Reviews by manonamora

You Died Sixty Seconds Into the Apocalypse is a short humoristic apocalyptic piece where you play as an artist in a recording room when the apocalypse starts. Like the title suggests, you didn’t make it very far. But, maybe you still tried?
Through crude snips, the short game was pretty entertaining. The final line was funny!

A Whimsical Search is a short Twine piece, inspired by Tarot cards, where you play as Sage, the owner of a whimsical shop where you can trade in traits. A hermit comes in, looking for a tale, and it’s your job to fulfil the request (if you accept it). It was cute, and like the title suggests, whimsical. I liked the inclusion of the Tarot cards and what they represented in the story.

Carry On. is a short sci-fi Twine piece, broken into two scenes (seemingly unrelated? I am not quite sure, the break between the two is a bit jarring/confusing). You are a space farer at the start of a mission, looking for your captain, and finding more than you asked. That second part is a bit chilling, and made it feel like the whole was some sort of demo or prototype for a larger piece (it does set a bit of mystery/confrontation that would make for a neat game).

Forewarning: this was reviewed before the second version of this entry came out.

You is a tiny interactive piece focusing on the start and the end of relationships. The two paragraphs story lets you cycle through different options to create your own little final piece. The starts can be cute or maybe a bit creepy, and some pitiful, but the endings tend to be sadder, with only a hint of bittersweet. It makes for (bitter)sweet stories to downright depressing, depending on the options on the screen. Very much build-your-own-story.

Mouse Train is an adorable tiny adventure in Twine, where you play as a little cutesie mouse boarding a train, but not remembering quite why (or why they are wearing their best scarf!), and also realising they forgot their ticket. Between the ominous train conductor to hide from, and trying to find why you are on this train, the game is well-rounded and so sweet. And the interface. Gosh, it’s so tight and well-done.

I fessed up right away to the conductor, didn’t want to carry the guilt of not having a ticket.

Reminisce is a short visual novel, where a Chronicler shares with you stories of the people she met, especially focusing on the themes of loss and dealing with grief. Each snapshot finished with the same mantra, repeated chorus throughout the game. A cycle never-ending. Remembrance. Requiem. Rebirth. Repeat. It is simple but very evocative in the writing and the accompanying illustrations.

peelings is a kinetic entry made in Decker about love, and how you can explain how it feels by comparing it to peeling an orange (or a tangerine). It is a sweet piece, and very comforting, that reminded me of times when there would be tangerine at the table for dessert, how we would peel them together, help the younger ones get their quarters more easily, putting them in each other’s mouths with a smile, or gathering the peels and squeeze it to release their oils (aiming it at eyes if we were cheeky). I really liked it, it made me feel warm inside.

A Reverie Of You is a dreamy poetic entry, with a long form poem displayed on pictures. The aesthetic is nostalgic, seen in the filters used on the picture, the interface behaving as if you were seeing pictures with a slide viewer (complete with sounds!), and the text appearing slowly, like calm waves on the beach. The poem is a celebration of life, of all the little fleeting moments you share with people, of the warm feelings other make you feel, of the dreams and disappointments, of the details that stick to your mind never forgotten. Pretty touching

WAKE UP is a horror Twine piece inspired by the creepypasta of the same name, in which following a traumatic event you fell into a catatonic dream state, unable to wake up, unable to remember what happened to you, until you find a note telling you to wake up. Like the original text, the game does a great job at adding unease to the text, with the protagonist not thinking much of the note at first, to feigning concern. Nice.

Please Don’t Reap my Soul, Mr. Grim Reaper is a short Twine game where you attempt to trick the Grim Reaper into putting your soul back into your body after a nasty fall. You have a couple of options, all of them pretty silly and funny, leading you to the end. If there was a message to this game, it would be: be careful of what you wish for.
Anyways, it was a fun short time.