Reviews by manonamora

But you weren’t before, to the exasperation of others around, deep in your mediation or memories of older times, snippets of moments who marked you, realisation that nothing will ever be the same. Yet you seem stuck in the past or dreams…

I was honestly a bit confused by this piece, with a lot being quite vague and some controls a bit wonky…

A conversation between two users start, as they meet once again after one of them left the social platform they connected. Thought this reconnection they discuss their experience of said platform and how changes have not gone over well, as well as the concept of anonymity through the ages.
The entry takes on multiple UIs through this conversation of different social media platforms, from the Tumblr DMs, Cohost posts, Twitter, Discord, Reddit, Youtube, and old Forum formats. It gives for a strange retrospective in parallel with the conversation, reminding us of what once was, and how those platforms (may) have changed over the years… often for the worst as they stop putting users first.
It is quite the relevant piece considering what has happened over the past years with Twitter, the past months with Reddit, or even more quietly with Tumblr…
Though, while our place on the internet may be temporary, the entry does give some hope that users who click will find each other elsewhere…

You are an assassin, interrupted in your job by a knife at your throat. Your next action will determine whether you live or die, or maybe walk away a bit worse for wear…
For all its violence and tension, I did giggle at some endings, as the writing has quite a bit of humour. Another was pretty hot as well.
A good bite-size thriller!

Esme is an up-and-comer entertainer, trying to claw her way to a position in court, using her wits but mainly her beauty to be remembered. At this point in time, she relies on her patron to secure her standing with the court, even if it pains her soul and pride.
The writing does a wonderful job at burning the rage Esme feels, and how dedicated she is to achieve her goals, on the page. Almost in an animalistic way…

The tale of the Betrayer of the Son of God, whom a kiss dooms mankind to suffering, is recalled from the perspective of the sinner in this entry. Going through the multitudes of feelings held in Judas’s heart, one discovers his resentment towards his pre-determined fate.
There is a hint of homoeroticism between Judas and Jesus, and I’ve been wondering if that was meant from the beginning, or I am just reading into it…

I am not well versed in details of the catholic mythos and believes to pick up on all the details included in this entry…

An alarm awaken you, warning you of a breach in your ship. Tasked to investigate, you come across a group of strangers… and an orb, which you had never seen before and which disappears when you try to touch it.
Unfortunately, there is not more to it, as bugs seem to have removed potential actions (and reached the 3 locked endings). Aside from dying or killing the intruders, there is not much to speak of…

Locked in a dungeon, you find company in a Knight, who may or may not help you find your freedom (or something else…)… if you manage to escape the dungeon’s guardian, that is.
The UI of this entry is impeccable, with its little gif-sprites representing the player, changing at random at every start of the game, and its background moving with the mouse.
This is really a well thought-out and executed entry!

Naming the game as a Chore on itch is very fitting, as filling out applications for a resume often, if not always feels like an absolute chore. The choice of using Texture for this was the correct one, as the click/drag on desktop reeeaaaaally adds to the chore-like feeling of this task.
The player gets to edit an application for a job, expanding, rephrasing, deleting or submitting at will the different parts. Through the writing, it is obvious the player character is frustrated with the task (and who isn’t, filling those applications are The Worst). Every action has quite a bit of humour in it, especially when expending on some sections.
Good vibes, not good times…

Son of Helios hurtling towards the ground, as his lover Cygnus cannot take her eyes away from the body about to disappear. After abandoning her kingdom for the one she loved, she is now abandoned herself… But the fates or the gods have other plans for her…
It would have been nice to have a clearer indication the story ended. Because of how the previous passages were formatted, I was expecting a delayed text to appear…

Using snippets and illustrations of the novel “Journeys to the Planet Mars” (1903), the author created a sort of database/paper on the ecology of a certain region of Mars. This entry is more of a muted one compared to the other submitted one, but it is quite beautiful in the way it has been formatted and edited.