Reviews by manonamora

Read This When You Turn 15 is a kinetic epistolary entry made in Ink, from the perspective of a sibling who cannot take care of his baby adopted sister. It is an emotional 499-word piece, that shook me to the core. It is a thing with Kastel’s pieces that touches on very specific things that will resonate with people, often because they themselves have experienced it (fully or close enough to it).

I am still unsure how to read the piece, whether we are the big brother penning an apology letter, or the little sister finding it on her birthday (or early). It might not matter much, but depending on the POV, the reading will take a different tone. I think my personal experiences made me orbit more towards the writing of the letter. The revealing truth bombs*, necessary to understand how they came to that point, the sorrows and the guilt for doing it in such a way and for leaving, and still throughout it all, the love for their sibling, no matter what, unconditional and unwavering, even if not wanted.
*the webcam one really broke me.

The cadence of each paragraph, through repeated reminders of love (from the brother) and of hate (towards the failing mother*), drives the same message again and again: not enough had been done for you, it is not your fault, you can and should be angry about it. There are reminders of love given, never enough, never the right kind, never from the right person, and of fears, of never being enough or not being able to do enough (because you are not what they need). A childhood marked by actions out of her control, and out of his.
*interesting thing: only the mother is mentioned in the story. Is the father absent? Or his presence so inconsequential to the dynamic that he might as well be absent? Or the requirement of providing love or care to a child not being the father’s?

I have not written this letter, but I’ve written similar letters/messages before. Burning one’s self to protect others is only possible for so long, until you are no more but a shadow of yourself. Yet, the guilt of saving one’s self always remains. And so does the love.

Software Boutique is a micro nostalgic experience in Decker, where you are sent back to the 90s, trying to buy a game with your birthday money. With the dithered retro vibe of Decker, you are shown multiple options, each leading you to a different ending. There isn’t really a bad choice, but I though the middle one was the most touching one (even if I might be a bit too young to feel the nostalgia for the 90s…).

(K)night Under The Mountain is a short philosophic fantasy Twine piece, inspired by the knight asleep in the mountain folklore trope, takes a trio looking for said knight, in hopes to bring a brighter future. Each adventurer has a different view on the tale, from taking it as gospel to looking at is as only a metaphor. It is an interesting exploration of the trope (benevolent figure to save us all vs we must save ourselves), with a smart formatting of the story to enhance replayability.

The Moon’s Knight is a micro atmospheric fantasy Twine, a short exchange between a beat-down knight and the Moon, whose favours may have run out at the worst possible moment. The prose is luxurious and heavy (in a good way!), giving weight to what seems a turning point in their relationship. The two endings are equally fitting to the story. Honestly so beautiful. I could imagine it so clearly in my head.

A Microfiche of Me is a micro sci-fi Twine questionnaire about your ReInCarnatIon, a deathexperiment if you will. Tell the program a bit more about yourself and your life, and select in what and how you’d like to be reincarnated… unless you’ve changed your mind in the meantime, and found peace in death… It’s kind of bleak, with your life and death handled so coldly by a program (even if you have the opportunity to choose where to go). But you can still give it some flair, in your choice of input.

The Origami Near Neptune is a micro sci-fi Twine following the lonely astronaut in The Origami as they despair from the lack of contact from Earth and the decrepit state of the craft. That is… until they receive an unlikely message from Neptune. What will you do with it?

Both endings give a different vibe to the piece as a whole, with one leaving it a bit more open ended.

lowdown is a short slice-of-life piece following the inner thoughts of Theo, as they return from work, pondering on their co-habitation situation and dealing with their obvious crush/lust towards their housemates. It’s a nice depiction of longing, both restrained and falling into one’s desires. The purple palette adds to the steaminess of the PC’s thoughts, with just a tinge of seediness. I liked it!

witchhat is a micro Twine piece where you are a hat, specifically a witch’s hat, slowly becoming sentient. You “carnalize” words, concepts, and other metaphysical things, to learn more about yourself and your environment. It reminded me of the “I think therefore I am” adage, but more in the “oh, I am? what am I? huh? WHY AM I?”. We don’t know how would a hat think, but the prose does make a convincing argument that “am hat” would probably be the way if it did. It was a neat piece!

Obsesssion is a micro Twine piece where you search through a dark cabin, looking for a specific item. After a few attempts you find some papers; a few more search clicks and you find some more; and after even more clicks, you finally get what you were looking for (more papers!). Because there isn’t any restart or rewind button, if you search too fast, you will miss those side paths and the little information it will convey about your obsession and the object of said obsession. Though I found the manner it was conveyed a bit confusing (maybe for the best).

blue line is a short almost kinetic visual novel, where you are riding a train (of life?) while dealing with stuff. The train “conductor” strikes up a conversation with you, hoping to get your spirits up. The message of the game is really sweet, underneath the train metaphor. And the simple visuals were so cute. I really liked it.