Reviews by MathBrush

This game can't do anything past the first move. It was written for Ectocomp, but it seems not to have been tested at all.

In general, it seems like it would be a creepy game where you play a stalker, possibly having a humorous turn later.

This game uses some of the more cinematic qualities of Adrift.

It's a speed-IF, so it was written in just 3 hours. But it has really fun animations and text effects. The death shack becomes a recurring character that destroys all in its path. I especially laughed at the hotel scene.

This game was entered in Ectocomp 2011.

It is a speed-IF, so it has many of speed-IF's usual problems. in this case, I was unable to finish the game due to not knowing where to place an object. I also had difficulty finding things and guessing verbs.

This game is pretty fun. You have a body on a table, with several items you can attach to them. Every single combination of attachments yields a different monster, which causes a different amount of mayhem. The game officially ends after several monsters you create do a certain amount of mayhem.

This is a speed-IF game from Ectocomp. Written in 3 hours, it has a nicely built up world with its own ecology.

The game is short, and learning about it is the main attraction, so I won't say more about the plot. I had some trouble with some of the interactions, though, but I enjoyed the writing.

This game is similar to both Murder on the Orient Express and Dracula.

You awake from your coffin on a train to discover that a passenger has had their blood drained--and not by you.

This game has many of the usual speed-IF problems (undercluing and underimplementation), but it is in the top 10% of all speed-IF, and quite enjoyable.

This is a short speed-IF game designed to show off a simulationist library involving the code of both Metamorphoses and peacock.z5 (known as Not With Hands). Emily Short said that her purpose in writing it was to use (quoting):

-- the same materials classes as Metamorphoses, plus some extras;
-- multiple kinds of blades to be used for cutting, efficacious on
different materials;
-- examples of diminution of size, division into pieces, and the
opening of containers based on said cutting;
-- routines for burning objects, taking into account their material
and contents;
-- smoke and carbon smearing (removable);(end quote)

This game is so different from Panks's other games. Panks's IFComp games were short and trivial, or mocking.

This game is really, really big, and reasonably well polished.

You can play a lot of mini games, visit tons of locations, order NPCs, etc.

The problem is that it was developed for a long time by one person with only a little input from others, meaning that several of the mechanics are just spotty.

This game surprised me by its quality. I can't vouch for the writing quality; as Spanish is not my native language, anything written in it sounds nice to me. But the concepts were really beautiful.

You play as a young person on a bus home, when things take an unexpected turn. The situation you find yourself in is at once relatable and deeply uncomfortable.

The game made good use of text effects, switching colors of the background and text, using different font sizes, etc.

There was some overarching Thing which I didn't get because of my poor Spanish, something about (Spoiler - click to show)graduation and getting covered in floor and eggs?

It seemed fairly linear to me, but a second replay had about 40% new text, so I was impressed. I would have rated this game somewhere in the 7-9 range in IFComp. Well done. My only wish is that there was some more consistency in how mid-game links were handled, as it was hard to know what clicking on different texts would do. On the other hand, given the general feel of confusion the game evokes, it may have been an intentional design choice.

I played a Study in Steampunk after I had spent several months rereading the original Sherlock Holmes stories. I had discovered that Sherlock was very different from modern versions: no "elementary, dear Watson", a lot of strength and physical activity, minimal pipe use, etc.

So when I started this game as John Watson and my friend said 'the game's afoot', I rolled my eyes. I couldn't get into the storyline about dueling empires with mechs and soul-draining powers.

But I tried again two more times, and on the third time, it stuck. I think the first chapter just wasn't as strong as the later ones; the game began offering really intriguing role-playing choices, and ended up setting up several compelling life-and-death situations that were effective.

The decisions were effective, I believe, because the game is just so long. It has a lot of minor faults I would usually take off points for (like obvious choices between being good/being evil or by-the-numbers genre scenes), but the author clearly has a deep understanding of long-form game design that just makes it fun.

I enjoyed it more once I realized that it wasn't really a Sherlock Holmes knock-off; it was really the author's own vision, with some Sherlock-related elements. The author cites Dracula and Jack the Ripper as inspirations, too, and these are almost stronger; supernatural life-draining is one of the main game topics. It also suggests Jekyll and Hyde as an influence, but I saw nothing of this in my playthrough.

This game is effective because of how long it is, and is definitely worth its price.