Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

Star Bearer is an evocative poetic kinetic entry, based on the author’s dream, where you incarnate a person bringing the body of a beloved to their final resting place. Each line is displayed one after the other, as your step move forward to your destination - one after the other. A wish of holding on to the soon departing clashing with the one to relieve others of their burden - the journey ending as expected, as requested, as wanted. Under the sun and the moon, one passing after the other, the prose takes us on this final voyage, with a promise of one day returning.
It is beautiful, both in the writing and interface. And incredibly smooth. Bringing upon a cocktail of conflicting emotions.

The Frightened is a short snippet of a larger mystery project. After an important item has been found stolen, you, as the knight commander of a magical institute, must investigate and interrogate the witnesses. This entry focusses on one of them, which seems frightened of you (understandable with your at-best combative behaviour), but was also first at the scene. There are some little hints about the surrounding setting, with the relationship between the mages and knights, and the maybe questionable treatment of the former. Though there are a few rough edges with consistency, the piece does set an intriguing scene and mystery, one I would love to solve.

strokes is a short kinetic Twine about appreciation for art and artists, especially the ones at the start of their journey. Going through the steps, from the sketches, to the lineart, to the colouring, the prose wants to be calming and reassuring. Coupled with illustrations, the game shows that art can be enjoyable, at whatever level of skills, and that like any other skills, it can be learned with practice and learning. Even if it’s not great art, it is still your art. And that’s awesome.

Summer rain is a micro interactive poems, a gentle break were you looking for one, experiencing a summer rain shower in the comfort of a cozy home. Through a window, while nice and snug, you peer into the distant landscape, finding peace and relaxation. Like the other two entries of this author for the jam, this atmospheric micro piece is so soothing and comforting.

A Bear Dreams of Clouds is a kinetic poetic entry about a bear obsessing over the sky, and the bewilderment of the man observing it. In a few short snippets, reminiscent of a season, the prose depicts the whims of the mammal, peering at the heavens, throwing tantrums when not finding what it hopes, or being distracted with its beauty, all the while the weather rummages through its fur. It was a pretty nice and dreamy entry.

four days is a kinetic interactive piece about healing when on a deadline. You have four days before being released from some in-patient hold following an implied suicide attempt, a tight period of time where you are supposed to “feel better”. As a rumination on trauma, the prose gives some snippets of those experiences, of being transferred between medial professional for being too much or being infantilised, or going through the same cycles without ever feeling any progress. Though disheartening, the final realisation is lovely.

A wonderful life is a tiny piece about revenge and new beginning in Twine. Trying to emulate a noir setting, with limited explanation and a focus on details, the prose does a good job at making the story intriguing - even if I found it a taaaad confusing, as we (players) always seem to be put in an arms way of what is happening. I would be very interested to see the story with a bit more writing to it.

The Invisible Smoke Factory is a surreal exploration of very weird dreams, made in Twine. In a more point-n-click form, you explore different space trying to collect 11 different pieces of paper scattered around the 100+ rooms. There are multiple endings, but I’ve only gone through one.
Between the dithered backgrounds, uncomfortable background music, and the unsettling animated elements, the game really pushes the boundaries of what IF can look like, through removing as many words as possible.

I am not sure how to explain this experience, actually. It’s weirdly cool, and often discomforting with the ambiance it creates. The almost lack of words is unsettling, leaving the visual to essentially tell the story (whatever it may be, I’m still struggling to interpret it). I just know I could feel my heart beating as if I was watching some psychological thriller and had chills crawling down my back.

Conformity is a micro dystopian (fantasy?) visual novel where you are forced to work under monstrous spider-like overlords, who seem to control your movements like puppets. Yet, you are given a choice to escape, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, where any slip up would mean death. Or worse… going back.
The theme of the piece might feel a bit one-note (and shallow), but the added illustration and interface add a lot to the atmosphere.

Whether is a philosophical branching piece, asking you on each screen to choose between two options: light or darkness, sweet or salty, forward or backward, love or hate… Forever ending, forever starting, round and round you go through the poetic prose, building choice by choice your personal poem. Not only the writing is fantastic, but the dithered vibe of Decker with the text boxes and the chosen illustration, really does make it a great piece of IF.