Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

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.

Happy Life Home is a cozy little sci-fi binksi visual novel, where you embody a helper bot designed to prepare a home for an incoming family. By looking through logs, you can learn about their wishes and preferences. And going through the house, you can transform it into an inviting home where they will be able to make tons of memories (which will include you, if you do well enough).
Coupled with a cute beat and very cool graphics, it is a very wholesome experience!

Heaven Alive is a short sci-fi horror-like conversation-sim made in Twine, where you play as an advisor to a warlord. Depending on your choices, the way you address your ruler, you can gain approval points, sending you to one of the three different endings. Along with the highly stylised interface and the stringent background music, the small game can make you feel uncomfortable pretty quick. I think I had the most fun trying to be rude to my boss…

Another Night With The Party is a short text-adventure set in a tavern, reminiscent of D&D games. Seeing your other members involved in different shenanigans, you can pick which of them you’d want to interact, going along or foiling their plans. Though it’s short, it’s pretty fun, and reminded me of the pickles my party got into during a campaign and how we always chose the most chaotic options to push the story forward.

Mud Bourbon is a short Twine piece about saying goodbyes to a loved one. In this mainly one-sided conversation, you reminisce over the life of your companion, Mud Bourbon, who is living its last moment with you. It is pretty emotional… and “horse-girl”-phase me would not have handled this game in the healthiest of fashion.
It was lovely how the prose builds up the heartbreaking tension, leading to that one final magical and tragic bit.

Amber & Myrrh is an interactive piece set in Ancient Greece, inspired by the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. Weaved like a tapestry, the myth is both a passing sentence and a background against the contrasted tableau of very real women dealing with the objective perception of men, of loving women devoting themselves to each other passionately and wholly against the sculptor obsessive behaviour, the admiration of the person and of the body. It is enchanting and daunting.
A beautiful and lovely piece of sapphic writing.