Reviews by MathBrush

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.

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.

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

It's a simple story, mostly linear, with some hover-links.

But it depicts a part of life that many of us have experienced, when money is running tight and we have to make choices that might betray our values or require us to swallow our pride; the point where we have to admit that we can no long live by our own means.

Not a lot of structure here, but relatable and detailed.

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

It uses its words more or less all at once, spooling them out into a mostly linear essay/story with occasional expandable text. A lot of parts of it are customized.

It's a piece about humanity colonizing the stars and how it must feel to start processes that will not be finished for thousands of years. About what it means for worlds and humans to evolve. With minimal structure, it's relying heavily on the styling and the text itself here, and I liked both.

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

It's a cute story and written from a frog's perspective in various phases of life, including egg, tadpole, and adult (I think).

Each part is written in minimalistic style. At times I lost the thread of what I was reading, trying to figure out what the terse words corresponded to. The ending was pleasant.

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

It does a great job of getting use out of those words.

At first, it just presents a kind of opaque technical screen that I didn't really understand, and then more of the same. I was so lost, all this scientific research-type jargon about chemicals and samples. It ended quickly but with some mysterious notes.

So I replayed 4 times and got deeper into the mystery. I don't think I ever completely solved what was going on but I got plenty of hints of horrible things going on.

This Neo Twiny Jam game, written in 500 words or less, has you exploring your father's crypt after his death.

It seems he has built an enormous tomb, and under great secrecy. But you're determined to find out the truth.

The game has a puzzle or two, and did a good job incorporating exploration and mechanics. All of it was a bit slight; the 500 words was pulled thin, having to handle story, puzzles, etc. but all the pieces that are hear are either already good or promising.

This game features in a more self-reflective way than a traditional narrative. It was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less, and all of those words (save just a couple) are displayed on the page at once.

The self reflection is in choosing which words to keep. There are a dozen or so 'cards' with nice images, good backgrounds and fonts, etc. and they describe magical abilities and items like lucid dreaming or door portals.

It's a fun choice and written well, but there's no hidden depths. In a way it's the opposite of the author's other entry EVISCERATETHISGIRL.com, which is completely linear and nothing but hidden depths. Together they make an interesting study in contrasts.

This Twine game, written in 500 words or less for the Neo Twiny Jam, is about Sisyphus.

I've seen a lot of revisionist takes on Sisyphus recently, but this one is a straight-up thoughtful interpretation of the original myth as-is.

The short 500 words get reused a ton as you go through many very similar loops. There is a gradual increase in knowledge, the loops changing.

I found that very effective. But the frequent use of yellow-on-white was a bit hard to read, and it got repetitive (which I know is the point, but an accurate representation of a frustrating thing is still frustrating).

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

It uses a UI similar to a google doc, and the best part of it to me was the way that it looked and the detail in the highlights and such.

The second best part was the overall writing, which painted a fun picture of having a mysterious officemate who you contact every day but don't know in person.

The worst part was not having enough of it; the premise was great, but it kind of just stopped, presumably when the author hit the word limit.