Reviews by manonamora

Little Kitty Cat is a kinetic Twine piece where you are… a little kitty cat doing little kitty cat things. The prose is very simplistic, trying to emulate the mind of a small cat (or what we think a cat’s mind is, for all we know they are super philosophical xD), with the sudden changes in emotions and wishes (like purring because of pets until jumping away because it’s not as good). But it’s SO fun. It’s really cute and just happy. A delight for a short break!

Chronostasis is a short almost linear Twine piece about time… or lack of. Your evening ticking away, tempo’d by the metronome-like rhythm of your clock, it is without surprise that you notice when your surrounding suddenly turn completely silent. The eeriness of the situation, where nothing you do seems to help, brings a lot of tension in the way it is simply conveyed. The culmination of the piece, when time starts again, is really clever.

Good Luck and Godspeed is a short Twine game, where you wake up in a spaceship with a headache, unable to remember a thing. You get to explore around and examine a few items, though you have a hard time putting things together. You seem to be some sort of astronaut on a mission with other people (none of which you meet). The prose is weirdly alienating, as the state of the craft seems dire, but you don’t seem particularly bothered by it – you almost welcome your fate by the end, whichever way you choose to go.

All I Am Is This is a short ChoiceScript game about being human and the will to live. Going through a short questionnaire, you define yourself through emotions and how you look at the future. However you answer, the game will attempt to make you realise how being human is full of flaws and confusion, but that life is worth it no matter what. It’s a lovely short uplifting piece of IF.

Nameless Dream is a short surreal Twine piece, about dreams, how vivid they can become and still how little we end up remembering them. With a slight sci-fi element to it, as the human race was upgraded with cooler, more vivid dreams, you get to choose between three different activities, experiencing the high of those awesome new ways of dreaming and the lows of realising you can never really have this in real life… But nothing further than that happens, nothing really affect your real life. All stays as always in your dreams. It’s weirdly both comforting and familiar, and concerning…

Never Have I Ever is a short ink game where a group of space marines take a break, share a drink, and partake in the most dangerous game of all: Never Have I Ever. You get to choose your poison, drink (or not) with each take, and talk about… the elephant in the room. It has great tension, from the start and still continues building, until it explodes and the scene turns to black.

But the kicker is to get to the end, and see the spicy answers BEING LOCKED FOR CLICKING! and having to restart the game and find the correct combination to get to select that option, while knowing something is bad. Like BAD bad.
And even if you don’t get the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth, it’s a fun borderline thriller like bite.

ALL PREPARATIONS ARE COMPLETE is a short kinetic visual novel, where you complete a seemingly normal to-do list. Kinda… sorta… well, it’s normal for you. In this thriller mini game, part of a larger multi-entries universe, you incarnate a serial-killer having just dealt with their latest victim, and going through all the steps to wrap up the day. Being (somewhat) methodical, you neatly clear up your mistakes, take care of your beloved pets, and definitely lying to your boss for a well-earned day-off. It’s weirdly sweet in the slice-of-life way, and a bit psychotic too. I dig the vibe of the interface quite a bit.

Translucent Trails is a short kinetic visual novel about mourning someone, and the aftermath of living without them, and the muddled feelings that come with it. Though the mentioned past is dark and pretty tragic, the prose seems hopeful and yearning for a happier future, as if trying to move on from the hurt and the pain, but chained down still by the guilt. It is a sad one-sided conversation, that seems confusing at first, due to the intended ill-placed text on the screen (somewhat forcing you to fill in the blanks).

Please Don’t Understand Me is a looping kinetic visual novel, where someone is trying to talk to you, but you can’t understand the words (as an illegible font with icons is used instead of latin letters). As you repeat the same thing over and over again, mentioning how you do not understand what they are saying, the other’s bubbles expand and double, covering the screen. Yet… the exchange does not lead anywhere.

However, the “problem” is resolved after finishing the first loop, with a typeface setting allowing you to change that font with a more legible one. Thanks to this, you can read what the other person is saying (though it does not matter for the story), and understand their struggle and frustration with communicating with you (as the player, not the character). The despair and loneliness coming from not being understood as they are, realising and trying to change for others, in vain.

A very interesting way of using the restriction.

Get Out of Match Lake is a short almost kinetic creepy entry, where doppelgängers attempts to communicate through tarot cards (I think? I was a bit confused, maybe you are summoning them). The prose creates a very weird atmosphere, threatening yet too far from harm. The effect of the cards were neat.