Ratings and Reviews by MathBrush

Six Stories is an interesting game. I came across it because it did will in 1999 IFComp.

Six Stories was notable at the time for using sound and graphics as an integral part of the game. The game contains six short stories, which are narrated (I had to use HTML TADS, and download the sound files with the non-bundled game. The bundled game didn't play the sound). The graphics are mainly backdrops.

I enjoyed the short stories. There is a brief sequence before hearing them, and then one short puzzle after hearing them. The imagery in the game is imaginative and enjoyable.

If you enjoy fables/fairytales, you will enjoy this game.

In The Edifice, you parallel the history of humanity by going through important events in the history of mankind (such as discovering weapons).

The game is perhaps best known for its very well-done language puzzle, where you have to communicate with another person to learn their language.

Unfortunately, the solution to this and many other puzzles is obscure. The author assumes that you will use many items in ways that are not normal in interactive fiction, but which make sense in the game world. This seems like a good thing, however, there are a vast number of things that would make sense to do in the real world, and an author can only implement so many of those things.

I played this game on three different occasions over the years; the first time, I got stuck on the first door, go frustrated, and quit. Years later, I tried again, used a walkthrough on the first part, and tried the second part. I loved it, but go stuck, frustrated, and lost interest. Today, I just used a walkthrough through the whole thing. It's a great game, but my experience wasn't as enjoyable as it could be.

Sorcerer is the "middle child" of the Enchanter trilogy, and like many middle installments, it tries to go beyond the old game into new territory while developing some aspects.

This game is still focused on scrolls, but it adds potions and many more Zorkian pick-up-and-carry-around items. Many items are items from MIT Zork which have been repurposed.

The writing is, in fact, nightmarish. There is a nightmare early in the game, and don't try sleeping in the first area! You later visit some particularly horrible places, where there are countless ways to die. The game is filled with subtly creepy locations, like (Spoiler - click to show)an underground carnival. And losing is particularly unpleasant.

This game has many red herrings, and one notorious unwinnable state (you must obtain a certain item in the first 25 turns of the game. The game doesn't tell you that).

The game is famous for (Spoiler - click to show)its glass maze, and for its time-travel puzzle. Unfortunately, I had heard about both before, and so I wasn't as impressed by them.

I got up to 205 points before using a walkthrough. I played this game on iOS's Lost Treasures of Infocom.

Possibly inspired by the Wizard of Frobozz in Zork II,and originally intended to be Zork IV, Enchanter was my favorite Infocom game up to this point. You play an apprentice enchanter who is chosen to defeat the Warlock Krill, due to your not being a big enough threat for him to notice (like Lord of the Rings).

The main idea of Enchanter, and the entire focus of the game, is the spells. Unlike the wand in Zork II (which is described as unreliable and old-fashioned here), scrolls are copied into your spell book, and then can be cast over and over again.

There are well over a dozen spells. It was designed to give you a feel of more power than in Zork. The things you can do feel amazing.

I got up to about 150 points before consulting a walkthrough. I couldn't solve two key puzzles. One I knew what to do, but wasn't clever enough to figure it how. The other came out of left field, although I later realized that your dreams are a clue to the puzzle.

Which brings me to the one point that may be most divisive: your player's bodily needs. You constantly have to satisfy hunger, thirst, and sleep! You have a replenishable water supply, but you're toast when your food is gone.

I recommend reading the manual on NPC conversations, or one puzzle will be far too difficult.

I played this game on the iOS Lost Treasures of Infocom App.

Ad Verbum was one of the first IF games I played, and still a favorite. In this mid-length, story-lite game, you must collect and throw away various items by using constrained commands (commands that don't use certain letters, commands that only use the top row of the keyboard, repetitive commands, etc.)

The most enjoyable rooms are the rooms where you must use only words starting with a certain letter. The hardest part is trying to leave! How do you exit a room to the north if you have to start all of your commands with s?

The top few levels and the backyard are not quite as fun. And there are some puzzles that are just weird "guess which random object has the random property you need" puzzles.

I had heard about this game for a year before playing it. Because of the hyper, I was mildly disappointed when playing it. The writing and concept of the game are similar to a variety of horror/surreal games out there, such as Porpentine's games, Ecdysis, parts of Frog Fractions. Who came first, I don't know. The idea seems to be to present something that is vaguely sketched out, with all details being slightly incompatible with each other and reality, borrowing ideas from deep-sea creatures and insects/parasites.

Beyond that specific genre, this game is part of a larger genre of text where the author experiences gut-wrenching, horrible things, turning the readers stomach in fear or revulsion. This includes books like The Kite Runner, Mudbound, A Separate Peace. A lot of these stories have been highly praised, and I even joy some of them (including Horsemaster), but in the end, I feel like true substance is more difficult to find.

The main pull of the game is your connection with your horse. A lot of things can happen between the two of you. You almost have the relationship of manipulative mother and her daughter.

The gameplay is perfectly tuned to contribute to the atmosphere.

Overall, most people will enjoy the game. I am glad that I played it. But it didn't change my life (not that anyone said it would, of course).

I played Dreamhold years ago, one of the first games I've played, and it's never been quite my favorite. It is intended as being accessible for beginners but still fun for older players. It is a mid-length fantasy game, where you play as a wizard trying to reconstruct his memories in a tower.

The puzzles are of course top-notch, especially with the berries and the stars. However, the plot was never really compelling to me. The protagonist is not an underdog, and everyone likes to root for the under dog.

Actually, I know exactly how to describe this game. This is Citizen Kane for interactive fiction. Reviewing the life of an old, powerful man and seeing how he got there. If you liked Citizen Kane, you will like Dreamhold. If you don't really go for those kinds of characters, you still might like the puzzles quite a bit. For me, it's the kind of game that I love while playing, then forget when I'm done.

Pick up the phone booth and die has one idea: try picking up the phone booth. Then die. Exactly one related action will win the game instead.

I had always heard of this game, and played it once or twice. After deciding to write this review, I investigated its history. It seems it was nominated for an XYZZY award for Best Puzzle in 1997. It was simultaneously released with a demo for Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die, part 2, which is still available as a demo on ifdb.

Most of the praise the game receives is due to its minimalism.You might as well try it because it is so short.

It inspired the much better game, Pick Up The Phone Booth and Aisle, which parodies both this game and Aisle (where every action ends the game in a different ending).

Shade is a surreal game. It is an almost one-room game, where you are trying to leave your apartment, but encounter more and more difficulties.

Shade is one of the most well-written short horror games available on IFDB, and has been sold as an iOS game.

There were two points in the game that I wasn't expecting and deeply unsettled me. I won't list them here. Unfortunately, this whole review is a bit pointless, as nothing is scary if you are told it is scary. The scariest story I ever read was NES Godzilla, and it was only scary because it was such a ridiculously stupid story that when it actually got scary, it surprised me. On the other hand, I was told The Lurking Horror was one of the scariest games of all time, so when I actually played it, I was pretty disappointed.

So your best bet is to forget this and the other few reviews, wait a few months, think, "Oh, what game is this?" and then play it.

Most of the game, including the ending, was not that scary. Just a few moments stuck out for me, but they were big moments.

Conan Kill Everything was intended to be dumb humor. The author chose the name from a competition for dumbest IF games. In this game, you must kill everything. When you do, you win.

The puzzles are actually pretty fun, but the game feels a bit underimplemented at times. Descriptions of objects and characters are sparse. It fits in with the game's setting, though.

Honestly, the game plays like a combination of Pick Up the Phonebooth and Die with Suveh Nux. If you liked those two games, you'll like this. If you liked just one, you might or might not like this.