Reviews by MathBrush

This shortish game has been praised by many for its well written story. In a world of cybernetic implants and high tech, you have to carry out a theft and deal with the crazy implications.

The puzzles in this game are so-so, with a lot of guess the verb and hidden conversation topics.

I recommend playing this one with the walkthrough ready, to be able to read the excellent story.

This game recreates the Monty Python cheeshop sketch, which required asking about large numbers of cheeses.

The game is much more successful than most adaptations, as there is a natural puzzle structure here (figuring out what to sell).

I was put off by a moment of strong profanity which, however, is in the original sketch.

As other reviewers said, it's necessary to type quite fast. However, shortcuts are allowed (I.e. Typing part of a name).

This game was entered in Smoochiecomp as a sort of anti-game.

You play a creepy individual who is writing poetry for a girl you like and shoving it under her door.

It turns out that this game is based on a real life person that played an important role in American history in 1981. I found it interesting.

The game is short, but well polished and historically interesting.

This game is just an inform implementation of a nethack-type game called robot find kitten.
You navigate a white # sign on a black field with color coded letters, bumping into them in an attempt to find the kitten.

It was I presented very well but this isn't really my thing. If you want to play nethack clones on inform, this is your game.

This game is well-described, but is essentially a coding exercise. There are three collections of identical objects that you can manipulate including tennis balls and acorns.

Generally, there's not much of a puzzle here, or a stoey. However, it is fun to play with all the materials, and it is polished.

LASH is a long, well-polished game by Paul O Brian. This game predates the Earth and Sky games by a year.

This game has a major twist, so some of this review will be in spoilers.

The first half of the game is a scavenger hunt similar to adventure or Zork but in a near future world. You command a partially organic robot. You collect items for money.

(Spoiler - click to show)This half is a shame. None of the puzzles matter at all besides entering the large steel door. When you do, in the atric you find a realistic simulation of the slavery era, where you take the identity of a young girl. It seems open and difficult, but this part of the game is completely linear with very mild puzzles. Once you complete it, you return to the real world where you and the partially organic robot deal with its future.

This is a psychologically intense game, with some strong profanity, racial slurs, torture and rape, presented in a non-gratuitous way.

This game has some great content, which makes it a real shame that it is covered with an impenetrable shell of obnoxious obstructions.

The first puzzle is a huge issue. Solution: (Spoiler - click to show)There is a quarter shining machine that is completely useless, and a weird box behind the tent where you have to turn off one switch, so that the announcer's criteria for a shiny quarter turns to just shiny or quarter..

Once you get past that hurdles the central conceit of the game is genius. There are 5 mini games that you can get sent to, each with a different concept. They all have one thing in common: (Spoiler - click to show)the word that the wheel landed on is vital to the mini game..

The mini games are varied, with a couple of fantasy games, a few sci fi, and a real life game.

This game is about a young person born in space who wished more than anything else to go to the earth home they've never experienced.

It is keyword based, and in the inform version I played, it had some nice styling. The undum/vorple version has gorgeous UI and sound effects, but it did not display properly for me.

Overall, though, the game was very short with what felt like some missed opportunities for alternative routes. It was a well crafted but small bite.

This isn't really something to try and beat as much as it is a tool to come up with characters. It chooses things like name, sex and appearance, but also personality types, astrological signs, concerns about body image, etc.

There is a message of sorts in what options are generated, but it seemed mostly just like a fun tool rather than a means to a greater end.

Edit:

I've just replayed this, and discovered the black text is links to mini-stories, many of which are really good. I recommend this game now. Some strong profanity. I've increased the rating from 3 stars to 5.

This game was entered in the cover stories competition, where cover art was provided first, and games were developed based on them.

You play as a tiny ninja that lives under a bed. You're job is to go around the room, cheering up your comrades one at a time in a classic linear type puzzle system.

The writing is compact and cute, and the game is short. I recommend it for a light snack. I did get stuck at the very end.