Reviews by MathBrush

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vestiges of summer, by graymeditations
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Fancy bitsy game about...well, I'm not sure, July 31, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

It's written using Bitsy (or one of its derivatives), with low-resolution pixel art that looks pretty good here.

The story itself is hard to describe though. I couldn't tell if it was a guy carrying his dying baby through an apocalyptic wasteland or a dating couple walking around the block...the ending is more clear, but earlier parts are a little vague.

The controls can be hard to figure out at first, but some parts are pretty cool as you move a mouse in a virtual device.

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Warriors and Samaritans, by LemonPoppyseedGames
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Whispers of many possible stories at a hero's death, July 31, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This is a well-produced game for the Neo Twiny Jam, written in 500 words or less.

It looks good, with a nice background and well-chosen fonts and color schemes.

The story is about a hero who is dying, and you are the one to comfort him. You can choose what to say.

It branches a lot; I don't think any of the branches reconnect. But 2 of 3 starting options end the game immediately, while a 3rd has more options.

Most of the stories seem more like intros, like a teaser for a larger setting.

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Otolith, by LemonPoppyseedGames
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Just two frog buddies chilling in space, July 31, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game was entered in the Neo Twiny Jam, written in 500 words or less.

It's about a real thing I never knew existed, the Orbiting Frog Otolith, which was an experiment thing where they put two frogs in space and measured the effects of weightlessness on them, with no intent of ever recovering them.

I looked up 'Otolith' and it means 'ear stone', which is a pretty weird name for a spacecraft. But apparently there's a part of the ear with that name in frogs (and maybe humans?) and the experiment studied that.

Anyway, this is a short game with a lot of branches; I got about 6 different endings, but all the ones I got were grouped into two major groups. It's pretty fun, imagining two frogs chilling and trying to talk to each other about things that are purely beyond their comprehension.

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The Time Waster Quiz, by Alley
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A self-checking quiz to help you evaluate your day, July 31, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This is a feel-good kind of quiz, written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

It's a quiz that you take about your work habits, what you do for fun, and treats.

It presents a few surprises and overall a wholesome and positive message.

It's not very long, but I get the impression that there are multiple results. I enjoyed playing it.

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lark-mirror, by vileidol
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A poem about love and violence, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This is a poem written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

It's styled nicely, with a nonstandard font and a red and black theme.

The structure involves going back and forth between one major poem that slowly grows and smaller poems on the side.

There's some vague imagery of pain and slurs towards women. It's meant in service to overall narrative, but I wonder if the same point could have been achieved in a different way.

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The Day I Turned 22, by Cyrus Firheir
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
NIcely styled twine poem about turning 22, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This is a poem entered in the Neo Twiny Jam, with 500 words or less.

It's styled nicely, with beautiful fonts and illustrations and transitions and some music.

It's mostly just a poem, the feelings someone has for their 21st birthday, The freedom is in what order the poem is explored.

I liked it overall, but a lot of the enjoyment of a poem is either in symmetry or purposeful asymmetry. But there was a bit of unevenness, like rhyming 'skills' with 'skills' and varying between exact rhymes and almost-rhymes in a non-symmetric fashion; and some of the lines were hard to fit into the meter when read aloud. However, the sentiment was strong, and those features I described as lacking may not even be desired by the author, although I feel like they could be introduced with some mild revising.

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Lucid Coma, by Eden Meridia
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Complex coma nightmare loop game, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game was pretty hard to beat. It was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

At first, it seems extremely short, even on replay. But apparently you have to play 3 times before it changes, which is a bit weird.

It has images that were drawn on notebook paper and scanned, which I actually think look cool!

You have to explore different things in the coma, but you have little time due to constantly dying. Even worse, there's a counter in the corner and you fail the game completely once it ticks down, with no way to undo.

I eventually realized that (Spoiler - click to show)There's exactly one action that can be indefinitely be repeated to raise the counter. Overall, it was pretty tricky. I'm not sure I loved the counter of doom and the initial 3 replays, but it was interesting enough that I wanted to finish.

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angel numbers, by Sophia de Augustine
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A poetic story that invites the reader to create the structure, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game/story/poem was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

It's all on one page with expandable text. I read it at first, seeing in it obtuse musings on relationship.

Then I read the trigger warnings, which gave me insights into themes I hadn't identified. Then I realized the poem has a different structure that first appears, a sort of meta puzzle.

I ended up liking piecing things together, having to reach for what's going on. Very nice. Vivid imagery.

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Dimensions Guardians: The Typewriter, by Jackson The Bear
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A brief game about word limits and world's limits, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less.

It looks nice, with a black/off-white/gold color scheme.

It's a bit of a self-referential story, as you encounter a typewriter that is creating a world but is limited in the number of words it can use.

Unfortunately, it just feels cut short. That's literally what's happening in the game, but even if it's being pointed out it's still a little 'cut-off' at the ends, and could use a bit more of an ending. But that's just my opinion and not a fact.

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500 Word Hotel Escape, by Kobato Games
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Effective puzzle structure in a 500-word twine hotel game, July 30, 2023
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This game was written in 500 words or less for the Neo Twiny Jam.

I manages to have multiple locations, puzzles, inventory, essentially a whole world model. It's brief, and the puzzles aren't difficult, but it was nice to see how smooth everything is.

You end up locked in a hotel room and have to find your way out. The only part I felt was missing was perhaps some final twist or surprise at the end, or otherwise an explanation, just a sentence.

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