Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

This was a short-ish story about fantasy prophesies and predestination. The game does an interesting thing by using a different POV to the tale, from the monster's position rather than the saviour, as well has hinting that the monster and the saviour were friends. The ending (notification of one) will end depending on your actions (the monster's), and its trust in its friend.
Also, don't forget to click the link in the ending page, even if the text looks familiar...

That said, the writing didn't quite click with me. Nothing seems to be wrong with it, it just didn't grab me as much as the premise of the game itself.

There were also some issue with the bold formatting in latter passages. I don't think this was on purpose

As the title hints, this short sci-fi story is predetermined. Your ship is task to investigate an area, only to essentially land in an ambush. The game includes multiple endings, all of which end fairly abruptly (if there is no link on the page, it's an ending).

The building of the tension in the action sequence is intriguing, but I wish the different elements (NPCs and such) were introduced a bit more and were more fleshed out. You're king of thrown into the situation, making things a bit confusing.
I also thought you could have a bit more agency in what to do during the height of the action sequence. A lot of things seem to be happening, but you (the player) have not much control over the PC.

I do wish this had been a completed game rather than a demo, because it was quite fun to play through it.
Choose the UNFINISHED paths at your own risk... You may run into dead ends...

From what is there, it gives off vibes of those 20s-40s mysteries, like your Agatha Christies, with a locked room murder or an unexpected setting for a murder to take place (ZEPPLIN! DON'T SMOKE xD). You play as an up-n-comer detective, still needed to prove to the world you have what it takes to do the job and solved mysteries!

The game takes an interesting approach with exposition by making you write a letter to set your background and reasons for being. The writing overall is pretty playful and fun, reminiscing on those old mystery pulp, and playing with their tone and tropes.

As for interacting with your environment, the game offers you multiple traits, affecting the way you act around NPCs or interact with things. It reminded be a bit of The Thirty Nine Steps in that way. To solve the murder and get information out of people, you can also spend Detective Points (very TTRPG/Fate system), though it didn't seem you could earn some in this current state.

I am looking forward to see how the game pans out...

I got inside (with some struggles), looked around (with some struggles), and... got stuck, I think?

This kinetic parser is a follow-up to Ranaway, which is coded the same format, continuing the use of unconventional keys and commands to progress through the story (like L for leave instead of Look). The issue is that commands are not always made obvious, nor what is interactible either. The bug didn't help either (that or it was the ending?).

I still don't know what to make of this game just yet. There was no blurb on the game page, no tag line on the submission... nothing. I had no expectations, and I still know know what to think about it.

The game opens on an broken item, asking you whether you'd like to discard it or stop [the game], with the first option showing you a different object, and then a different one, and a different one... This continues until you either choose stop or discard the 27 items (of different levels of broken) coded inside the game.
For some objects, you get an extra option: ruminate on the item.

Anyway... I just know it made me sad when I reached the end.

Holy shit, the whiplash from this one. I was warned by the content warning before playing the game (READ THEM, FOR YOUR SAKE), and still I did not expect how much it would affect me. I expected some strange stuff, I always do with catsket's work, but how the gruesomeness was introduced twisted my stomach.

Gruesome content aside, the writing is VERY vivid. The descriptions of the photographs inside the book paint quite the pictures (hehehe, bad pun). Even if short, they say just enough to be able to imagine those faded and maybe yellowed shots.

The start is actually quite lovely, depicting a fun solo roadtrip in nature, where you end up meeting someone cool, and they tag along for the rest of the summer. Shenanigans ensue, obviously. But the activities of two young peeps on a summer roadtrip are really not what you'd expect. They seemed to have fun... some gruesome fun!

Anyway... I will stay away from antique stores for now, and definitely leave weird photobooks alone...

This was a short and fun “political” simulator set in Ancient Rome, where your goal is to try to restore the delicate balance in the Senate (or not) while avoiding causing too many riots (or go for the chaos), or even losing the city altogether (or go for that!). Personally, my first attempt failed the plebs.

The mechanic is pretty simple. You have three important causes where you can levy taxes or spend funds, and the option to nudge the other three Senators (randomly generated at the start) to change their votes through different approaches. I've tried convincing them all, it worked like a charm! Well... only to change their minds, I did cause some riots.

In between sessions, you get to enjoy life, make new connection, and potentially raise your status as a Senator (though I am not sure how much your choices there influence the game). The playful writing is more obvious in this part than during the Senate session.

I really, really, like pieces taking human experiences and flipping it on its head by viewing it from an outsider perspective (aliens/other). It's always a bit strange and uncomfortable, to look at this from a non-human POV, but it also makes you think about the things we take for granted. You know... the little every day things that are actually pretty awesome.

Here, a word - Hypertext (harr, harr) - takes over your body for a month to experience what it's like to be human, and recounts its experiences with you through the medium of Hypertext Kinetic IF (though it reaaallly wanted to make a parser instead). I liked the attention to details, like what's in your bed room, especially the closet and the bookcase, or the ways different bits connect together (the colours and images especially). In trying to explain the wonders (and less wondrous aspects) of human life, Hypertext engages in the debate of how best to communicate things with others, pulling its "hair" at the backward way that is text.

The entry is very strange, but also quite endearing, and I enjoyed the meta/philosophical discussion about the use of words, their meaning, and whether we should turn to other, maybe better, ways to communicate with others.
I could have done maybe without the whole physical relationship passage. That made me a bit uncomfortable.

It was a very good entry!

With a very handed dark approach, and many warnings at the start, this revenge story leads you to kill a god (or try to at least). Along the way, another follows you along, showing you other less destructive paths, if you wish it so - even if you are quite set on revenge for your misfortune, even losing your life for your cause.

The revelations at the end, depending on your choice, are quite interesting. Changing your mind before or halfway through the conversation with the god leads to some somewhat unexpected results.

But I thought the end came a bit too quick. You start at your lowest, have maybe one "trial" before you reach your final destination and make your choice. This made this final choice less impactful than it could have been, in my opinion.

The piece is fairly short, with a couple of hundred words at most, and it will make you hate yourself (maybe) when you reach the end. Entrenched in the very harsh environment that is religious conservative norms, the game explores what it feels to be denied the little joys of life and exploring your identity.

It is not just a tour-de-force to be able to hit those emotions with so little words, but the way the choices are formatted hits like a ton of brick. As you click and come back to the main page, choices appear and disappear from the list... until there is nothing left. Until you are denied everything.

Strangely, the harsh Harlowe interface and palette adds another layer of bleakness to the situation.