Ratings and Reviews by MathBrush

In this game, you play through 4 separate vignettes. Each one is a short, description-heavy vignette of someone in Soviet Russia. The vignettes increase in the social status of the pc.

The game is fairly serious, with some elements of parody, intentional or not.

The gameplay is fairly smooth and polished. Many people have said in reviews that they couldn't finish the game; however, every scene can be completed by either repeating some repetitive task (such as waiting) or making sure to explore each area thoroughly. The way you die usually tells you what to do next time.

Despite the heavy-handedness, the game worked for me. The last scene had a large amount of strong profanity, so I don't think I'll play again.

Also, at one point the game seemed bizarrely broken until I realized that it was displaying chess notation.

This longish game is an old-school puzzler, like So Far or Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina. It's a well-done puzzler, as well.

This game is a Western, a rare setting in IF. It starts out in the modern day, but things soon change.

The writing is descriptive and based on real locations and people known by the author.

It's hard to say more about the game without giving it away. Suffice it to say, this game is a real treat for puzzle fans, but probably not going to please those interested in story alone, as the story is 'gated' behind a series of complicated introductory puzzles.

This is perhaps the best puzzler game I have played that was not nominated for any XYZZY awards and did not enter a comp.

This is one of Pacian's best games, which is saying a lot. It is intricate but casual, and lasts 1-2 hours for the main storyline.

You play as a ship captain whose twin brother has been taken and frozen due to your unpaid loans. You must travel to a variety of worlds and systems to get enough cash to free your brother.

The world model is purposely simple. Each world and its orbit constitute a single location. Each location has 1-5 npcs and 0-2 other nouns. The only interaction available with most NPCs is TALK TO, although some can BUY and SELL, and a few other interactions pop up later.

You can't examine anything, and there's no searching or any such thing. You just travel from world to world, building up money until you're done. There's no climactic finale, but it's still rewarding.

This game is one of the best science fiction games I have played.

This is a charming short game about a person waking up on a volcanic island that's ready to explode.

You have to complete a few simple tasks in order to get off the island. The game gives good hints about this. I completely missed the last puzzle because I didn't examine carefully enough.

The game is polished and descriptive, with fair puzzles, but it didn't come to life for me, and I'm not sure I would play again.

This game has a fairly large map,with a small number of puzzles that makes the whole game manageable.

You are a spy called Archer who is investigating corruption for a king.

There are only a few puzzles, and the solutions are generally very easy or of the guess-what-the-author is thinking type.

The writing was very descriptive, but the game is unpolished (like when a room contains An Evidence). The interectivity was frustrating at times.

Feu de Joie was a serial story released starting in 2015. It was about someone working for an online company who started getting weird messages from elsewhere.

This game is set from the other side, and manages to make powerful statements about war and world history. It's hard to go into more detail without exposing the plot.

It is very brief. I give it five stars for its polish and for its important place in the Feu de Joie series as a whole.

This game is about a young person who longs to be free from the mundane world. They try to escape, and begin to find the faery world.

The game has a variety of branches, picking from 2 sets of three big options and many smaller ones.

The game is very successful at creating and maintaining a wistful, deep atmosphere.

S. Woodson is a talented author, and it comes out in this brief game.

This Ryan Veeder game was a speed-IF entered in the Ectocomp one year. It was later tuned up and rereleased for Sub Q magazine.

The game has a small but detailed set of locations. As you explore the pyramid, you encounter a variety of Egyptian treasures and artwork. The plot thickens as it goes onward.

I enjoyed the writing and feeling of this game quite a bit. But I didn't really get into the puzzles quite as much. Considering its origin as speed IF, though, the game is quite remarkable.

This game is about a specimen that escapes and attacks a summer camp.

The main idea of this game is that there are six npcs walking around, each with their own personalities and talents. You have to get them to work together.

Unfortinstely, it can be maddeningly difficult to know what to say to each person.

The writing is descriptive, and the game doesn't seem very buggy.

Ryan Veeder is known for making polished, smooth, amusing games, and has made another great example here.

You are a caveman with an unusually intelligent wife and surrounded by a variety of animal life.

The game is fairly short, with only 2 or 3 small puzzles, but the setting is charming and the game feels cohesive. It is an interesting counterpoint to the Edifice, a long, difficult, serious game treating some of the same material.