Ratings and Reviews by MathBrush

This was the lowest-scoring Inform game in IFCOMP the year it came out. As was common due to IFCOMP'S rules about updates at the time, it was only in the lowest place due to a game-crippling bug.

The version now on IFDB works fine with the Play Now button. So what about the game itself?

It is a surreal adventure, where a fourth-dimensional person takes you to their world to turn off a leak in the pool of knowledge.

The game is rough, and the interactivity is off. This is a game where that author knew exactly what they wanted a playthrough to look like, and coded only one way in. Plot progresses only by waiting around or by guessing precise sequences of moves to advance the plot.

Hiwever, the writing was evocative, if raw, and the surreal feeling made the game stand out. I would enjoy playing it again.

This is a game that would have been much better in Twine, and shows how people were trying to bend Inform to do Twine like things for years.

This is a game where you play Sisyphus, condemned to pushing a stone up a hill in hell forever.

And that's what you do. This game gives out the emotion of sisyphus very well, evoking boredom. It's polished and smooth, and descriptive.

Unfortunately, as Sisyphus, there isn't much to do.

This is a joke game. It has a long spiel about using science to make the most enjoyable game possible.

Then you make (Spoiler - click to show)two choices and end the game. This makes the game very short..

This sort of game, using short CYOA to mock game culture, came into vogue a decade later with authors like Soda51.

This game starts out at your house, but quickly shifts locales. The main location is a 5-level space station.

The game is mechanically impressive, with forced input, ASCII graphics, a topology machine and other nifty tricks. These alone make me want to play again.

However, the puzzles are hopelessly underclued (including one that is only possible if you have experienced a certain Infocom game or its imitators).

The writing is also rough. Bugwise, there was one room where I couldn't leave and had to undo.

This game didn't call out to me emotionally. It was the lowest placing z-machine game the year it came out in IFComp, but it is much better than other last place games.

In this game, you are the fat lardo. In one room, there is a duck.

Most standard verbs are implemented, and result in insulting you.

Why three stars? The game is polished. It is very descriptive in its insults. And it succeeds in producing an emotional reaction.

But the interactivity is bkring, and I would not play it again. I do not recommend this. Includes frequent strong profanity.

In this game, you are in some of paeduo-roman setting where an Oracle has incited everyone to violence.

This game is known for unfinished room descriptions such as "$$$". There are two npcs that do almost nothing unless you guess the right verbs.

However, the story that is there is interesting.

As to finishing the game...
(Spoiler - click to show)After 5-10 turns, you die. If you type XYZZY, time stops, but you can't win.

There are two ways to win: type Z over and over again, or SING over and over again.



Because of these unusual features, many speculated that this was a joke game. Its hard to know.

This game is about a trial in a science fiction setting. You witness a verdict in a courtroom, a friend gets upset, and new people arrive.

There are four locations, a few NPCS with a total of 10 or so topic responses,and a total game time of 20 turns or less.

There are a lot of guess-the-verb problems that mess with the polish and interactivity. Some descriptions are skimped on. And there's not enough information to care about the characters.

This game received last place in the 1999 IFComp due to a game-crashing bug whenever the player takes inventory.

Pressing the "play online" button for this game currently takes to that version. The inventory bug doesn't happen on Parchment, but half of the rooms are in complete darkness.


If you download and play the version in the zip file, you will see that your character can actually see in the dark. This is the version I played.

In this version, the game is quite interesting. You knock on the door and greet a lich (your employer) who takes you to his study and asks you to guard his treasure. He then gives you a mysterious map and keys and then leaves.

The real game then begins. You can wander around a complex and interesting map with many treasures. Quite a few adventurers (4-6) are also wandering around independently, each with their own light source.

I played for about thirty minutes, obtaining many treasures. I experienced more bugs, like repeated "no parent of nothing" messages whenever an adventurer looked behind the clock.

I can only conclude that there are more bugs in the game, as the adventurers never tried to take anything. It's a real shame, because the game seems intricate and fun. If the IF community hadn't been so harsh on Jason Finx and had encouraged him and helped him beta test this game, it could have been spectacular.

This game is a series of essays about "What if major historical events had happened differently?"

It is interesting reading but not polished. It is quite descriptive, however.

The interactivity didn't really draw me in, and I don't see myself reading it again. While the essays were fascinating, I felt no emotional connection to the text.

This game was last place in 1998's IFComp, and has an average rating of 1 star (out of 12 ratings) on ifdb as of this writing.

This game consists of 9 multiple choice questions presented as a job interview. There are several paragraphs of intro, a huge response to XYZZY, and a final score in three categories as well as a salary.

Why was this game so poorly regarded? CYOA in general was looked down upon until Twine and Choice of Games took off. Also, the author has a bitter tone, and includes lines like "That's not how life works" if you try to restart.

But the game is polished. The author spent a great deal of time creating a workable CYOA structure, and it looks good.

The writing is descriptive, and does an excellent job of representing the author's feelings

The game communicates an emotion of frustration, bitterness and helplessness.

However, it is difficult to know how your choices affect the outcomes, and disabled restart is obnoxious. Also, there is not much replay value.