Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

The Ship is a hypertext puzzle game, following two interconnected stories of captains, each looking for a specific location. The game includes different kinds of puzzles, from visual ones to more fetch-quest like, and achievements. I completed 3 chapters out of 7.

I don't know why I had a hard time getting into the game, it has all the stuff I like: pirates, some sci-fi elements, some puzzles, some fun characters with interesting or funny backstories... Mixing genres is usually so much fun, and drawing parallels between storylines is usually intriguing (has me on the edge of my seat). But something just didn't click with this game.

I don't think there was one reason for why it didn't work (for me), but more of a combination of frictions with the story or the gameplay that resulted in not enjoying as much as I thought I would have. I could see where it was going with the tropes of the characters and the similar elements between the captains, so it felt a bit frustrating.
I ended up relating quite a bit with the first captain from the start of the game.

Though there were bits of humour, I found most of the prose a bit dull and dry (more so in the sci-fi section than the pirate one). The dialogues were more palatable, especially with the more cookie crew members (they had some funny bits, playing the tropes and such). The pace was a bit slow, and in conversations lore-dumpy with the long paragraphs.

Still, I pushed onward, discussed with the different fun characters on board, ran around the ship to get things rolling, tried to solve the puzzles and put stuff back into order... I followed what the game wanted from me, but it still didn't grab me. After reaching the navigation puzzle, I stopped. It's a neat puzzle, in itself, but too many to levels solve at once to continue the story.

Lonehouse is an emotionally charged piece about facings reality, processing one's grief, and finding ways to remember passed loved ones. The entry feels very personal albeit short. Following the passing of your estranged sister, you find yourself sorting through her belonging, reminiscing about the past, and learning new things about the time spent apart.

The entry takes you through different rooms of your sister's place, each giving the player the same actions (inspect, move, thing). It feels methodical, as if you had to force yourself going through the things your sister left behind. But, in each room, you discover a special item, triggering a memory or thought - each showing a different facet of the person you (thought you) once knew.

Grief can be a heart breaking and complex feeling, rendered even more complicated when the situation is itself a complicated thing (there's a lot of unsaid things in the entry about how it got to this point). I felt like this entry showed maybe a more detached look to that feeling.

This is a tales in two parts, two POV, where things are not quite what they seem. You are given the choice of two paths: to follow the story of the boy or the girl (you play the other as well), with the actions from the first part of the story affecting the second, and both the ending.

I managed to get a fairly good ending, by playing it smartly - choosing any option to get the hell out of here, I'm not following dumb horror actions xD. The writings about what is going on are on the wall, the game not always been very subtle about it.
I did like the mirroring of the actions between both paths. It does not fit quite completely, both PC being somewhat unreliable narrators, but it makes for an eerie experience.

I also chose to play the "boy" path before the "girl" one, which ends up working in favour of the game - the former pushing more of a damsel in distress trope, while the latter has a badass taking charge girl. The writing is much superior in the "girl" path than in the "boy" one.

There is an interesting core with this game, and I hope the author will update/polish it in the future!

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.