Reviews by MathBrush

I didn't play any of the Spring Thing games until after Spring Thing finished, to get a little more neutrality. This one was one of the winners, so I was interested in playing it.

I had a bit of trepidation going in because I've historically struggled with complex timed murder games in IF; I'm think of Varicella and Make it Good, mostly.

I was pleased that this game had helpful guidance early on and I was able to have some success on my own. The game nudges you on things and places you can go to and do next.

At one point I messed up the online interpreter by undoing many times in a row while messing with the tab (a problem with parchment, not the game itself), so I restarted, and that gave me the confidence to just use the walkthrough and see the rest of the game. I'm glad I did; this game seems like one designed for careful exploration and note-taking, things I'm not too good at.

I do like mystery games and this is the kind that is mostly solved by doing puzzles using information in books and through things found in exploration. It does require looking under things (something I typically don't enjoy in large games with tons of furniture) but it is hinted when you need to do so.

The writing is often workmanlike, which isn't to say that it's bad (the flashback memories of Aelred are wonderful), but that due to the large nature of the game and the ascetic setting, writing is often utilitarian and sparse.

The time aspect isn't as big of a threat as it seems, if anyone else is worried as I was. Essentially it divides the game into segments of 'everyone is available to talk to' and 'everyone is away and you can search around'.

Overall, it's clear why it won.

This is one of the latest games by Lamp Post Projects (another has come out by the time I review this), a relatively recent entrant to the world of IF who has put out numerous well-received games in a short time frame.

Like many of their other games, this features a fantasy world with multiple fantasy races and characters (complete with watercolor portraits) in non-combative settings (in this case: a symphony orchestra with singers).

You pick from a variety of strengths and talents and then investigate the mysterious case of dreams popping up among the symphony players.

I like mysteries, and the deduction system worked better for me here than for other recent mystery games (it was relatively easy but just enough not to be trivial, and there were some randomized results with other means of making up for the mistakes).

The writing worked well here, too.

Two things stuck with me as mild flaws. First was that I chose the +0 magic trait (so I could do magic checks but with no bonus). Twice I tried magic rolls and got a perfect score of 4, but the check difficulty was set at 5. I don't recall other magic checks in the game. This makes the +0 magic trait essentially useless.

The second thing is, and this has been true for several games in this setting, that the different races feel largely cosmetic. I've been thinking about it because I recently was brought on to help another author with a project and it largely has the same issue (in that world, there are fairies and sirens and centaurs but they all have mundane jobs and essentially no differences between each other). I can completely understand the desire to divorce oneself from the biological determinism and racism in human history and the ideas that different real-life ethnicities have associated stereotypes. On the other hand, one of the greatest parts of real-life ethnicities are the distinct cultures and vibrant diversity available. How could this be shown more in-game? The Gnomish Treasury game by this author did well, I think, showing the cultural background and differences in art and architecture, which is a great way of showing things (as opposed to heavy-handed or stereotyped techniques some past authors have used like heavy dialects or exotic/fetishized clothing). I guess it would be nice to see more of what makes each group unique (and could include things like an orc raised by dwarves who values his family but also wants to connect with his birth culture, although I swear the author did have something like that in one game).

This game reminded me a lot of the non-fighting parts in Chuk and the Arena by the same author (in a good way).

This game feels like a metaphor for over-implementation of AI in workforces. You are a lowly maintenance worker on a space station when your boss, the new Mr Green (who at the Old Mr Green) delivers a new robot that can literally do anything once its started up and trained (of course, after a few missing parts are implemented).

The map has a lot of things in it but is overall compact, with only 2 or 3 main locations each with a couple of side locations.

The game has quadratic complexity, with an inventory that can be used on any object present in the game world.

The main part of the game felt big at first and then fairly constrained and linear, which made it hard for me to see how 12 different endings could be achieved. After I found a few, though, I searched on the forums for some tips and saw that there were several creative things you could do hidden in the game, which I thought was awesome.

Overall, I liked the game and the sentiments in it.

This is a visual novel with many different images.

This game is a gross game (intentionally so, and advertised as so). It features a Mad Prophet character who has beef with the feudal leader and wants him to die.

Simultaneously, the game is a kind of dark phantasmagoria where all of the elements of humanity are broken down and characters are all boundary-breaking in some way while finding place in hierarchical power structures. Algae are living computers, people are slime or poop, bodies can be modified, orifices used, things can be alive, creatures can be things.

It's kind of Alice in Wonderland meats Ruby Gloom meets Hellraiser meets Conker's Bad Fur Day meets Porpentine.

It's the kind of writing that defies expectations and veers into the absurd but fortunately avoids the common pitfall of 'oh I'm so random'. The intense focus on the inevitable class uprising (which is my interpretation of ambiguous themes) gives it focus.

I played to one death and one freedom.

Me starting to play this game: Ah, this is cute.
Me after playing this game: This is definitely not cute.

This is one of the deadliest games I've played in recent times. You play as a small mouse in a field in the evening (it made me think of the 'wee, slicket, cowering beastie' poem).

You can try to find food, water and shelter in multiple directions. Unfortunately, predators lurk in sky and air and the mindless machines of mankind can murder you, too.

This gives the game a gauntlet-like structure where most choices kill you and you need to replay to find the right path. I think there may be multiple paths to survival.

Overall, I found the conflict interesting. Replaying without much way to strategize was a bit frustrating, but it was short enough that it wasn't too bad.

This is a fun replayable game written by a team of authors. Its fairly short and simple, but hard enough for me that I only go 1/3 my first try.

You are a cryptid hunter. Each playthrough you are given 3 cryptids to look for each with 3 distinct characteristics.

You're then given a large set of locations with backstory and the opportunity to visit all of them. Each one has its own cryptid encounters where you can examine them to see if they fit the traits in question.

What keeps it from getting boring or tedious is that you can't just lawnmower through the options. Several of them have unique interactions that you have to decide split-second that may have unintended consequences. And if you dally with too many options, the creature can go after you. Pretty neat!

This is the third Social Democracy game, a series that has proven popular outside of the usual IF haunts (even the history teacher of my school knows about them and uses them in curriculum).

They are card-based games where you have to run a government and worry about both party and government resources and budget and policies.

They tend to go over my head, as I have not diligently studied government policy. Playing this one, I trundled along my way until the senate lost confidence in me, businesses lost confidence in me, communists lost confidence in me, and I was out of a job. Alas!

Overall, though, the production quality is very high and the concept is fun. As long as people are still finding use and enjoyment in these games, we might as well keep going (it would be fun to see one with a Chinese emperor like the Yongzheng one from the Qing dynasty).

This is a short branching hyperlink game that is cyclical in nature and uses a new system called 'spiki'.

It's based on information theory and linguistics (not the exact terms the author uses but the general gist of things). Three characters with initials A, B, and C are in a constructed virtual world that simulates a version of England where they meander about and go in shops. New information is intruded in the form of a latin phrase that pops up.

Each option in the game is symbolic in the author's version of conversation theory, fulfilling an archetype like 'withdrawal' or 'elaboration'. One link instead corresponds to an external essay hosted on a different website.

The writing reminded me of GK Chesterton. Overall, I found it interesting as an intellectual exercise and as a text.

This game essentially takes a video of someone walking to school for 23 minutes and slows it down to one frame at a time, with each tap of the mouse or keyboard advancing the image and the accompanying text.

The poem felt very realistic. The person it depicts seems like he's going through a crisis in their life and are very negative; he uses strong profanity to describe many things in his life, and talks about his hatred for school and his complicated relationship with his father.

The way that text from passersby that you can overhear pops up is really cool, and I felt like overall we got a great glimpse into this person's mind. I saw others complain about the interaction mechanism and at first I thought, 'no, this is just fine!' but then I saw that after dozens of clicks I had only gotten to the first 10 minutes of the 23 minute interaction I got worn out.

Reading this does make me wonder about students at school. I'm a teacher at a private school (and formerly taught college) and I thrive around crowds (I talked to a psychologist about it once, I grew up in a crowded house and like being on the edges of sociable groups) so being around the kids and interacting with them revitalizes me and summer vacation (like I have now) is way more boring. I've heard that public school is less rewarding due to large class sizes and the lack of private school's filtering mechanisms (like just dropping students who are dangerous or problematic). This game made me wonder what public school teaching would be like.

Overall, cool concept. I agree with others that a pared-down version would be better received (just to avoid the massive clicks). Or (this is a tongue-in-cheek suggestion) making it like clicker games where every 10 clicks you can buy an auto-clicker and then upgrade.

I don't know why, but as I review this I am struck by a strong memory of the game Gallery Gal, where you can, at any point in the narrative, turn into an art gallery, thus permanently ending the game (and destroying any structures in the area).

This game has you play as a summoner who cannot talk and, instead, summons one of four people: a fairy general, a giant, a huge beast (who, much like gallery gal, destroys the area), and a 3.5th-wall breaking magical character.

Essentially all gameplay is choosing between these 4, which is a fun mechanism. There's not really anything wrong with the game, but somehow it felt like something was missing, almost like it was an early access game or a trailer for a game.

I didn't play the games during Spring Thing (wanting to preserve some neutrality) and didn't read most reviews, so I thought the whole time this was a thoughtful slice of life game about someone who had passed on and it was a funeral or something with a message beyond the grave to shame the living. I liked this, though!