Insatiable Jeunesse is a short "storylet"-based interactive story, where you incarnate some sort of creature needing to hunt down people to keep young. You come across potential victims, judge the situation (will you be satiated? is it dangerous), before you get to choose whether to eat or move on. But, watch out, if you're caught or starve, it's game over!
There are (as far as I could tell) three endings: the good one, dying of hunger, and getting caught because you were too suspicious.
The blurb describes itself as an unbalanced prototype, which is pretty on point, as you end up going through the different potential victims pretty quickly and it is *very* easy to die (or I could just be unlucky). Quite a good deal of randomisation, in the situation text (variation in victims, feeding and danger levels) and in the consequences of your action (how suspicious you are before you are stopped). The game requires quite the balancing act to win.
I am sure it is possible to win, but I have still not been able to do so...
On the game page, the author described their plan for a future update with more narration and locations, and a more balanced gameplay. I hope I get to play this update one day!
Meurtres en eau profonde is a relatively short Binksi game (mixing Bitsy and Ink), where you play as a rookie goldfish police officer given their first ever case: finish the case left behind by the former Inspector. Interacting with the different elements and locations, you will find how deep the mystery goes.
Since it was made in Binksi, you need to use the keyboard arrows to navigate the little orange goldfish around the screen, and to interact with the different elements. There are a handful of puzzles (like fixing a computer or cutting down weeds) to progress through the story and unlock further interactions.
As you are an officer on the case, talking to witnesses and perps is also an important task of the job. The game includes conversation trees, with options hidden until you find a certain item or information.
The mystery itself is pretty simple, it is just a matter of whether you interacted with all the relevant items or asked the relevant questions to reach the end.
Thought there wasn't really anything to do in the museum, it was fun to explore it and see "humans" on display. I also, for good measure, got drunk on the job (it's just for fun, and does not impact the game. I laughed out loud having to bypass the computer security in the bar too.
This was a cheeky little game, which I enjoyed quite a bit!
Les Idylles is a short demo set in the fictional fantasy land of Loghria, filled with mystery and magic. In this episode, your goal is to help Elinor, a young woman who was tricked by a magician, needing help to break the 'Tattumanti' pledge. The short game includes multiple endings, some helping the woman at the cost of your own freedom, some changing your mind and leave her to deal with her problem by herself.
It was a fun little puzzling adventure, and I'm looking forward to further episodes. I liked the playfulness of the writing, with the play on words.
L'épreuve divinatoire is a short choice-based adventure that tests your knowledge of superstitions, common sense, and a few idioms. In this small absurd story, you are on your way to take your exam to become an oracle but are met with a few trials of your own. If you manage to solve the issues and finish your exam before the allocated time, you may be able to continue your studies! Or... you could succumb to the distractions put on your path.
It's stilly, definitely absurd, and fairly entertaining.