Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

Carry On. is a short sci-fi Twine piece, broken into two scenes (seemingly unrelated? I am not quite sure, the break between the two is a bit jarring/confusing). You are a space farer at the start of a mission, looking for your captain, and finding more than you asked. That second part is a bit chilling, and made it feel like the whole was some sort of demo or prototype for a larger piece (it does set a bit of mystery/confrontation that would make for a neat game).

Mouse Train is an adorable tiny adventure in Twine, where you play as a little cutesie mouse boarding a train, but not remembering quite why (or why they are wearing their best scarf!), and also realising they forgot their ticket. Between the ominous train conductor to hide from, and trying to find why you are on this train, the game is well-rounded and so sweet. And the interface. Gosh, it’s so tight and well-done.

I fessed up right away to the conductor, didn’t want to carry the guilt of not having a ticket.

Reminisce is a short visual novel, where a Chronicler shares with you stories of the people she met, especially focusing on the themes of loss and dealing with grief. Each snapshot finished with the same mantra, repeated chorus throughout the game. A cycle never-ending. Remembrance. Requiem. Rebirth. Repeat. It is simple but very evocative in the writing and the accompanying illustrations.

peelings is a kinetic entry made in Decker about love, and how you can explain how it feels by comparing it to peeling an orange (or a tangerine). It is a sweet piece, and very comforting, that reminded me of times when there would be tangerine at the table for dessert, how we would peel them together, help the younger ones get their quarters more easily, putting them in each other’s mouths with a smile, or gathering the peels and squeeze it to release their oils (aiming it at eyes if we were cheeky). I really liked it, it made me feel warm inside.

A Reverie Of You is a dreamy poetic entry, with a long form poem displayed on pictures. The aesthetic is nostalgic, seen in the filters used on the picture, the interface behaving as if you were seeing pictures with a slide viewer (complete with sounds!), and the text appearing slowly, like calm waves on the beach. The poem is a celebration of life, of all the little fleeting moments you share with people, of the warm feelings other make you feel, of the dreams and disappointments, of the details that stick to your mind never forgotten. Pretty touching

WAKE UP is a horror Twine piece inspired by the creepypasta of the same name, in which following a traumatic event you fell into a catatonic dream state, unable to wake up, unable to remember what happened to you, until you find a note telling you to wake up. Like the original text, the game does a great job at adding unease to the text, with the protagonist not thinking much of the note at first, to feigning concern. Nice.

Please Don’t Reap my Soul, Mr. Grim Reaper is a short Twine game where you attempt to trick the Grim Reaper into putting your soul back into your body after a nasty fall. You have a couple of options, all of them pretty silly and funny, leading you to the end. If there was a message to this game, it would be: be careful of what you wish for.
Anyways, it was a fun short time.

the sword of justice plays a sick bassline is a tiny kinetic piece made in Twine mixing the superhero genre and your regular teen slice-of-life. You are a teenage superhero on a job, when you realise you’re going to be late for a gig! What’s a teen to do?!
The tone is pretty zany, and really what you’d expect from a teenager story. Different priorities, hard rolling of the eyes, jabs at everyone. It’s stilly, but fun.

After the Janazah is a beautiful short interactive piece, where you follow the protagonist going to the funeral of their baba, and converses with another woman, dressed in a bright red, as the body is put to rest (I am not sure what relationship they have, but they seem to be related in some fashion). They exchanges words about the deceased and memories of them (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and their families interferences. The simple and short writing is effective, but it is enhanced by the melancholic background and use of pixel art. Very touching.

Conductor’s Gambit is a short game of luck created in Twine, where you play as a prisoner of the threatening conductor. Though he intents on murdering you, he gives you one way out: play his little card game. If you win, he’ll set you free. If not…

The game is one of chance only: you draw a card, and if it is higher than the conductor’s you win a point, if it’s lower, you lose one. Reach 6 points (or go down to 0) and the game ends. It’s a bit like a Russian Roulette, if you didn’t die from the bullet right away. Since you are at the mercy of Lady Luck, there isn’t much for you to do. But the game does a pretty good job at keeping tension. And the winning end made me chuckle.