Reviews by AndrewStephens

You have been hired to break into the residence of a famous author to steal something. Breaking in is not going to be a problem - you have special abilities in that direction - but getting to your objective is going to be complicated.

Or maybe not that complicated, Residual Income is a short game featuring only a handful of locations to explore. What it lacks in complexity it makes up for in an atmosphere that suits the vaguely cyberpunk near-future setting perfectly. There is a bit of a twist, but it is well telegraphed if you have been paying attention to the little hints dropped into the writing.

The one problem I have with Residual Income is that it is rather wordy, the hard-boiled writing occasionally veers off towards the purple end of the spectrum. But the game is short enough that it doesn't have time to grate. There are some really nice little touches that make up for a couple of leaden paragraphs and when the game was over I found myself wanting more.

Epistemophilia is a hard game to pin down but a worthwhile experience. I've played it twice and am still not sure if I saw much of the content - this seems to be a large game.

The game starts with you waking up, disoriented and amnesiac, with little clue where you are and what you need to do. These feelings do not go away as you play - if anything the world gets more confusing as you go. This is not a plot heavy game, the enjoyment comes from exploring the environment.

There is a ton of text, there are many points where you can choose between six or seven different choices each with their own several paragraph-long response. Nothing leads you be the hand - it is quite difficult to determine what each course of action will achieve but usually something cool will happen.

I think that, as a game it would be better if Epistemophilia was slimmed down and more focused on plot but as an experience the long-windedness and strange tone make this quite fun to play.

If you like exploration and don't mind wordy prose and not getting real answers then this might be the game for you.

EDIT: After I completed this review I visited the game's strange website (https://epistemophilia.hotglue.me) which has some author notes explaining (but not really) a bit more about the game plus a tentative soundtrack album. The whole thing seems to be a real labour of love, which I respect. Does this make a great game? No. Is this interesting and worthwhile? Certainly.

Gambler's Quest states up front that it is a demo/unfinished game. Fair enough, but this was entered in IFComp2026 so must be viewed in that light. And that light does the parser game no favors.

The game starts promisingly enough, you get up, have breakfast, read your mail, all guided by a quite nifty quest system that keeps you moving to the next objective. The writing is nothing special but perfectly functional and you start to get a sense of the world the author is trying to construct. But the introduction is not lying - the implemented parts of the game are very limited - just a handful of locations and items.

Even what is implemented has problems. Why do you have to (Spoiler - click to show)get the moldy bread when you have a perfectly good loaf minus one slice at home?

The problem is not that Gambler's Quest is unfinished, the issue is that it is barely started.

Quackpond is a one-trick pony of a game but it is a handsome pony with a good trick. I am not sure how much effect you have on the plot but the story plays out in a very interesting way with the fun being working out what is going on.

The idea probably wouldn't work for a larger game but Quackpond is nice and short. It was fun playing with my duck and when it was over I found that I missed Brown Boy the Mallard.

A few years ago I set out to write the most Star Trekky Star Trek game that ever Treked to a Star. I thought I had succeeded and then along comes New Captain, which blows my game out of the water in terms of how much like an episode of TNG it is.

As a Trek fan, I enjoyed this game immensely. There is just something so satisfying about sitting in the captains chair, calling for status updates, and giving orders.

Instead of raising shields and exploring unknown space, New Captain focuses on the other side of Trek - complicated diplomatic missions, treaty signings, and observing rare stellar phenomena. Naturally there are complications to sort out and interdepartmental meetings to be had.

This could have been dull but the excellent presentation and good use of the Star Trek setting made the game a joy to play. Just wandering around the ship was fun and the way the game moves the clock (and plot) forward makes a lot of sense.

New Captain gives you a lot of freedom to move around, read reports, and talk to people. Perhaps a little too much freedom, to complete the missions successfully you have to be diligent to click on everything and talk to everyone. I've played three times and still haven't found the last(?) secret. But concluding the main plot is fairly simple if you don't care about points.

My major issue with New Captain is that it feels like the first act of a much larger game. I felt I was just getting the hang of being a captain as the game came to an end.

GOOD:
Excellent atmosphere
Great interface with an excellent sense of freedom of choice

LESS GOOD:
Be prepared for a lot of clicking and reading if you want to complete the mission with all the points.
It is very like any number of episodes of TNG, but not one of the more exciting ones.

SUMMARY:
Like stepping aboard the Enterprise for twenty minutes. You can just about hear the doors hsss as you move between locations. It sparks joy.