Reviews by manonamora

strokes is a short kinetic Twine about appreciation for art and artists, especially the ones at the start of their journey. Going through the steps, from the sketches, to the lineart, to the colouring, the prose wants to be calming and reassuring. Coupled with illustrations, the game shows that art can be enjoyable, at whatever level of skills, and that like any other skills, it can be learned with practice and learning. Even if it’s not great art, it is still your art. And that’s awesome.

Summer rain is a micro interactive poems, a gentle break were you looking for one, experiencing a summer rain shower in the comfort of a cozy home. Through a window, while nice and snug, you peer into the distant landscape, finding peace and relaxation. Like the other two entries of this author for the jam, this atmospheric micro piece is so soothing and comforting.

A Bear Dreams of Clouds is a kinetic poetic entry about a bear obsessing over the sky, and the bewilderment of the man observing it. In a few short snippets, reminiscent of a season, the prose depicts the whims of the mammal, peering at the heavens, throwing tantrums when not finding what it hopes, or being distracted with its beauty, all the while the weather rummages through its fur. It was a pretty nice and dreamy entry.

four days is a kinetic interactive piece about healing when on a deadline. You have four days before being released from some in-patient hold following an implied suicide attempt, a tight period of time where you are supposed to “feel better”. As a rumination on trauma, the prose gives some snippets of those experiences, of being transferred between medial professional for being too much or being infantilised, or going through the same cycles without ever feeling any progress. Though disheartening, the final realisation is lovely.

A wonderful life is a tiny piece about revenge and new beginning in Twine. Trying to emulate a noir setting, with limited explanation and a focus on details, the prose does a good job at making the story intriguing - even if I found it a taaaad confusing, as we (players) always seem to be put in an arms way of what is happening. I would be very interested to see the story with a bit more writing to it.

The Invisible Smoke Factory is a surreal exploration of very weird dreams, made in Twine. In a more point-n-click form, you explore different space trying to collect 11 different pieces of paper scattered around the 100+ rooms. There are multiple endings, but I’ve only gone through one.
Between the dithered backgrounds, uncomfortable background music, and the unsettling animated elements, the game really pushes the boundaries of what IF can look like, through removing as many words as possible.

I am not sure how to explain this experience, actually. It’s weirdly cool, and often discomforting with the ambiance it creates. The almost lack of words is unsettling, leaving the visual to essentially tell the story (whatever it may be, I’m still struggling to interpret it). I just know I could feel my heart beating as if I was watching some psychological thriller and had chills crawling down my back.

Conformity is a micro dystopian (fantasy?) visual novel where you are forced to work under monstrous spider-like overlords, who seem to control your movements like puppets. Yet, you are given a choice to escape, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, where any slip up would mean death. Or worse… going back.
The theme of the piece might feel a bit one-note (and shallow), but the added illustration and interface add a lot to the atmosphere.

Whether is a philosophical branching piece, asking you on each screen to choose between two options: light or darkness, sweet or salty, forward or backward, love or hate… Forever ending, forever starting, round and round you go through the poetic prose, building choice by choice your personal poem. Not only the writing is fantastic, but the dithered vibe of Decker with the text boxes and the chosen illustration, really does make it a great piece of IF.

*Primordial* is a *strange*, very weird/surreal piece. After playing it, I am still not sure what to make of it. You start with birthing yourself, coming out into a strange world where you must fend for yourself (I honestly thought this was (Spoiler - click to show)the birth of an actual child and didn't get why crying out had someone literally EAT ME). Through encounters and exploration, you find enough sustenance to help your body grow and expand, with visual to match. It's weird, like *really weird*, but in a good way.

Though, I ended up being a bit bored of the fighting sequence, being pretty repetitive and same-y, so I ended up clicking the same action over and over until I could pick my reward.

Dragonslaying is a short branching visual novel, where you are a dragon-slayer, facing a dragon in a cave, with the intent of fulfilling your destiny… or maybe you will choose against it? For beast may be misunderstood or you wish to see the story end unexpectedly. With 2 choices, the game branches into 4 distinct endings, mixing acceptance and anger, questionable actions and trickery. Through your perception of the situation, and your reaction, blood may be shed. Will it be yours?
I thought it was an interesting take on fate and following orders.