o español, una cosa útil para aprender este o ese idioma. Los elecciones disponibles no parecen resultar en muchas variaciones o resultados.

This story allows the reader to read in English or Spanish. I consider this somewhat useful for learning languages. However, the available choices don't result in a great variety of results. Then again, the authors' goal may simply be to enjoy several perspectives on the same story.

I love hiking through the mountains of southern Taiwan, and I appreciate the way Mouth of Ashes creates a long walk for the PC. I make up stories like this for my kids to keep up the pace and distract them from the potential discomfort of stamina exercise. I'll have to use this plot next time we head up Mt. Du-li.

The lowest English level of this game has an average grade level of about 2. It should be easily understood by 7 to 8 year olds. Although this game may seem to target a younger audience, I've had Taiwanese high schoolers ROFL at this game. It's surprisingly cute and suddenly startling.

Readability Indices:

Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease 101.4
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level 0.6
Gunning Fog Score 2.9
SMOG Index 2.4
Coleman Liau Index 5.9
Automated Readability Index -1.1

(Source: Read-able.com)

This game has an average grade level of about 6. It should be easily understood by 11 to 12 year olds. My students find this game to be more difficult, but also more fun than "A Day at the Beach" by the same author.

Readability Indices:

Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease 85.6
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level 5
Gunning Fog Score 7.2
SMOG Index 4.5
Coleman Liau Index 7.7
Automated Readability Index 4.7

(Source: read-able.com)

This game has an average grade level of about 5. It should be easily understood by 10 to 11 year olds. My students usually like this game less than "Escape from Simian Island" by the same author. But they appreciate the snarky humor; I usually hear some giggling as they read.

Readability Indices:

Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease 90.3
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level 4.1
Gunning Fog Score 6.4
SMOG Index 3.7
Coleman Liau Index 6.8
Automated Readability Index 3.7

(Source: read-able.com)