Reviews by MathBrush

This game is a peaceful, calm exploration of nature, the way She's Got A Thing For A Spring or A Change In The Weather would have been without puzzles.

This game was a Landscape entry in the IF Art Show, so the emphasis here is on detail, setting, the five senses, and so on. I loved the nature feeling here.

There are multiple paths you can take, but I just played through once. There are some exciting random events, and some philosophy.

Recommended for everyone.

In this game, you play a young woman who has constantly been babied her whole life, and who is sick of it.

Your boyfriend leaves you a note in the morning with a job to take care of, but first you have to get dressed and out the door after some obstacles, including a hungry dog. Then you have to go to work, etc.

I liked the message of this game about standing up and not letting people keep you down. The puzzles weren't bad, with multiple solutions, but sometimes relied on extensively searching. Also, if people are visible from far away, then the description can change depending on where you are when you examine them.

Recommended.

Varkana is a mid-length fantasy game that was entered in IFComp. It relies heavily on both conversation and searching for items.

Varkana is the name of a small, almost technophobic city-state in a world with both fantastical creatures and advanced technology. One of the advanced civilizations has sent ambassadors to Varkana, and your job is to investigate them.

The setting is quite good, but the implementation is a bit patchy. Apparently the readme text notes that there is a bug where conversation won't work unless you ask about a nonsense topic first.

Conversation plays a large role in this game. Much of the game depends on guessing the right keyword(s) to ASK someone about.

Overall, the setting was fun, but progression was frustrating. I ended up reading it like a novel as I walked through. I'd like to see more original fantasy worlds in IF.

In this game, you play a Russian upper or middle class individual who is scheduled for a duel in the snow.

The game is in two or three parts; your house, the duel, and interludes (including the opening).

The interludes were entertaining and imaginative, but it was often hard to know what to do.

The house segment was the most fun to me, as you recall your history, explore, etc.

The duel segment was also a bit confusing, but the ending(s) were well-written, especially the losing ending.

Overall, not bad. I enjoy 19th century Russian literature, so this was a fun treat.

This is an Adrift game that was ported to inform. You play a "foxy" version of Goldilocks, although there fortunately isn't any kind of sexual content.

The game map slowly grows as you play. You have to act out a large number of fairytales that aren't usually in IF games, such as Goldlilocks, the Frog Prince, and the Big Bad Wolf.

This is really a large and involved game. The Club Floyd Transcript is huge. You can play for hours without passing the halfway point.

The humor is a bit twisted at times, mainly in the underground area you find.

The hints are frankly unhelpful at points.

Recommended for those looking for a big, well-done game.

So, my experience in playing Phobos is atypical; I played in tame mode, and I just used a walkthrough, because I wasn't very interested in the game.

But the writing turned out to be quite good. The mishaps of my companion and the finale were some of the best things I've read in a while. This game ends up reading a lot like the meretzky-adams game Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Also similar to that game is the transportation syste, where you travel between disconnected worlds.

Even in tame mode, some dirty stuff sneaks through, but it is on the level of the movie Space Balls (e.g. a suggestive spaceship, a man or woman getting almost undressed against their will, etc.)

Using the walkthrough, the game seemed pretty hard. The copy protection in this game is achieved by having a horrible maze with horrible monsters, where you have to use two of the feeling to get through.

The game has the infamous t-removing machine, inspiration of future games such as Earl Grey and Counterfeit Monkey.

Overall, I'm not sure if I'll play it again. But I think meretzky does some of his best writing here (perhaps he was enthusiastic about the subject matter).

You play a young man in costume who goes about a ball stealing kisses from young women.

This game was part of SmoochieComp, which I've seen a lot from recently. It was a veil tines day themed comp.

The game tells you what to do for each next step, but gives you some freedom. The setting is in the olden days, probably a ball.

The game has a twist at the end, which made me feel a bit better about the premise. Going about kissing girls against their will is unpleasant. But the ending makes it more charming.

Recommended.

This game was one of the first games ever nominated for a Best Setting XYZZY. It's set in a charming campus building used as a computer center. There are three floors, with interesting things on each floor.

The puzzles, writing, and storyline are not super compelling, but their are a variety of charming touches that add to the game. The two significant NPCs are unexpected and cute. There are a variety of extra features that add to the game.

Overall, a very short game with a charming setting.

Fine-tuned is a well-polished and lengthy comedy game, in which you play two characters. The first is a strong but dim motorist, possessing an early automobile. The second is a young opera star with perfect pitch.

The game opens with a few cheerful, comedic scenes that are largely led by the hand in an entertaining way. Then the game opens up into a more free, more linear area.

I used the walkthrough by this point, and stuck with it. It seems like some parts would be quite hard to guess on your own.

This game is very well put-together and enjoyable. Recommended.

In this game, you play Alistair Lidell, a father who is going to a fair with his wife. Things are not good in the Lidell family.

You enter a surreal world based on Alice in Wonderland and on your own life. You experience a variety of events that have tragic connections to real life. Also, you have a paper that you carry around, and you are supposed to write some words on it, but it's hard to know what to write.

Overall, good writing, but the hinting is off.