Reviews by MathBrush

I had mixed reactions to Bee by Emily Short, most of which were favorable. I compared this game in my mind to Bigger Than You Think by Plotkin, which is another choice game by a famous parser author.

The game is in a completely real-life setting. You play a homeschooled child over three years or more as they prepare for the national spelling bee. Time is organized in months. Each month, you can choose from a variety of activities usually three), and within each activity, you can control your reactions to events and sometimes some big choices.

The game allows quite a variety of choices; the first time I played, I practiced my butt off for the finals. The second time I played, I goofed off as much as possible.

The game was enjoyable; as someone who entered competitions like this as a kid, it was fun to study for the test and get competitive. The interactions with neighbors were fun, too.

But the game got pretty monotonous, perhaps because I tried to be so focused each time. 36 months, with multiple actions a month, makes for a long game, and there was not enough material to fill it all up. Instead, many scenarios were repeated five times or more.

This game was part of an experiment in IF inspired by a challenge to create a work of art with the title "The space under the window". In this game, you see a window, but you can't do anything to it directly. Instead, you type nouns or adjectives you see, and it changes the world to something different, related to that noun or adjective.

I found this game to be pretty short; altogether I think there were less than 40 keywords I could type. Many obvious words were not implemented, but this makes sense for an experimental game.

This kind of concept, whether inspired by this game or not, was further developed by Aisle and then Galatea, both games where the gameplay focuses on typing keywords in a room or a conversation, and text adapts around the words you type. I distinguish this from games like Blue Lacuna, where typing keywords just has you interact with the object.

This game is highly rated, which is why I tried it. It is fairly short, and has two difficult puzzles, as well as some trouble at first until you realize that you have to examine every object in the room (okay, maybe it' s just me).

The first puzzle (involving a sequence of numbers) was very ingenious. I thought at first the answer would involve some experimentation, but it was all very logical in the end, though I didn't solve it myself.

The second puzzle is a bit more obscure, but fun.

Altogether, it is not very long, and I would recommend it only to puzzle fiends. Those who are into intrigue may find it worthwhile to skip the two puzzles via walkthrough.

This game exemplifies the original feel of Star Trek. To explore the universe, to travel through the worlds, to understand the un-understandable.

The game is much shorter than I expected, given the other reviews. This is not really a drawback; the game has a fast pace and feels like an adventure. You explore various planets and stellar objects, with almost all motion achieved by manipulating "sails".

The gameplay diverges from Plotkin's usual games in that it is not very hard, and the focus is on fun over puzzles. The most similar game of his that I can think of is Dual Transform, which I also really enjoyed.

I recommend this game to absolutely everyone, as the enjoyment-to-time-requirement ratio is so very high.

I've often pondered on my reasons for reading novels, playing IF, reading stories online, etc. I've talked to my family about it, and my answers to why we escape and whether it is good changes fairly often. I also was oncea professional video game developer.

This game, then, drew me in completely. This is a choice-based game about someone who is trying to understand escapism, its role in life, its benefits and drawbacks, the meaning of art, etc.

It was fun to play the character as myself, giving the answers and reactions I would. I was happy with my ending.

It was funny to play this game after Ultra Business Tycoon III,and reading online debates over whether that game is winnable, and what it would mean if it is not winnable. I don't necessarily recommend playing that game first (Porpentine has better games, like Howling Dogs), but it was interesting.

Lynnea Glasser tends to make very good games. I didn't like Tenth Plague on philosophical grounds, but Coloratura was fantastic.

This game contains several instances of strong profanity near the beginning.

This mid-length game is a story-focused Zorkian type game, where you explore the Beast's castle, trying to understand his history and take action.

The game features a magical system focused on (Spoiler - click to show)bells. Different bells have different properties, which you must decipher by experimentation and by searching records.

The game is a more cynical version of the fairy tale (or more world-weary).

This game is intended to be accesible to beginners, with a tutorial mode and ways to access hints. I found the game frustrating when I tried to treat it as an open, nonlinear game. When I did what the game told me to do, it was much more enjoyable.

Missive is clever and fun, but is a bit of a mismatch. It has a gripping and interesting story about a man who just went through a breakup interacting with both his ex girlfriend and a mysterious present.

These form two fairly distinct stories that are both good. The true relationship between you and your ex slowly comes out in a very clever way. The present story involves sifting through old letters and deciphering puzzles. If you get the puzzles right, you pick the correct next letter to read. It doesn't tell you if you were right till the end, making lawnmowering hard. You can have a great experience without solving all the puzzles.

The game has some scattered profanity and frequent alcohol use. These usually turn me off of a game, but the PC was painted as a (to me) lovable guy going through a hard time, so I had sympathy for him. Good game.

This game seemed huge at first, so I was worried, but it got fastee over time. Altogether about 2 hours play time at most.

You 'sign up' to work with a company who investigates subversives. Yojreadreports and make recommendations. Weird stuff creeps in.

My ending was funny and enjoyable. The game is a good satire of office life.

Replay value seems low, as you can't save anywhere, so you have to replay a lot.

I enjoyed this game.

Before I played it, Six was recommended by many, many people. It was nominated for Best Game in the XYZZY awards, it did very well in IFComp, reviewers said it was the best game ever. But I wasn't very interested.

Having tried it, I see now why all the hype was there. This is a very fun game. You have to play hide and seek tag/tip with your six friends in a park. The game uses children, but the writing isn't childish. Each friend presents a unique challenge in catching them. After winning the game, you can unlock additional material.

The game features a wide assortment of sounds, which were never necessary except for one part of the additional material. The graphics are also fun but unnecessary (the map can be helpful, but the layout of the park is not hard).

This game is not very difficult. I use hints/walkthroughs on just about every game I play, but I manage to work my way through this one relying on in-game nudges only. Great game.

Delphina's House uses one of my favorite gameplay mechanics, parallel worlds where actions in one world affect the other.

In this short ParserComp game, you play a young girl who is moving, and who wants to explore her worlds one last time with here transporter box (like Calvin's cardboard boxes in Calvin and Hobbes). There are three main puzzles, but each puzzle can be solved in any of the three possible worlds available to you. This gives the game high replay value; you can play through 3 different times and solve completely new puzzles every time.

There are two sound-based puzzles, but they are not bad, and (like all other puzzles) they can be bypassed by doing other puzzles.

If you liked this game, you might like the author's other game, Molly and the Butter Thieves.