Reviews by MathBrush

This is a short horror game in a biblical setting. Puzzles are interesting with some good variety.

The game is heavy-handed in its writing. The point seems to be that the author thinks that parts of Exodus are ridiculous and/or disturbing, and has written this game to show how horrifying and deeply wrong God's actions are in this book. This heavy-handedness comes out more in the commentary; the author admits that she toned down the actual game's writing in order to increase the frightening atmosphere.

I have very different beliefs from the author, and I believe that the events in Exodus are mostly historical, with some errors introduced in the manuscript over time; and that the God of Exodus was and is filled with justice and mercy. This obviously affected my enjoyment of the game. But as for puzzles and atmosphere, this game is very well designed.

This is a pair of hilarious games which claim to be translations of old Russian CYOA games. This leads to some of the funniest writing I have ever seen in an Interactive Fiction game. The game is enormous, with a large number of branches, some of which converge again later.

What really makes this game stand out to me is the option to undo any number of your choices and explore more branches. So many Twine games have interesting options that you cannot explore without redoing large portions of the game. This alone made You Will Select a Decision stand out.

There was strong profanity at one point, but as you are penalized for using it, it wasn't especially disruptive.

I was skeptical of this game at first, as I am not into games that push a particular viewpoint. But the conversation style, graphics, and options really spoke to me. To try and get the best ending, I put myself in Hana's shoes, thinking, "What would I need to hear right now"? I especially enjoyed trying to think like Ernie.

I got what I assume is the best ending, but I have no desire to try and find the worst ending, because the author really helped me empathize with the character.

For those who know what the topic of the game is: (Spoiler - click to show) I am usually wary of people writing about cutting, as so many people glorify it, saying for instance that all cutters are heros and their scars are from struggling with demons. I was taken aback by this games approach, which emphasizedthat cutters are just ordinary people with an unhealthy habit, just like drinking or gambling. I've overcome some unhealthy habits in my life, and this game was very close to my real-life experience. It really touched me.

The first part of the game is a completely technical puzzle. No moves can hurt you, and there are no characters or items. As a mathematician, I found this part of the game deeply enjoyable. Like a Rubik's cube, I realized that each element can be manipulated by a little "dance". These are the important "dances":

(Spoiler - click to show)Going n, e, s, w from the kitchen lowers the floor.

Going e, n, w, s, w from the kitchen raises the floor.

Going in a similar circle around the dining room changes the direction of the bridge. If the foyer is closed, go up twice through the kitchen first.

To go down or up, do a kitchen dance and approach the moving floor from w or e, respectively.


As for the second part, the idea was fun, and the implementation was fun, but the subject matter was not my cup of tea. I found it fun to explore everything, but used a walkthrough once I tried every item.

This Twine game centers on a woman with a special ability who visits a town. She has many choices regarding the use of this ability and the flow of her conversations, which results in a large number of endings.

The writing is well thought-out and supplemented by several graphics, but it never really drew me in. Therre is a content warning on the site about a graphic sex scene which is easy to avoid; there is a similar violent scene. I decided to check them out and regretted it immediately, skipping through quickly. Next time, I will listen to warnings.

I played through it twice to try some variations on the reputation system. As I said, I did not find the story compelling, but it was based on some song lyrics as part of a competition, and did well in bringing them to life.

In this short Twine game, you take on the role of a young archaeologist a a dig site trying to get their big break. There are multiple endings depending on your actions.

The game is short and the writing doesn't hold up well in certain parts, but it was written in only 48 hours for a competition. If the author decided to revisit it in the future, it could be fleshed out and polished into a full and interesting story.

This game contains excellent writing, but that is easy, because more than half of the text comes from the writings of Lord Dunsany, a fantasy writer predating Tolkien and Lovecraft. The writings chosen are about the world wars; it may have been picked as something "dry", but I was actually very interested in the text.

The material surrounding the text is somewhat less well written, relying on some stock ideas common in the 2010's. The visual format is very interesting, trying to mimic a folder of html files (well, I guess it really is a folder of html files; isn't everything?), and then incorporating more and more material.

There are some parts where it is difficult to read due to (Spoiler - click to show)every letter being turned around. It was a little frustrating.

The game incorporates twitter in a fun way; unfortunately, I did not want to use my twitter account (due to it being very public), and I did not want to start a new account, so I didn't get to try it out.

This piece is inspired by John Cage's famous 4'33 composition, which consisted of three movements, each telling the orchestra to remain silent ("Tacet").

Essentially, the entire game consists of the author's statement (and perhaps the walkthrough).

This Inform game was an entry for ShuffleComp:Disc 2, where games are based off songs. It is a brief piece, taking less than 15 minutes to play. As the game states at the beginning, this is an exploratory game, requiring only basic commands like "take", "enter", "look", and directional commands.

The game builds up an interesting picture of Atlantis, with an emphasis on its mythology and pantheon. I found this part of the game to be very clever.

The game is well-polished technically. The writing is in third person, and had a small number of errors.

For some reason, the author has asked that you only play the game through once before discussing and reviewing. I played through twice, but I won't incorporate the second playthrough in this review. Perhaps the author expects and hopes for players to disregard this restriction, as much of the game focuses on oppressed individuals who yearn for freedom.

This Shufflecomp Twine game feels like it's the first act of an enormous, sprawling game, but it takes less than half an hour with minimal puzzles.

The writing of the game is above average, with a feel similar to Spirited Away or Howl's moving castle (with more sci-fi than magic). It paints a picture of a fascinating, decaying world with bizarre customs.

The implementation is wonderful. The author uses Twine to simulate subway rides, blindness, etc.

The story has many loose ends, and stops abruptly. It would be interesting to see what a longer game with this theme would be.

I also appreciated the save game feature.