Ratings and Reviews by Jacqueline A. Lott

A clever opening to a game premise that's been done before. Quite a few times.

For originality points, I will say that this is the only game or story I've played that uses the premise that I've crash landed in the Bermuda Triangle, and that's why things are so wonky. That's where the originality ends, though.

This is Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It / Ad Verbum territory, which is territory I love, but this one doesn't rise and shine as its predecessors did. That said, I laughed a few times, and I won't say that I didn't enjoy it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed those other games, and it's pretty much impossible to not make the comparison.

I enjoyed this game, and recommend that others play it, but with a few caveats.

The game could have done with a bit more fleshing out, particularly in terms of implemented verbs and NPC interaction. Also, the timing of the grand finale puzzle could have perhaps been slightly more forgiving. This latter issue in particular made me beat my head against a wall until I was ready to not like the game anymore, but then I took a few breaths and remembered why I had been enjoying the game up until I started not enjoying it.

So what did I enjoy? The premise was a great one, for starters. While not unique, it was the first time I remember seeing it in interactive fiction. The game also has this really fantastic blend of fairly light, childlike perspective juxtaposed with some very dark and horrific elements. Placing these two beside one another made the light lighter and dark way, way darker.

Overall, I'm glad we played it on ClubFloyd, and will seek out some of Dan Doyle's other stuff as a result.

Cut the Red Wire! No, the Blue Wire! is of the one turn game genre. It's short, and could have used with a bit more deviation in responses, but in truth had it been randomized too much the player might spin their wheels even more than they already do. Basically, I thought this was frustrating and unsolvable and was cursing David for writing a game with a show-stopping bug... until I realized that it was written just as he'd intended it. When you *do* win, especially after the frustration, it's quite satisfying. Clever (if quick) work, Mr. Whyld.

We played tapestry on ClubFloyd recently, and took the game through all the various possible threads, something I'd never done on my own, years ago, when I first played it. What I found, first off, is that the game holds up well over a dozen years after initial release, and that second, the path I originally took that I thought best was probably less than ideal. Worth revisiting if you've played before, but only once.

Daniel Ravipinto stated at the time that he wrote the game that his goals were to see if a serious and interesting story could be merged with traditional IF 'puzzle' elements without one overshadowing the other, and to explore mutually-exclusive paths, a pre-defined main character, moral dilemmas, 'puzzle-less' IF, and semi-realistic NPCs. He does a very good job of this. This is a piece of IF well worth downloading.