Reviews by manonamora

Ever woken up on a weekend and felt like staying in bed, all day - just that? But, then, your stomach grumbles so hard you know you *need* to feed the beast to get on with your lazy day? And *then*, you realise the only thing left in your fridge - your emergency last meal - was stolen and eaten by someone else (darn you, siblings!!)? So you struggle to find this and that and try to make something... digestible with the last of your energy?

This game is just that. Literally the title of the game describes it. You are lazy. You are starting. Here's a simulation. Will you feed yourself or pass out? Will you give up or attempt to get take out? Or will you set your house on fire because exhausted and careless people should probably not cook in that state?

While it currently has a few issues (some errors, disappearing elements and missing responses), the story knows it is silly and making fun of itself - you should not take it seriously. It's entertaining trying to hunt down the 8 different endings (8... for now), though some are more difficult than others....

In a sort of disassociation moment, through a discussion with yourself, you go through an emotional journey trying to process your feelings about loss, while trying to make a pot of tea.

Actually, it was not very clear whether you play the “I”-narrator, or the “you”-recipient, of the described [he/she/they], from the start. But it’s all you: the one struggling to make tea - rewatching that same tutorial you should now know by heart -, the one who chooses tea when asked, the one who’s struggling with loss, the one who’s feelings are messy and tangled, the one questioning their memories…

It was quite touching, reading through it all.

Mix one part Cooking Mama and one part Pokemon and you get... McPhee's Cookbook. This was definitely not what I was expecting when being tasked with making Mom's Cheesecake... and yet here I was fighting the ingredients (for my life!).

If you've ever played Pokemon - or any turn-based combat c-rpg games - you'd probably be better off than I was: between balancing my never-lasting health and the extra tough ingredients, I got my behind handed back to me at every turn. It didn't matter how many times I tried to use the Special Moves - aka the Prep - or eat snacks (that I won for doing chores)... Turns out, making cheesecake is not as easy as one think... or I just had *terrible* strategies.

Even if I kept failing (and reloading my saves for a better result), I had a pretty nice time. It's pretty sweet and funny, borderline absurd.

What a joy it is to cook with cats around! Playful little creatures meowing for little bites, slaloming between your legs for attention, and always there for tasting. The perfect - and most dangerous - distractors.

With Boris, the old and fat cat, knowledgeable in cheeses, and Natasha, the more nimble and mischievous one, always looking for the warmest places, you attempt to make an eggplant lasagna - a pretty decadent one if you manage to read the full recipe. You have all ingredients and utensils at hands, or so you think, and only need to keep yourself focused going through each step of the recipe while those two little devils try their best to distract you. Will you manage?

Well, I forgot about my lasagna and Boris and Natasha had a feast. :sob:

Anyway, it's really fun! The light-heartedness of the story and trying to fend off the feline fiends is quite challenging - but it makes the endings all the sweeter!
I should have expected the (Spoiler - click to show)Ratatouille ending, but I still snorted to hard when I got to the end. Well played!

As a short kinetic entry, Pumpkin relationship explores the themes of love, relationship, and how recipes can be synonymous to certain people in your life. Here, Anna and Ben have been a couple for quite some time, sharing - among others - a passion for cooking and delighting their friends with their creations. Every year, they go pick out the perfect pumpkin and go through the gruelling process of carving it, scooping it, mashing it... all to make the perfect pumpkin pie.

After all, love is sharing, love is caring. And their dishes - especially that pie - is an expression of that love, for each other and to others.

Though the writing is fairly concise, memories of the past and descriptions of traditions are intertwined with each step of the baking process. They connected through the pie, and will continue to connect with others through it.

Pretty cute.

[I only read the piece in English]

This was such a different experience from when I do grocery shopping. From arriving just before closing time, to having the option of berating the poor employees, or just choosing items that are definitely not on the list... there are so many way of getting on the wrong track - and, at best, disappointing your wife.
And that's also what makes this game fun: you can be pretty chaotic, to run down the clock or feeling your terrible-manchild fantasy or being an absolute horror of a customer. Who cares about the consequences, just start again!
I did get the best run on the first go, because I can't be mean to service workers or not following lists...

Still... good thing this is just a game. Cause I'd feel bad for the wife of this person.
Entertaining chaos nonetheless.

Why bother with the philosophical questions when you could just make the trolley dilemma a humorous light-hearted murder-fest? Yes, you read this right. With a plethora of endings, from not even starting the trolley to just roll over absolutely everyone, this is a truly absurd take on the dilemma.

The writing is minimal, but to the point and poking fun at many things. It shouldn't be taken seriously...
There are many branches, some even looping, to lead you one of seven endings - some more funny than others, some more satisfying than others too.

In this micro CYOA booklet, you play as Aoda, a hotel accountant prone to falling asleep, dreaming of other worlds. Sectioned in small paragraph (about a sentence), the story takes you on a seemingly cyclical journey where you travel from dreamworld to dreamworld, only to be awaken in burst... and falling back into the arms of Morpheus.

The prose is incredibly dreamy and poetic.
There are no other word to explain it, it's just beautiful.

I also found the mechanic quite playful, with the tiny subtle enigma (which may or may not lead you to a secret ending). It will push you to go into the cycle again and again, making the story feel much longer than just 500 words.

In the formatting, the game forgoes the use of numbers for each passage, like you'd expect in a CYOA book, but words representing the section - which you can click like you would a hypertext game. This little subversion adds to the dream-like ambiance of the game.

Deux ans. follows a conversation between a man and emergency services after an intrusion at the former's home - where he currently is. You play as the emergency responder, trying to diffuse the situation and help the man.

The game is full of tension from the first second of the "call", with a bit of a twist when the intruder can finally be "heard". With vague unsaid, you can imagine what happened two years ago (title of the game) - though it will never be explicitly revealed in the story. There are three endings - one I found more satisfying than the others (and which I got first!).

The game takes advantage of images to visualise the different callers, as well as uncomfortable background sound, to create a captivating and chilly ambiance.

In this mini-entry, you play as Artour, an elf taking part of a protest because the King is at it again with his shenanigans. People are angry, walking towards the castle for (I guess) reparation. You must watch out for the "vouivres" (winged police?), or you'll end up burning to ashes.
Following the Partim500's theme, you can take a little detour and get into some shenanigans yourself. Whatever you do, however, the end is the same.

The writing style is incredible silly and je-m'en-fous-tist - the description of the game does warn you of what is ahead - and includes very unusual words (still unsure if they are part of the "youth" dialect or just made up for the game).
Still, with a good dose of French tradition (protesting and walking to the king's castle for demands) and a fantasy setting, you end up with a pretty funny entry.