Ratings and Reviews by Jacic

This is a really fun bitsy game twisted Oz setting. I’m glad I finally managed to get my (Spoiler - click to show)dog back in one form or another.

I really enjoyed this entry. This is a swiftly moving, unusual game for IFComp.

It is a well made, stylised retelling of the King Midas story where everything marches inevitably on as your touch gilds everything you come in contact with. The way the soundscape changes as you progress through the actions is great.

I'm not sure if the platform it's made on allows it, but I think it might have been interesting to have the ability to (Spoiler - click to show)reconsider what to do when there is one final square left. Commit. Or similar to the mythology, beg for the "gift" to be reversed so there could be two different endings.

That was just a little thought though. This was something fun and different to have entered this year.

I'll admit, I really wasn't sure what to expect with this one from the description, but I actually really enjoyed it. It kind of gave me a vaguely Farscape setting feel, a small crew, including alien species, on the run and working together out of necessity that can evolve into friendship under the right circumstances. I actually liked the flashbacks revealing the background information in a bit of a drip feed rather than one big info dump somewhere, and felt for me at least, it helped rather than hindered the story progression.

Minor spoilers below:

This is actually a really cute game. I loved the concept of being able to play a game from the perspective of a crow. The language lends to that with some decriptive words dropped in to describe people/places/other animals in place of their "human" names. It seems to be on a timer so you can't do everything before the days end, and lends itself to replaying where you investigate one or two story threads at a time. I actually did find myself invested in trying to find out the answers to the questions like what happened to (Spoiler - click to show)Penny, and our feathered and furry friends?

This is a game I'd love to see have a post release with a bit more content. There were a few bugs here and there, and it sometimes seemed difficult to be sure what you were supposed to do. I think it might be unfinished also? For example, I could not see any way to (Spoiler - click to show)save the dog or find out who had been tormenting him. The fact that it feels a bit unfinished is the main reason for the 3* as I did really enjoy the overall feel of the game.

This is a well written little game given the limitations of the 300 word limit meaning it has little deviation in the storyline achievable. It left me wanting to know more in a longer game.

It's short, but I think that works in its favour given the kind of "atmospheric experience" game it is, and it performs that task quite well! It jumps into the story and holds you there for a little while until it finishes playing out. The sound effects are used to great effect to create a very creepy atmosphere and build tension about what you'll find next. If you're prone to being creeped out, I wouldn't play it at night with the lights out.

This game did actually cause me to go and check out the Moiki system that was used to build it.