Reviews by MathBrush

Capsule II is an IFComp 2015 game that was well-received by many people. It involves a group of people called the Sandmen who are custodians over a giant ship. Each one spends years alone, and the game deals with their isolation.

The game has some great animations and illustrations in a sort of vintage washed-out/watercolor look (look at the cover art). I think it is just fantastic as in-game art.

The game has some profanity, references to porn, etc., which is a turn-off for me. But all of it fits with the character's personality. Many people have expressed the opinion that they expected the game to not be that great but that it somehow has that essential 'it'-ness that makes a game good. I see people talking about this game for a long time to come.

In this game, you and an opponent are tied to opposite poles and required to battle each other. You have around seven abilities or powers, and your opponent has some preset attacks.

You have to figure what order to combine your attacks, as well as when to wait for an advantage. It becomes an optimization puzzle, where you frequently restart. Some have said that they thought it through logically and reduced the number of repeats.

The writing is beautiful and evocative, and reminds me of Magic:The Gathering. Giant collosi, swarms of bugs, whispered madness.

For fans of strategy-based combat.

Eurydice is one of those games that felt intimidatingly large, but after playing through it, I was relieved to see it is actually short, sweet, and simple. A huge number of NPC's lie in an early room, but only require minimal interaction. It seems at two different points that there are many different directions to go in, but in both cases the different directions lead to small areas.

The game is a modern retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. It has a beautiful and haunting atmosphere, and excellent writing.

I won't spoil the plot too much, but this short game has 4 possible endings. The main NPC is painted vividly, while you yourself are left vague and nebulous. The whole feeling is that of a dark afternoon on a November day when the snow hasn't fallen but the world is already dead and gray.

Recommended for everyone. Incredible game.

This is a short Twine IFComp game about fate. A vagabond is passing through a wood, making a variety of moral choices and inconsequential choices. They meet a strange figure with an air of mystery.

The game has more to it than it looks at first. I enjoyed trying various options to see how the game turned out in the end.

A nice part of the game is the visuals. The game has a beautiful set of images later in the game that are worth checking out.

I recommend this game to those who are interested in discussions of fate and morality.

Forever Meow is an IFComp 2015 game. It has an interesting mechanism where you advance the game by clicking a key on the computer or clicking a link, and go back by clicking a permanent button.

The story has plot twists, but the way it starts out is that you're just a cat doing cat things. Throughout the game, you can bat stuff around, meow, hiss, jump on furniture.

This game was a bit simpler than a lot of the other IFComp games, but it made me feel good. I've seen a few people rate it as one of their favorites in the comp, and I can see why.

Recommended for people who like cats (so, quite a few people).

Cape is, in my opinion, one of the best web-based interactive fiction games of all time. It is an engrossing story about a young petty criminal who has 'greatness thrust upon them' as a result of their crimes.

The most influential choice you make in this long Undum game is the choice of your super powers. I've heard some people say that the powers end up seeming the same, but I felt that all three big options were very different from each other. I think what people are talking about is a fact that the actual story is the same; just the details of it change from choice to choice.

Your superhero comes to grips with their powers and their crime-fighting. They are simultaneously uncomfortable and thrilled by their powers. There is an interesting mystery leading to a thrilling climactic confrontation.

The feel is grungy, dark; I lived in Manhattan for a while, and this really reminds me of the feel of the Lower East Side at night. I just loved this game. Loved it loved it loved it. (Note: whenever someone hypes up a game to me, I am always disappointed in it, so you might not like it as much as I did. I just happen to really like grungy superhero stories).

This mid-length IFComp 2015 game is an old-school game that is surprisingly forgiving. While you need to decipher passwords and complex machinery and examine each item and location, it has an internal consistency that makes it easier. Also, on two occasions when I was wandering around stuck, the game openly said "You remember that you..." and gave me the answer.

You are a vampire that seems like he would be played by a comedic actor in a darker film (kind of like a Buffy the Vampire take on an ancient Vampire). The game gets morbid but jokes as it does so (you remember torturing people a lot, for instance, but it' s played as an enjoyable hobby. I thought it was too much at a few points, but this game is unlikely to seriously offend anyone.

If you like puzzley games, you will love this one.

This was my absolute favorite IFComp 2015 game. In Map, you play a woman with a troubled relationship with her family members. You spend most of the day alone in your house, and as you immediately learn, the house is slowly growing new rooms, which is reflected in a map you carry.

During the course of a week, you have the opportunity to (Spoiler - click to show)go back and make changes in your life, which affects your current life greatly. This allows for a lot of flexibility in gameplay, and many endings.

The feeling of the game is poignant and thoughtful, and mildly creepy, especially when strange things happen and noone, least of all YOU, seems to care.

Love this game.

Edit: Before I posted this review, I went through and played again. It was a slow start, but I teared up during the last few days of gameplay. This game really gets me in an emotional place. It had an emotional impact on me that rivals games like Photopia or the Warbler's Nest. It affected me a lot because many decisions revolved around family and relationships.

Dalmady brings their characteristic charm and structure to a mid-length Twine game about interning for a company with actual magic.

The company uses rune/sigil-based magic, but the character is mostly familiar with magic through a Harry Potter-like series of fictional books.

As others have pointed out, the strength of the game is the contrast between the exciting world of magic and the sheer drudgery of intern work (making copies, getting coffee, etc.) I reached all three endings, and enjoyed the variety as well as the mechanisms by which the character achieves the 'good' endings (in my opinion).

There is a single instance of strong profanity, but otherwise no violence and profanity. The horrible reality of a boring office life (with low pay) may be too much for children and most adults, however (How many copies do I have to make!!!!!).

5 Minutes to Burn Something is a short-to-mid length IFComp 2015 game. It is about a woman who needs to set something in her apartment on fire so she won't be fined for a false alarm.

The game is set into two parts; first, you try and set the fire. Then, you (Spoiler - click to show)have to frame your ex-boyfriend so you don't get arrested for arson.

The puzzles are clever and imaginative, but due to the detailed scope of the game, some implementation got left behind. Many reasonable synonyms of things are not implemented, or reasonable alternative to in-game solutions; for instance, as a fictional example, you might have a jar with a lid, where LOOK IN JAR says 'you see nothing', while OPEN LID will tell you 'You find a cookie and pick it up'.

I think theses issues will be fixed in a post-comp release. I really enjoyed the first part of the game, although the second part seemed a bit creepy.

Recommended for puzzle fans.