Reviews by MathBrush

This game made me think, in a very unintended but positive way, of a whale fall.

This was written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less. In it, a character name Jacob dies, fallen from the Ceiling (a literal ceiling? the top half of Midgar in FFVII? heaven?).

When they died, their bones, flesh, and blood were used for various purposes, detailed in the story.

The writing here is excellent and the story and imagery are rich. I didn't feel a need to replay this or revisit it in the future, though.

This entry in the Neo Twiny Jam, written in 500 words or less, concerns an encounter with a mysterious spidery being in the forest.

This is a fae-like tale, which a creature asking for your name whose motives may not be everything you think they are...

This is honestly a pretty good setup and mostly good execution, but the limitations of the wordcount bind this story and it ends long before the narrative energy has been expended. A less weighty tale or longer matter might make this stronger.

In the original Twiny Jam, some of my favorite games were ones that used the 300 word count limit to make tiny RPGs.

This game, in the Neo Twiny Jam that has been updated to 500 words, uses a similar concept, but with a barbarian twist. You are a wild axe wielding warrior exploring a small dungeon. There's a bit of a money system, combat, traps, and surprises.

I played through till one ending.

The game is definitely funny and I think I could recommend it. It's pretty short, so you won't lose much by playing it.

This game, written for the Neo Twiny Jam in 500 words or less, is made in the style of an old game boy game.

Just like other monster raising games, you start with an egg which you can pet or feed, and your monster evolves from there.

By using graphics and understood mechanics, the author is able to create a lot of game out of the small number of words. The visuals and effects are really beautiful and I loved my ending. I played through twice, ending up with Bast the second time, which I felt satisfied with, and stopped playing there.

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

It's a take on the short story A Diamond Necklace, which I only learned from Manon's review.

In it, an older student takes you in and gives you a great deal of advice (you can get 20 or more pieces of advice, it feels like). Then you meet them again later, much later, and have the chance to thank them...

The language and wording are unusual. Many of Andrew Schult'z games are based on wordplay and are intentionally written in weird ways to satisfy word patterns. This one sounds a lot like those texts but I don't see any discernible pattern, outside of some 1984 speech.

Reading the short story it's based on helped me understand it a lot more!

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

Abandoned/liminal/nostalgic media has been oversaturated this decade, but this game nails it pretty well and feels fresh. It uses creepy audio to establish the feeling, and it hits the right ratio of wholesome to unsettling that makes for a truly good horror piece.

Short and sweet. Interactivity is slight but used to good effect.

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

In a refreshing twist from the primarily (though not entirely) English games of the jam, this game is bilingual, with some Romanian first translated literally and then idiomatically (I assume that's what's going on; if not, it has the feel of that).

The first page had me captivated for a bit, puzzling over the different meanings and words and trying to understand the final message.

Then it was all soon over; another page, and then an ending. I definitely wanted more of it, but it seemed creepy, mysterious, and effective.

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

Someone logs onto a group chat and demands an explanation about a solar panel. It could just be a friendly group of people with nearby cabins, or a post-apocalyptic group, or just some rural people. It's hard to tell.

It's pretty funny though. There's some mild swearing, but overall I laughed out loud multiple times at this, and I haven't done that at a game for quite a while.

This game is written for the Neo Twiny Jam, requiring 500 words or less. And it uses the Choicescript engine, which is a bold choice, as choicescript is suited towards very verbose games (there are several choicescript games with over a million words of text!).

However, this uses its text wisely, with a longish loop. The words in the game evoke desperate waiting and loneliness for another. The patient lover, the waiter, who is faithful and won't abandon their love. But when the loop ends...

The tone varies a bit, seeming almost modern at first, then heavily antiquated, then more like 1800s speech. Each style is well done, but perhaps could be consolidated into one? Overall strong writing.

This game, written for the Neo Twiny Game Jam, which requires 500 words or less, rubbed me the wrong way at first, with some capitalization errors and using default Twine format.

But I honestly like loops, and I enjoyed the earnestness of this one. I loved clicking on these burning questions like 'Who did this?' and immediately getting an effects-heavy response like (Spoiler - click to show)ME, THE CREATOR. It was honestly fun. The loop had a few interesting variations, as well.