Reviews by Dan Fabulich
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Unfairly clued, annoying to operate, August 29, 2021This game has approximately three and a half puzzles, but only two of them are good, IMO.
I can't imagine that anybody will solve it without using the game's built-in hint system (Melinda) and asking her about everything.
Even then, IMO, the silver key puzzle is too hard/unfair. (I was unable to solve it without reading the author's hints posted on the ADRIFT forum.)
On the silver key puzzle: (Spoiler - click to show)I thought the poster rhyme was telling me to turn to page 6 and stand in the western room; that made at least as much sense as the correct answer, and is compatible with Melinda's suggestion to think about numbers.
The game is also annoying to operate, but it's hard to talk about that without spoiling the game's central mechanic.
(Spoiler - click to show)The game's central mechanic is that moving clockwise increases the book's page number; moving counterclockwise decreases the page number. Leaving the book in the recess allows you to switch rooms without changing the page number, allowing you to "dial" the book to a number of your choice.
Two out of the three puzzles are entirely about guessing a page number for the book and navigating to it.
But you can't "turn to page 624," noooo… you have to laboriously put the book in the recess, go to the right room, get the book, move clockwise, put the book back in the recess, go clockwise, put the book back in the recess, go to a smaller numbered room, move counterclockwise, etc.
It's even worse if you play it in the ADRIFT online web player, where each command can take a second or two.
One puzzle, and it's kinda busted, July 4, 2021It's interesting to make a game in AdvSys in 2021. (Note that you can play it in Gargoyle for Windows, macOS, or Linux, or Spatterlight for macOS.)
The game is extremely minimal. Five rooms. You can win the game in a dozen turns, without any meaningful optimization.
There's an item you can take, the book, that as far as I can tell is completely unimplemented; "x book" just says "nothing special" and the game doesn't have a "read" verb.
IMO, the flower puzzle is kinda busted. (Spoiler - click to show)You have to "POUR FLOWER" when you have the full bottle; "POUR BOTTLE" won't work. This took me ages to figure out, because "POUR FLOWER" isn't grammatically correct! You're not pouring the flower, you're pouring water (or the water bottle) on the flower.
Cute intro to IF, July 3, 2021I wish this game weren't in ADRIFT, so it could be more easily playable online, and so it would work on macOS and Linux. (This game feels like a particularly good fit for Adventuron.)
I got stuck on the laptop password. (Spoiler - click to show)If you follow the tutorial, it will lead you to “say kennedy” to Molly. There is a good reason the tutorial advises you to do that.
Otherwise, the game was simple and charming.
It's a spooky Lovecraftian game, a bit overwritten. ("The vacant church is in a state of great decrepitude" could be "is decrepit.")
Once you find the first body, it's not clear why you'd hang around town rather than fleeing.
The game has mazes, but they're combination locks, where you find directions from point to point; they're not meant to be solved in the traditional way by dropping items. I still don't love that; I'd prefer a "go to happy cow farm" command, where you can only go there once you have directions.
It's a pity that it only works on Windows; I don't see anything about this game that wouldn't work just as well (or better) in Inform.
The music only 45 seconds long, and looping, which gets annoying pretty quickly.
No rating; I haven't finished yet.
A delicious treat, with rough edges, July 3, 2021This game is short; you'll probably finish in 20 minutes or less. The game has a turn tracker (you have to get to the train before noon), but, in practice, the tracker is just an annoyance: you're probably going to run out of time on your first playthrough, and then you'll restart the game and play through more efficiently.
The music is fun, and the puzzles are fair, but kinda fiddly.
(Spoiler - click to show)The game wasn't clear enough about where I needed to stand to get the fishing pole and the gem at the bridge. It would say "you can't reach it from here," but why not? Do I need to wade deeper into the water? Is the pole on the east side of the bridge? The west side? Do I need to be standing on the bridge, or on the stepping stones?
Instead, you kinda need to guess that there are four locations in this area (west of the bridge, east of the bridge, standing on the bridge, and standing on the stones) and try to get the items at each of those locations by trial and error.
When dispersing the magpies, I had to "throw" the gem at the magpies, but I couldn't just "give" the gem to the magpies, or "drop" the gem and leave, and it's not clear why.
The game's not done yet; it's being released chapter by chapter. The last chapter is scheduled to be released in July.
Tip for the author: invite me to subscribe to some kinda notification when new chapters are released!
This game has a lot of heart, June 29, 2021I'm not sure this game really works that well if you've never seen the iCarly Nickelodeon TV show, but there's a lot of heart and soul in this game. It describes itself as a "horror" game, and certainly there are horror elements, but I'd describe it as a game about dealing with grief and guilt through the metaphor of Lovecraftian creepypasta horror tropes.
Buggy, interesting, June 29, 2021The game feels fun, noir-y, but it has a number of bugs that forced me back to the in-game hints too often. (And even those have bugs, at least as of Release 1.)
I posted a big list of bugs on the intfiction forum. https://intfiction.org/t/the-big-fall-a-1947-detective-story/51435/5?u=dfabulich
My biggest issue with this game is plot-related.
(Spoiler - click to show)Why did Dixie (the mob boss) let Sylvia live? Why are the cops trying to kill me in the final scene? Shouldn't they just arrest me?
It seems like the game is being noir-y at the expense of its own plot.
I think if the bugs were fixed, this could be at least three stars, and if the plot issues are addressed, it could be four or five stars.
Not sure if I found everything, April 24, 2021There's a lot of fun poetic imagery in this piece. It ends quite abruptly, and won't take more than a few minutes if you play it as I did.
(Spoiler - click to show)INVENTORY, then EXAMINE all of the stuff in the satchel. The game will suggest that you can CHANGE the stuff, so CHANGE all of the feelings, one at a time. Then you can trivially GO EAST and WAIT a turn to win that way, or CUT BRAMBLES and GO WEST and WAIT a turn to win that way.
EDIT: (Spoiler - click to show)You can also optionally help the traveler, who appears fifteen turns into the game. You can GET ODDMENTS (twice), GIVE ODDMENTS TO TRAVELER, and then TRAVELER, CHANGE MOMENTS.
Maybe there was another way to win? Maybe there's more to it? Or maybe that's all there is.
A cute little game, April 4, 2021There's not a lot to it, (the game is over before you know it) but the puzzles are fair, and there's some cute stuff. I look forward to the author's future work.
I didn't think it was fair that (Spoiler - click to show)the game docks you three points for turning on the TV.
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