Ratings and Reviews by manonamora

I need to let it out is a collection of text files containing thoughts and feelings that Clare doesn’t dare say out loud, even though it is weighting on her. Between dealing with loss and struggling with their identity, Clare discusses her hopes and wishes for the future - especially with one special person. Retrospections of past relationships, especially their failings, brings forward this yearning in Clare to be seen - not just a glance, but actually be seen - and to have their feelings reciprocated.

In the way those thoughts are communicated, it becomes clear Clare struggles with her seemingly innocent out-personna, of the helpful girl that asks nothing in return, kind and collected, insightful but plain, with her more passionate desires (especially in regards to her crush). The never-reached balance between virtuous actions and unexecuted vice. The felt extremes.
I think it’s best displayed with how Clare talks about Tiffany in two different sections, first her silent personal devotion from afar, almost voyeuristic-like, to her domineering, almost disturbing, view on the future of the relationship when they finally interact.

These feelings and thoughts should probably get out, at some point, probably sooner rather than later… but maybe not today.

Productivity2000 is a time management interactive games, where you must fill-in a time-sheet in Sheets with tasks completed during the week for your micro-managing boss. Along with logging the hours worked, emails sent, and even breaks for lunch, you must also abide by your boss’s crazy rules to prove you actually did some work.

It takes a bit of organisation to get things all checked out, having to balance the hours worked throughout the week (never the same), or amount of emails filled (you will learn how to say ‘hello’ in new languages!), and even rate your own performance, just so you can rise above your boss’s suspicions. While behaving annoyingly, this isn’t the worse boss in the world: you can work from home (even exclusively), have to take breaks during the day for sustenance, can’t work overtime during the day, and must have two days free… Sign me up, please! I’ll ill in all the time-sheets you want me to!

The Swormville Sweep is a treasure hunt puzzle made in GoogleMyMaps, set in the village of Swormville, USA. The map has 15~ pre-selected locations, each with a little blurb about its creation, sometimes how it fared over the years, and a picture of its last recorded state. Through those, you don’t just learn about the town, how it got to be and evolved, you also collect a character - needed to solve the treasure hunt and find the secret final spot.

Like any good treasure hunt, from the starting location, you are given clues about the next location to check out (and the next character to collect). The clues are pretty varied in terms of type (e.g. family relations vs. architecture) and details. Some clues are obvious enough, while others will require making a guess or doing a bit more sleuthing on the internet. There is also a cool side guide, on the game page, which provides further detail on each location.

Though it took me much longer than I care to admit struggling to solve the puzzle (I had to restart a few times because my notes made no sense after a while), it was a fun way of being an online tourist in the small town, and learning some fun tit-bit about it. While novel in the medium use, it reminded me a bit of the author’s other town-focused game, Blossom, NY, in the share-some-obscure-knowledge-about-a-small-town way. It was a fun (if not at times frustrating) digital promenade, with a good use of the medium chosen.

notes on the disappearance of a sister is an investigative interactive piece, where a young woman created a board to keep track of information found about her sister’s disappearance, which happened a year prior. While her sister’s case is unresolved, Eleanor is set on finding her - no matter the costs. Retracing the events leading to the disappearance, she questions a few individuals close to her sister at the time, and unearth some shocking revelations about her family.

The format of the story, through the investigation board of factual notes, thoughts/hypotheses and communication, really enhances the mystery. Organised by sections, you get to go through Eleanor’s thoughts processes, as she finds new information and processes it. We see her idea of her sister and where she stands in regards to her family changing as the investigation progresses, and how little she knew about her own blood.

Yet, Eleanor’s investigation is cut short, leaving us to piece out what happened to her and her sister. And it’s not hard to do by the time you get to the end - there are enough hints throughout the notes to point at the supposed culprit and their motives. Even with threads abandoned, and questions unanswered, the use of the medium is incredibly effective in communicating the story.

Love and Java is a short branching choice-based piece made in pure HTML and CSS. With its 9 different endings, it paints a picture of dealing with poor mental health and its felt consequences (e.g. insomnia, isolation, hallucinations, negligence…). The descriptions of the setting and of yourself is Kafka-esque, with the run-down unfamiliar-yet-familiar rooms, or the animalistic/alien-like view of yourself (which you even compare to (Spoiler - click to show)a moth). It’s both very surreal and strangely grounded. Definitely a vibe.
I do wish there was a bit more contrast between the links and the body of text. I thought at first the game was broken, but turns out the link is simply hidden.

CurseOfTheManor.xls is a sparse parser escape puzzle created in Microsoft Excel. The manor you are currently in is cursed, stopping you from leaving until you’ve collected certain items and placed them in a specific spot. Each of these items and the final location are blocked behind a puzzle. While it uses a limited parser (VERB + NOUN), there are no hints or walkthroughs. The difficulty is noted as cruel.

And it is pretty cruel - I got stuck a couple of times trying to solve some puzzles, before realising I should have unlocked something else first. Two sections include a dark room, some objects use the same item, and some interactions are essentially a one-way deal. In the same vein, the map is surprisingly large, often requiring you to go from one end to the other to solve a specific puzzle. Drawing up a map to keep track is advised (I got lost).
On the other hand, correcting mistakes is much easier. Rather than spamming UNDO or RESTART, you just need to scroll up and edit the line with the mistaken action. The answers will then update as if it was your first time entering it. It made test and trials and errors much easier to go through.

It took me quite a while to get through the game, since getting stuck with a couple of puzzles. With the limited descriptions/responses, you sometimes need to think a bit out of the box (and about some unusual verbs) to get through blocks on the path. But it was pretty satisfying to 1- solve the puzzles individually and 2- find the correct order to do all the actions the right way.

Overall, it was a creative way of making a really well-built parser.

:-O (..)_ INTERRED (..)_ :-Q is a short parser-like escape puzzle, coded in emoticons. Waking up in a bedroom, you feel the urge to leave this seemingly unknown place. Getting out isn’t too complicated, there is only one thing you need and all actionable commands per room are provided. It shouldn’t even be possible to fail.
What is most intriguing, is more how the game was made and is running. You actually get to peek at the source code, since you need to copy-paste it in the interpreter - though it doesn’t make much sense as is. I didn’t even know emoticons could be used to store data or be used to code whole games. So that was neat.

Mad, Sad, Glad is a snapshot of a corporate workshop following the end of a project. Inside the Miro page, participants could express what made they made, sad, and glad about the project, so to wrap up. You can also interact with it yourself, leaving a note on the Glad board too.

While there is no information about the project, you do learn a bit more about the company, with (Spoiler - click to show)the departure of colleagues, hiring/bonus freezes, and restructuring. With this, you'd expect the feedback to be of a certain way, as team members were welcomed to share their feelings and opinions (as the player, you can also edit the file and add your own comment!). Surprisingly, it ended up being (Spoiler - click to show)overwhelmingly positive.

But is it surprising, really? The Miro board actually (Spoiler - click to show)doesn't allow you to add any comments anywhere but the Glad section - the Mad and Sad post-its simply being screenshot images, not interactive elements you can edit. As if management had decided on a conclusion ahead of the workshop, regardless of opinions. As well, I honestly wouldn't expect the team players to share otherwise, (Spoiler - click to show)considering the state of the company - during uncertain periods, sharing criticism could land you the boot. I know I wouldn't either...

It's a pretty effective criticism on project management, from the way the board is formatted (with the cheerful stickers and bright colours), the way information and tasks are communicated, in contrast with the interactivity ((Spoiler - click to show)or rather restricted...).

a conversation with a concerned cow is a short conversation with, like the title says, a concerned cow. They've been feeling down for a while, thinking about life and death, wondering what happens when everything ends (you get to fill in a form). Worried about how you'd feel about the conversation, the cow sets some jazzy relaxing music and even sends you a cute slideshow (as some sort of palate cleanser), as well as an email address to each out for more conversations. It is a bit absurd, and also quite sweet.

Bakery management challenge is a cooking/management sim made in GoogleSheets, where the goal is to make and sell as many good in a limited amount of time. Each good has a specific recipe, with timed steps (kneading, rising, baking). You need to organise the 10-min-incremented planning with the good you’ll work on in that time. The sim has three levels, with the last two introducing a new step and cash reward.

This entry felt more like a gameplay prototype than a fully fledged IF game: there isn’t much story or text outside of the actual place action in the block or recipe book, nor does it tally the actual result of your actions (XP/money earned).
There was also an issue with filling the blocks, as you can only put one recipe per action (i.e. one kneading, one rising, one baking, one selling), even though the instructions allows for multiple recipe happening at once (i.e. rising/selling/freezing) - this makes the planning a bit more convoluted than necessary.

While the execution could use some polishing (and a tiny bit of a story, maybe even some endings depending on how much you sell), the core idea is pretty neat. I’d definitely play a resource management IF game.

Coca-Cola Presents: 🥤 Fuck Capitalism Jam 2032 🥤 is a short bitsy/bipsy game, set in the very near future of 2032 (oh this review is not going to age well soon…), at the dawn of a new edition of the Fuck Capitalism Jam. You are an excited little sprite getting ready to leave your oppressing little room to join the event, held in person in Madrid, ad the IFEMA centre. This year, as with a couple of years now, the event has been sponsored by a big corporation! Because, they too are looking to defeat capitalism, and make the world a better place!

So, funny thing, expecting a bleak dystopian future, from the start of the game, seeing a very anti-capitalist unranked jam being not only turned into a competition but also sponsored by capitalist ventures, I misread the location as FEMA centre and thought “Yeah… That checks out.” as if in the near future the US would take over Spain or something. I didn’t question it one bit, because it weirdly still fit. xD (it’s actually the IFEMA Convention Center in Madrid, a very real place hosting very real conventions).

Back to the game.

It’s a pretty humorous jab at capitalism (duh, from the title), with tons of references to real companies and their mode of work (ex: MLM Herbalife, I actually expected more of those xD), and events growing so much so quickly it loses its original purpose (become the thing you swore to destroy). A bit of a cautionary tale, based on real events, where things meant “for the people, free, in aeternum”, turns into a for-profit and ruins everything…

Now, it’s obviously not very realistic: the timeline is maybe a bit too short for this to happen, I don’t believe the organiser is going to be a capitalist stan anytime soon, and I would be super shocked if Godot was bought by Roblox (please, let this be a nightmare). But it does remind us not to take the good (free) things in our lives for granted. Because it could be gone in an instant…

With little (and made in a very short amount of time), it is pretty impactful. I enjoy checking out the “submitted projects for the competition”, and how they clashed with their respective sponsors. That was really funny.

Pear Party is a short conversation between two uni students at a party, where you attempt to do some small talk and hopefully… not nerd about about pears. Why pears? ¯\ _ (ツ) _ /¯

It’s a silly little conversation, filled with second-hand embarrassment, quirky responses, awkward silences, and pretty funny lines. I chuckled more than I would care to admit. And I learned new stuff about pears too! Would you like to hear about–

Poetic Justice is a short poetic and logical game made in Dendry, where you play as a legendary unnamed (at the start) poet on trial for plagiarism. On the bench, sit your peers, other iconic poets, ready to judge you. Will you manage to refute their arguments or face justice?
Worried about fairness? You get to choose one of those judges are your poet representative (though it ends up barely mattering... but you get to learn a bit more about them with a Wikipedia snippet).

Because it is also a fair trial, you get to review the evidence against you, before refuting each of the poets' arguments (I'm not sure why you need to fight your own lawyer, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). It's pretty much a breeze. But your own arguments are not enough, you need to trick them to see the idiocy in their thinking.

Which leads us to the main interactive element of the game: a logic puzzle. Each poet writes their own version of one of your poem, and your must choose the right order and combination so they all end up criticising each other. I ended up writing down all the options to get it.

The puzzle was neat. I wished I had more to do in the first half of the game, especially when refuting the arguments of the different poets. Or maybe even lose the trial (I don't think there is a bad ending?).

Thank You For Your Inquiry is a short game from hell, forcing you to endure the nonsensical exchanges with a customer service representative from Simplicity Transportation Customer Service that is either overworked or doesn't care about your claim (or the company is just trash ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). Trials and tribulations awaits you as you try to get a refund for [undescribed event that cost you a lot of money]: from the request of very private information to their unbudging offers of a pitiful refund, hardship is the only thing you will gain from this.

Though it is played for laugh (or horror) here, these exchanges are not that far from reality: exchanges that go nowhere, pathetic amounts refunded (if any at all), complete disregard for rights (big deal in the EU!), unresponsive representatives, strict and just plain terrible procedures... There is only so much sanity you can have with some of these companies before you want to pull your hair out and set everything on fire.
Thoughts for the cool customer reps that try their best to help!

I hated every single exchanges with the customer reps.
Would 100% torture myself through it again! I've already done it multiples times (the endings are so funny), but I still would do it again!

😱🔤😱 is a short and wordless interactive game, that relies only on emojis to tell a story. What story? Well, it is for you to figure it out!
Because I certainly didn't...

There is something so interesting about using a "language" that is know to all (emoji), but used so differently depending on people. Is 🔣 unknown words or insults? What does 🔤 mean to you? Is 💨a wind, a sigh, a fart???
When combined in a string, how do you decipher it into a proper sentence? When a whole page is full of them, how to you turn it into a coherent sentence?

As a whole it's a very fun puzzle! A very confusing one, and a very novel way to tell a story.

Have Orb, Will Travel is an old-school style parser, where you play a wizard tasked to find an elusive orb somewhere inside a quaint cottage, to gain back the Council’s trust. With its custom system and Interface reminiscing of old Minitel pages, the game is a puzzle fest. Though you will not really reach a failed state, the puzzles are fairly difficult. The game includes hints and a walkthrough, both of which I used extensively.

Old-school style parsers intrigue me, in their implementation (often confusing for new parser players), their sometimes convoluted puzzles, and the sheer amount of work needed in the back-end to make things work. They require a lot of attention, out-of-the-box thinking to solve puzzles, and knowledge of the codes in interacting with elements. Reaching the end feels like an achievement.

But I struggled with it so much. I didn’t even exited the first room before I ended up opening the hint sections… which weren’t actually helpful in my case. Turns out, keys are not the only way to open a door. Who knew? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Still, I persevered, because I am not a quitter, and ran around the cottage, trying to interact with anything in my path. Sometimes it worked well, and I could unlock things just fine (and feel so darn smart about it), sometimes… it was a frustrating disaster (;-; mazes yall… that one broke me.).

For how interesting and new some puzzles felt (actually, the maze, as strange as it was) or how reined-in the clues were (not always helpful, but fun anyway!), there were quite a lot of friction when it came down to playing it. For examples: you’d need to type a very specific command to get things, not just take item; even if a thing is mentioned in a description (especially an item), the program might not let you examine it unless it is in your inventory, pretending even it does not exist; one of the first items available to you is a book, but you can’t read it completely unless you turn each of its pages… All of these little frictions do end up adding up, making the game maybe a bit more frustrating than it could be.

Most of the latter part of the game (which I reached only because of the walkthrough), revolves around manipulating different machineries that affects other bits of the map. So you end up going to some part of the map, interact with one thing, walk around the map to see if it affected it correctly, walk back to the machine (which is sometimes going the long way round because of one-way passageways), pressing some more buttons and doing it again… Damned if you enter the wrong combination, because the game has many rooms.

While you are supposedly a wizard, and can learn 3 spells in-game, you surprisingly use very little magic to solve puzzles - the spells being used at most 3 times in total. You spend more time walking around the cottage or manipulating buttons, dials, and handles. You do end up getting a wand at some point though…

For all the text the game has, it answers surprising little in why you need to find the orb, how it got there, what it does, or how important it is to the Council. The game is so focused on the puzzle, you mainly learn about the setting or context of the story at the start, with the quest of finding the orb handed to you. Just a little bit of nudging and framing would have helped.

I still found the game fascinating - even if it may have broken my spirit a little bit, resulting in finishing the game with the walkthrough opened next to the game instead of solving it all by myself. The interface is very playful and colourful (though the timed text gets annoying by the second use of the ring), and the use of background noise gave the game a lot of charm. The ding notification when solving something and gaining points was so darn rewarding!

This game might be short and concise, but it is quite well-written, impactful and heartbreaking. From the start, there is something not quite right with your son's interruption of your sleep, even if it is a yearly occurrence. Things just don't quite fit all to well, especially when your daughter appears or when the mother is mentioned (in hindsight... 🥴). But is is not clear until the end what is truly going on here. What seems at first like a slice-of-life with some spooky halloween aspect, turns downright terrifying. The reveal is not only depressing to internalise, but the implications are frankly hitting much harder than what you'd expect from the blurb and warnings. The final choice is, again, heartbreaking, whichever way you choose...

Meritocracy is a fairly linear story, where you play as a first-year university student taking their first class in a Philosophy course, whose subject is based on the topic of Argumentations and the concept of merit. You also come across a strangely relevant debate outside of class…

From the premise, you'd expect an epic discussion about merit - the good, the bad, and the eh - throwing arguments back at your professor, doing the absolute most to get your points across, and coming on top (or failing miserably, because you're just a student). You may even expect a wide-branching path, with choice at each corner, to counter your professor's points... where one wrong choice could lead to your embarrassing defeat...

What you get, however, is a more... muddled and railroad-y approach on that promise. More of a philosophy lecture packaged into a simple interactive form than an player agency-driven gameplay. The promised "battle of wits" is nowhere to be found - as the professor mainly lectures and you listen, or you answer his prompted question before he just leaves the room. The closest thing to an argumented debate I found in the game happened between two unnamed NPC, neither of which require the MC's help - even then, it is more framed as an example of the lecture*. Finally, as you have little space to convince anyone of your idea(s), you end up just trying to convince yourself of your "choices".
*the MC even points out they could interject at the start and question the orator, but doesn't which :/ is a shame! It would have made for a fun debate gameplay!

When it even comes to discussing the concept of meritocracy, which is sandwiched between a lecture on ad hominem fallacy and a weird tangent about the Trolley Problem, I found myself wandering where the depth of the philosophical thoughts were. The topic is approached on a very surface level (ooh meritocracy bad because too much expectations and it's unfair, oooh actually it's good because more creative drive and the alternative is unfair) without much discussing the intricacies of it all (e.g. muddled by a person's status/education/wealth/identity/etc...). Which is a shame, as one could question whether meritocracy truly exists considering certain class advantages some have over others OR whether it can truly be fair (how is merit defined? who defines it?).

Granted, the topic itself is quite complex to begin with (and also somewhat ironic considering the IFComp is sometimes framed as a meritocratic competition), but the point does not manage to quite land either, which ever side you take on the debate. And often, the debate is not won with rational arguments...

One potential cause for this may be found in the writing of the game.
The pacing is not quite there, dragging a bit too much at time - with the fairly long and superfluous introduction taking precious time/attention from the reader, or the fixation on the surrounding, which does not really amount to anything - and glossing over moments which should probably have been pushed further - the whole debate between you and the professor essentially.
Though the writing wants to be somewhat humorous (it felt at time it was trying to make fun of it all?), the frequent repetitions and sloppy prose both undermines this element, the setting of the game (university) and the MC's characteristics (you are a student of higher learning with intellectual capabilities*).
*but also... I've graded prose like this from uni students so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speaking of the MC, it is made abundantly clear it is a distinct person with drive and wants and needs*... but also very much of a Mary Sue. The MC is just so good at debate, they can take on the professor on the first class BUT they are so bad at finding their class. They seem like those pretentious high school students who think they know everything, even better than experts. It's exhausting...
*I don't really get the point at the start about the MC not being customisable? It feels a bit off-putting and unrelated to the topic itself?

The concept of meritocracy isn't the easiest topic to grapple with, and the thought of turning it into a debate-like gameplay to explore its definition(s) or philosophical schools of thoughts was a good framing for it. It's a shame it could not quite deliver to what it had promised...

The campfire is the beggining is a short branching story, where you find yourself before a campfire, with no recollection of where you are or even who you are. Will you just wait and see what happens to you? or will you adventure out? There are 6 endings to find - some humorous, some meta, and some a bit nonsensical.

While I didn’t really connect to the story or the humour, I do need to give props to how smooth it ran in Google Slides. It created a nice ambiance through its visuals and background SFX.

yet another planning doc is a multi-medium epistolary/chat interactive story, centred around three students, from Passerine Hills Academy, an elite university in an unspecified region (but most likely non-American English-speaking), trying to organise the weekly student party. Through a series of Google Docs and external emails, the trials and tribulations of Ana Vitória, Emmeline and Izzy, after their usual processes unravel, are entangled with the peculiar life at the Academy.

The Academy offers an interesting setting for the story, with its three-tiered organisation of its student body (the poor scholarship students, the extremely privileged students, and the majority middle-ground), which is both discussed in the conversation and displayed through the group dynamic (Emmeline belonging to the first, Izzy to the second, and Ana Vitória the third). The difference in class is reflected in how they behave and communicated with one another (familiarity vs. deferential - what they share or keep secret), present themselves (visible name and pfp, language and tone), and how they handle their changing plans. It inevitably adds layers to the depiction of a fairly mundane task (organising a weekly meet-up) and to the personality of each student.

Though you’d expect these kinds of exchange to happen more in a chat software (your Slack/Discord/other), using online Google Docs/Gmail allows each character to privately communicate without the other knowing, go on tangents without disrupting too much the main discussion, and adds to the school group project vibes happening.
But, as an external reader, it gives too an intimate look into private conversations that no others should have access too. Gossips feel extra juicy to learn, even if you have no real knowledge of those other students. And, secrets hinted in the personal emails most impactful. It’s a fun take on the epistolary format.

This is what I need to tell you is an ARG interactive piece created through a Forum thread, in which the latter’s author goes through a mental breakdown, incl. a paranoia and dissociative episode. In wanting to share critical information, the author find himself fighting another (himself?). Reading as an unsettling struggle to have the final word.

The thread contains 6 posts, of which all but one has been edited at least once. At first glance, it seems like the edits were made by a collected person, covering a distressing period that should not have been shared, and urging others to disregard the original messages. Still, another voice peers through, with an agitated final edit, pleading to be heard. A starting knotted thread that unravels when diving into the edits.

This second voice, on edge due to an unspecified event or revelation (proof of which is linked through a dead link), attempts to fight at every turn the more calm and serious speaker, who, in turn, rebuffs those messages for their presumably harmful content (for whom? the author? other readers? we’ll never know).
The layers in the conversations, through the multiple original posts and then their subsequent edits, is fascinating and bone chilling. You have to comb through all the edits and rearrange their order to piece out things. Yet, it stops before we learn what the author wants to tell us, as the information is deleted even before being shared. And it leaves so much hanging about the state of the author - the final post feels forced and the final edit cold, brushing off the thread to be of any importance.

What we are left is a chilling and concerning exchange (in a good way, knowing it isn’t real), and a bunch of unanswered questions (will the truth every come out? was there one to begin with? is the author ok? will we ever know?). And a very interesting use of the medium to share this story.

Au village de pêcheurs is a short slice-of-life parser where your goal is to purchase some fresh fish at a fishing village a few towns over. Little issue, your child decided to come along on this little trip and be a little menace. This does not go over well with the only fish stall of the village.

The current version of the game has multiple unfinishable states, which the author is aware of and has been working on fixes. It also does not include hints or walkthrough. I was able to find one for sure one confirmed fail ending.

With that in mind, it is expected to struggle with the game, find what works and what maybe should be working but isn’t. I got stuck multiple times, as well as had a full page of error messages through my trial-and-error input.

Still, I couldn’t get away until I reached the end… any end. The game is charming to boot, with its dry humour, the exasperated and exhausted parent, the menace of the Child (also in capital in game), and the no-nonsense local fisherman. I found myself chucking at the descriptions multiple times, even when there probably wasn’t a joke. And it was fun to just try things, even if nothing happened.
Even when frustrated with the parser itself, it still worked with who you’re supposed to play: a tired parent trying their best to accomplish just one task without finding the child. The game actually allows (Spoiler - click to show)you to leave without having gotten the fish or the child. Which… is the only one I actually managed to reach.

I can’t wait for the new version to be completed so I can find the other endings and be as much of a menace as the Child.

Une simulation is a tiny parser game, where you incarnate a player about to try a new virtual game: a simulation of an escape room through a VR headset. The goal is to find the three keys required to unlock the door, each hidden behind a different puzzle.

The game makes it pretty clear what must be done, but if you have a doubt, there is a manual in the starting state listing the main commands, and a downloadable walkthrough. Though it can be solved without either.

For a first attempt at a parser, it was a smooth experience. I didn’t really run into any issue. The puzzles were pretty logical and obvious enough that solving them was a breeze. Being limited to one room and a couple of objects does help - there are only so many possible interactions. Handling the plant was probably my favourite one out of all the different puzzles.

Le miroir d’Ozivior is a relatively short fantasy escape room, in which you play as the friend of Ozivior, a student at a magical academy. Locking you in his room, he challenges you to solve his riddle: find his actual room and break the mirror.

The game is pretty simple, that even beginner parser players could manage to complete. It was tightly constructed, with just enough descriptions in responses to get the gist of the puzzle and how to solve it, as well as warnings of any change.
Hints are also available, starting from general to nudge you the right way, to more concrete/obvious ones. There is also a Win the game command to get to the end quicker.
And the vocabulary required is limited: examine, take/drop, enter/open.

You can’t even fail at the game. As it lets you play on and “automatically undo”'s for you if you break the mirror in the wrong room. No need for saves, or restarts, or undos, really. It’s very beginner friendly.

The game left me frustrated in all the good ways - but that’s more because I blame myself for not paying attention properly (or because I tried to brute-force the game to let me play the way I wanted to, even if it went against the puzzle itself).
The mechanic to go from room to room was pretty cool, and pretty magical. The way the rooms are essentially the same but differ depending on what you (Spoiler - click to show)choose to carry with you really adds layers to the setting. You learn more about your friend and his room, bit by bit. It is a matter of whether you keep track of the details (which I failed at too many times, it was embarrassing for me).

All in all, the experience is very smooth and charming (pun), and it made for a fun escape puzzle.

*La réclusion de Callisto* is a short textual adventure in the style of older CYOA books, both in form and content. Embodying a prisoner-jailer in a lonely island, you will recount your meeting with a very particular women sent to this prison. Mixing romance and unsatisfiable desires, the story pulls you into moral conflicts where your only solace is escape.

Though there are conflicting elements, I was certain from the start the tale was referencing Napoléon and his exiles on Elba/St Hélène, being sent away in a tiny island away from everything because of his actions. But this was clearly set in some imaginary land, with a focus more on piracy. And of course, Napoléon was the actual prisoner during his exile, not really the jailer.

As for the delectable prose, it was more the tales of Dumas, especially the imprisoned scenes, that came into mind while reading. Even with the limitation in words, and the surprisingly large variation of the text, the writing is flourishing and swallowing us into the whirlwind of emotions felt by the PC. Though there are only three ends, the journey is more fun than the end.

*Terra’s Leap : Un rêve incombustible* is a short sci-fi adventure, where we follow the ventures of Elio, a child in a faraway colony, dreaming that one day he will visit Earth. Earth's location being long forgotten, this task is not an easy feat! Thankfully, you get to meet multiple characters who have an idea about its location, though none are in the same spot. So you will need to decide how to get to it, considering you are still a child, and which person to trust, our of those strangers. Some of these choices do require you to sort of disregard logic, if you want to continue down those paths.

While the blurb indicate 19 endings, many of them end in the exact same way. Most of those are still pretty bad for the players as well - strangely, it is when you refuse to take the path pushed by the game that you end up with a more winning situation.

*Baston ou Ruse : L’Épopée de Krug* is a short humoristic game based on Warhammer 40k, where you play as Krug, an orc that has no idea with what to do with its life. Though known for their brutish behaviour, some orc find a more cunning approach to conflict more interesting. So choices are put before you at every turn: Ruse or Force. Depending on what you pick, you'll end up with one out of 16 different orc job (and its related epic end where your life is praised still after your death).

The writing is very funny and made me laugh many times per path. It was very entertaining trying to find all the different endings (I found 8-9), since the text is quite varied from the branching. And this I knew nothing about W40k lore, it was a fun and intriguing introduction to this universe!

Biblioflam is a short fantasy adventure in Moiki, where you play as an employee of a strange and magical library (where no books can be burnt!) tasked with retrieving late book returns (the tome in question being 3 years late...). Mixing more RPGs aspects, like dice rolls, and consequential choices, the game offers a frustrating but still satisfying puzzle to solve (even if you mess up a bunch, it's still fun to play).

With the change of palette/fonts depending on the current environment, and SFX/background sound to add to the ambiance, the game is really playful and fun to experience. You too will ask to retrieve more tomes after!

Susi is a sci-fi story, set in the 22nd century, where we follow the eponymous character, a half-wolf half-humanoid AI, after feeling a bloody conflict against salamanders (also half-AI) that ravaged everything. Seemingly the last of its kind, Susi get to choose the path forward, whether it is destructive for themselves or the salamander, or more (re)constructive. 5 different endings can be found, I managed 4.

Through the POV of Susi, the story explores crudely different human traits (vengeance, avarice, goodness, etc...), showing that even with the disappearance of the human race, and the evolution of the AI in such a way they've left machines behind, the humanoid beings would continue to behave exactly like humans, with their vices and virtues, rather than the animalkind they embody (or a completely different path). Like ghosts, humans still stay, one way or another, influencing those left behind.

Similarly to the bad paths, who often rambled on and repeated itself, the good ending wasn't much satisfying either, having a bit more of an open end to the story, somewhat giving the feeling that the story only actually started at that point, with the passages preceding the final screen upping up the intrigue.

The author also warns on the game page that some passages could be difficult to read, as it alludes to sensitive subject, but the allusions is actually explicit (stated or depicted) and the execution felt more "edgy for the sake of being edgy" rather than making it central to the plot or having commentary on it: (Spoiler - click to show)suicidal thoughts can be willed away or push Susi into destructive suicide, sexual slavery is mentioned in passing once and almost forgotten, living under a dictatorship is played as a twist so to try to force you to take the "high-road" and forgive the oppressor

L’abribus is a short fantasy story, where we either play as some sort of force controlling a magic orb (which can influence everything around) or the orb itself (still unclear on that, though it matters little to enjoy the game). At a bus stop, we/the orb meets different characters, which we can interact in some fashion (forge documents, tell the time, etc...). These actions can bring good or "evil" to those characters, with the last action defining which ending we get.
There are no issues with the game's construction (and being able to skip the intro is nice), but some of the consequences felt at times a bit too simplistic.

Ashes is a sci-fi text adventure written in Inklewriter, where you follow Josh and Aria, two space-travellers landing on Earth and finding it in disarray. Realising there is something wrong with their home, they set on finding the cause and fixing it. But, if they don't manage to return to the correct version of Earth, they will meet their end. There are *many* endings, but only two can be considered good ones.

While the story is quite intriguing (what happened on Earth??? where did these symbols come from?!), much of the mysterious situation is left unanswered. Which is not a problem whatsoever, because I would be down playing a longer version with more details or investigation of the phenomenon.
My main issue with the game is how abruptly and arbitrary you can reach the bad endings (why being cautious is rewarded with a sudden ending?), with no explanation or reason (I'd wager the limit in word count affected this). It makes replaying very frustrating... unless you manage to get the good ending first.

Corps Brulés is a mystery game made in INK, where you play as some sort of investigator/detective on holidays. Coming across three burnt bodies, with no witness around, you decide to solve this (potentially not) accident. But who could have done it? how? and more importantly why?

Hints for the mystery can be found in the 7 pieces of almost burnt paper on the bodies. Because of the fire, the paper has a limited shelf-life (taking one means another disappears), which means you need to have on plan on what to consult and in what order. However, the game isn't cruel, as every restart keeps a "copy" of found papers and previous knowledge.

The different pieces will give you an idea of who each of those bodies are, their reasons for being here, and maybe how they got there. You can link them under different tags, interchangeable when you consult them, learn new information, and make new accusations. Depending on which elements you consulted and its order, different accusations can be made at the end of each run.

The mystery is neat, reminding me a bit of the *Death in Paradise* series in its setting. The gameplay is also pretty fun, mixing a bit the Logic-Grid type of puzzle with timed-events.
I wish I had managed to actually finish the game. I got stuck, really close to the end I think, but still not having found (I guess?) the correct order to get to the true end (if there is one? I don't seem to be the only one). Though I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened...

La fonte du monde is a fantasy textual adventure in Inklewriter, when you incarnate Voulks Mirmabull, a great dragon who's destiny seems to reunite all the dragon clans and fight other kingdoms (from what I gathered playing the game). After a long introduction focusing on Voulks's past, you are thrown into the game with not much a clear goal or explanation. The game seems to branch off quite early, leading to a handful of endings - I think I found 3-4 different ones, mainly ending up in my death.

You are given multiple sequences of choices, on how to interact with the environment, other clans, or the different conflicts - often with a violent/peaceful dichotomy. Most choices do not result in a textual response, having either an AI-generated illustration or simply the next set of choices. This aspect, which might be due to the combination of a high-branching story and a restricted word count, made the story sometimes difficult to follow or see the consequences of our actions. I think a few more sentences between each choice would clear a lot of the confusion.

Daidala is a short text-adventure in Twine, where you play as an adventurer (archaeologist?*) waking up in a dark cave after a fall. You can explore your surroundings, discover ruins, examine different elements, solve a couple of puzzles, and delve deeper into the darkness. If you pick the right path, you might even find the ultimate end ((Spoiler - click to show)though none of the endings are particularly happy...). It took me a bit of trial and error to find that ending, even though I had managed to thwart previous danger...
The wink to the (Spoiler - click to show)Icarus myth for the puzzle was cute.

*It gave a bit Indiana Jones vibes

one way is a short kinetic dialogue through text between Syn and Lily, though it feels more like a monologue, as the latter doesn’t respond much. In the messages, Syn talks about the writing progress (or lack of) on a story, and the struggles of being relatable, even when drawing on one’s identity. The messages go unanswered, worrying Syn, who ends up confronting Lily for a sign of life.

Because of that one-sidedness in the exchange, and the minimal formatting, I thought at first I was reading Syn’s diary entries (the first few pages being pretty relatable, being in a writing rut is not fun). Though it was after going through the passages again did I wonder whether we were playing as Lily, clicking the arrow link to forward time, as if reading but avoiding answering, making Syn’s plea for a response all the more heartbreaking.
Or maybe I’m reading too much into it, and we’re simply a complete outsider.

story of my life is a tiny kinetic slice-of-life piece, centred on a couple of linked memories, snapshot seemingly mundane at the time but with hindsight and reminiscing may look important. It seems like a reflection of things seen and said, or more what was experienced differently and what was never said. This disconnect is made all the more obvious on the last screen, where the narrator admit they could actually say something… but still end up avoiding the subject through a more light-hearted question, further the miscommunication.

Sanguine: The Stygian Shore is a tiny Twine adventure, where you incarnate Ash’Garekh, a mercenary stranded on Lunaris after a storm at sea. Still, you need to get to your original destination, so you travel north and do your best to avoid the traps and the dangers, and maybe thwart a plot in the process.
The writing reminded me a bit of those darker fantasy pulp stories, with danger to overcome, some damsels to rescue, and cliché shouts, but all the good ways of those. The only negative thing I have to say about it, is that it ended way too quick. I would love to play a longer version of the game with trials and tribulations and puzzles… until I finally reach my destination!

Lunar Fall is a mini make-out-sim where two women, L and E, embrace each other for a while. With a short tangent about relationships and love (do we min-max one’s feelings by our actions?) and the definition of sex (is there a line to what or what isn’t sexual), the main focus of the game is the actual make-out part. Depending on the starting position (spooning or facing each other), you have two to four actions, one being one-off while the other options being repeatable, before you end it altogether.

I’ve tried multiple combination of actions, and always seemed to end with the same words and the same thanks, but I wonder if there are multiple endings to it.
Am I min-maxing enough this make-out session?!?! No matter, I’ll go make out with E again anyway.

Find a parser beta tester! is a short reflection piece on beta-testing, particularly when having your parser work beta-tested by others. Whatever the program used when making a game, beta-testing is the most painful part of the process: you not only need to have people play a game that isn’t complete and probably has too many bugs it’s embarrassing, but you also have to FIND THOSE PEOPLE IN THE FIRST PLACE. The pain…

The game give multiple options, between parser and non-parser players, players who know and don’t know you, so you would get a wide array of feedback, allowing you to fix it all before the deadline (though it is never truly fixed…). It is a pretty sound advice, having a wide-range of different testers, to ensure you’ve covered as much as possible the potential players base.

Testing is one of the most important part of game making*, as it can be the difference between receiving glowing reviews and… a torrent of negative comments because everything is broken. Not just that, but depending on the amount of issues with your game, you may feel guilty for having put them through such gruelling efforts (especially if they are not familiar with parsers).
*I say that but, lol, but I barely do that myself

Congrats! Your writing doesn’t stink! is a short reflection on sharing one’s work with others. Formatted as an exchange between an author (you) and a player/reviewer, you listen/read the latter’s opinion about your hypothetical piece. Through a thinly veil of “hey, I’m just trying to help”, the praise ends up being less then genuine, and the criticism borderline insulting. But maybe, it should have been expected with the title…

It’s weirdly relatable, having had my work judged, not always kindly (thought often with kernels of truth), to the point that it can turn you off from a community altogether. Putting your work out there is very courageous, and being met with malicious comments can be demoralizing. Words can be powerful things, lifting people spirits as well as burying them six-feet down. It’s a good reminder to think about how we phrase our comments, especially when we don’t like something.

in the digital age is a short fan-fic piece based on Great Ace Attorney, in a communication-sim type of way. You play as Su, getting a phone call from Haori in the middle of the night, having avoided talking to her for a while and informing her of your return (among other things). Except you are a pretty awkward person, and behave a bit erratically (though, if they were teenagers, it would make tons of sense). While I did find the actual text exchange to be a bit confusing (on who was who especially), the consequence of the first choice was very funny to me.

come thru at 330am is a short kinetic piece, a jumbled reflection at a barbershop, which dealing with a traumatic past due to abuse in the workplace, making getting a simple haircut a herculean trial. With a minimal use of punctuation, the prose weaves together an often confusing imagery, mixing past and present, real and felt, emotional and rational… blurring all the lines.

Garden Party is an interactive unfolding poem, where you attend a garden party. Clicking on the different elements on the screen, the party unfolds before you, with cheers and drinks, dancing and playing games… but you can also escape the commotions and enjoy a little bit of a break, in the calming surroundings of Nature.

This piece reminded me a bit of NESTED by Orteil in the way it unfolds and displays new elements on the screen - though Garden Party does is finite, with its 100 or so elements to click on. It’s a pretty comforting experience.

sappho fragment generator is exactly what the title says: randomly printing on the screen fragments of writings of the poet Sappho. Each verse on the screen will vary in length and content, though it will often not make much sense (or at least it was my experience generating them), as it displays them from a small bank of words. Because little has survived, the generator sometimes even includes unexpected characters - though the general nonsensical of the generated elements is already confusing enough as is.
Maybe… we could still try to analyse the unanalysable.

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.

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.

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.

*Primordial* is a *strange*, very weird/surreal piece. After playing it, I am still not sure what to make of it. You start with birthing yourself, coming out into a strange world where you must fend for yourself (I honestly thought this was (Spoiler - click to show)the birth of an actual child and didn't get why crying out had someone literally EAT ME). Through encounters and exploration, you find enough sustenance to help your body grow and expand, with visual to match. It's weird, like *really weird*, but in a good way.

Though, I ended up being a bit bored of the fighting sequence, being pretty repetitive and same-y, so I ended up clicking the same action over and over until I could pick my reward.

Dragonslaying is a short branching visual novel, where you are a dragon-slayer, facing a dragon in a cave, with the intent of fulfilling your destiny… or maybe you will choose against it? For beast may be misunderstood or you wish to see the story end unexpectedly. With 2 choices, the game branches into 4 distinct endings, mixing acceptance and anger, questionable actions and trickery. Through your perception of the situation, and your reaction, blood may be shed. Will it be yours?
I thought it was an interesting take on fate and following orders.

inertia is a short kinetic entry about two men and their failed relationship. One still clings on his feelings for the other, while the latter has clearly moved on for better or for worse… With awkward dialogues, and descriptions of awkwarder behaviour, the prose creates an uncomfortable situation, which will not get any better, as neither participants seems willing to change their stances (for good reasons). One will not understand the other’s point of view, the other won’t return to a hurtful space.
Pretty well done, I could visualise so clearly the scene (and cringe).

Letters to strangers is a wonderful collection of letters, which you can receive from or send to strangers. Comforting words, positive stories, tiny slices of life, the mundane and the precious moments. Kindness to its pure form. Gentleness overflowing through each words, each bits sent. It is so freaking lovely and comforting. And we need more of this.
The only negative thing of this game is that it is WAY TOO SHORT!

EldritchMon is a short humorous adventure in Twine, in which you incarnate a 10 year-old going on an adventure. On the way, you even get a companion, that you can name, and become closer! The short adventure, that ends a bit abruptly, reminded me of Pokemon where… a 10 year old gets a companion and goes on an adventure! Though it is supposed to be “super wholesome”, there are some little bits that implies some darker elements in the adventure to come (like in the intro… or the title).

I was honestly surprised the game was really just 500 words (I went and double-checked), because it felt much longer with the different actions, and by the end I wished my adventure wouldn’t end… just yet. I would have loved to get maybe into more combats and such!

Temporal Thief is a moody ChoiceScript piece where you play as a time-traveller (or well, a time-thief), trying to change fate (their fate). With a dark modern fantasy setting, the prose really embodies the atmosphere of those gloomy back street, where nothing good ever happens. As to whether you do change things, only rewinds will tell…

Obsessive Tendencies is a short branching piece about the hold obsessive tendencies can have on people, and how it can disrupts someone’s state. Told from a very personal perspective, the piece shows some harsh realities of seeing themselves becoming obsessive specifically over fictional characters, knowing something is not quite right about it, but being unable to find a suitable solution to overcome it. A courageous effort.

Census is a short ink conversation between a retired widowed teacher and a strange census caller. The census starts pretty simple, asking (insistently) your run-of-the-mill questions. Though… something seems off about the questions asked and their responses. The hint of uneasiness from the conversation veer the short piece into horror territory… unless you hung up.

the vile want is a short piece in Twine set in an undescribed fantasy world, where you are a (elven?) fighter having a final showdown with their nemesis (I think? you are not told how/why). After such a long time since you last saw him, with your hatred fuelling you forward, you get to confront that person, and end him. Yet, you still hesitate to finally fulfil this want of yours. A very absorbing prose.

A Dodecapedic Box is a tiny parser where you are being chased by a dodecapedic box and must find a way for it to make it stop (or at least calm down). It involves fairly simple puzzles (AND YOU HAVING TO DO CRIMES!!), even if they are not always very sensible (I SAID CRIME) or logical at first glance. Still, with the absurd situation of it all (maybe it’s just all a dream), it was a pretty fun parser to complete! Quick and easy!

Oh Father, Please is a short interactive piece about a trans experience, being outed to an unsupportive parent and abused by said parent in retaliation. Your father, outraged by the new information, demands you give up parts of yourself to appease his sensibilities. You get to choose (or refuse) which part you can leave without to deflect his anger - the more important to your identity, the calmer he gets. But all comes with a price. Staying authentic to yourself bring his wrath, relenting to his request forces you back into a role that does not fit with you.
It’s pretty sad.

The One With Antlers is a fantasy mini-piece, where a knight returns to the castle with a Princess (which he probably rescued?) but meets a strange man on the way. Approaching it, they realise the man is more creature, with antlers and hooves: a satyr blocking their path, a dangerous aura defusing from it. There are a few options to go around it, though, none really lead to a happy resolution. A neat darker retelling of the princess rescue trope.

Bluebeard’s Not-Wives is a kinetic retelling of the Bluebeard story, in which you play one of the wives of Bluebeard ahead of the marriage. Except, the prose breaks the original mould about Bluebeard and his wife. Bluebeard is not some tyrannical blood-thirsty husband, but a misunderstood soul dealing with prejudice. And though the wives are never to be seen, you are not fearful of this terminal fate, for living as society demands of you actually feels like death.

The entry does a wonderful job at building the story, bringing the pieces together in such a lovely way, leading to a very touching end. It was very sweet, and though I would read a whole book of this, perfect the way it just is.

Thread unlocked. is a short interactive chat-sim like piece. Following a rough discussion, a (Forum?) thread is unlocked, enabling you to post something. Unknowing of the previous messages, you are given four different choices of words, leading to one of 36 different possible sentences (which you don’t know the content of either).

Ranging from short and sweet (which really makes you wonder what happened in that thread), to pretty antagonistic (which also makes you wonder what kind of arguments we had to deal with), with so few words, the piece does a pretty good job at giving a limited snapshot of what you could see after a Forum argument, when tension has supposedly died down and everyone has moved on. How so little words can really swift the vibe of a thread one way or another. Words that you know will just kill the thread for real, or see another way of doubling down (and maybe some stronger moderation action).

There is something slightly triggering about the first four words on the screen: Thread Unlocked. Slowmode Off. As some sort of slithering anxiety finding its way through your throat and tightening it more and more, as the worry, of people barging in back in and restart the argument that required the thread to be locked in the first place, just… bursts (these threads are emotionally draining).

I don’t think I’ll be able to look at another locked thread and not be reminded of this piece. Also a good reminder to pick your words… or just avoid posting? Yeah… sometimes it’s the best way of action.

maybe if i can find the right words. is a short emotional Twine piece about friendship drifting apart, and the induced anxiety of experiencing your friends ghosting you. You flip through snapshots, describing different moments of the feeling friendship, as you wonder what went wrong, and what you could do to fix things. But it’s pretty hard to fix things if the other person doesn’t interact with you.
One small thing, the interface kept flickering in the colour of the page when I clicked, which made reading a bit annoying.

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!

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.

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).

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.

the sword of justice plays a sick bassline is a tiny kinetic piece made in Twine mixing the superhero genre and your regular teen slice-of-life. You are a teenage superhero on a job, when you realise you’re going to be late for a gig! What’s a teen to do?!
The tone is pretty zany, and really what you’d expect from a teenager story. Different priorities, hard rolling of the eyes, jabs at everyone. It’s stilly, but fun.

After the Janazah is a beautiful short interactive piece, where you follow the protagonist going to the funeral of their baba, and converses with another woman, dressed in a bright red, as the body is put to rest (I am not sure what relationship they have, but they seem to be related in some fashion). They exchanges words about the deceased and memories of them (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and their families interferences. The simple and short writing is effective, but it is enhanced by the melancholic background and use of pixel art. Very touching.

Conductor’s Gambit is a short game of luck created in Twine, where you play as a prisoner of the threatening conductor. Though he intents on murdering you, he gives you one way out: play his little card game. If you win, he’ll set you free. If not…

The game is one of chance only: you draw a card, and if it is higher than the conductor’s you win a point, if it’s lower, you lose one. Reach 6 points (or go down to 0) and the game ends. It’s a bit like a Russian Roulette, if you didn’t die from the bullet right away. Since you are at the mercy of Lady Luck, there isn’t much for you to do. But the game does a pretty good job at keeping tension. And the winning end made me chuckle.

To Study a Butterfly is a surreal short interactive piece involving time distortions, where you experience this phenomenon at three different period in your life. Without getting too spoilery, it was interesting how everything related to each other, going almost cyclical. It reminded me of those time-traveller movies, where they go back in time, both by mistake and not really. Neat formatting of the text too!

Space Wizards Rendezvous 1.5: Music Lesson is a short magical moment made in Ink between Daffodil and Castillo, doing some little space magic, on a chill evening night. Either focusing on discarded seeds or the magically-infused instrument, Daffodil tests out some silly spells, leading to one of four endings. It’s silly, it’s fun, and quite lovely! More silly space magic please!

my third eye opened today is a short kinetic visual novel, where the narrator experiences a spiritual connection with their self during a dream. Through “opening their third eye”, they swift through their feelings, their struggles, in hopes for peace and acceptance. Their Self is the same but also different: happy and sure of themselves, with their hair unbounded and free. Along with lineart illustration and soft background music, the piece brings a very soothing experience.

A changing greenhouse is a relaxing mini-experience made in a custom format in Twine. Enjoying a stroll through a greenhouse, you can notice its ever-changing aspects, or simply reflect on memories or feeling, spend some time caring for its plants or have a lay down looking out the window. With a soft and calming background music and delightful cute illustration, this little game brings a cozy atmosphere. Extremely cute!

i really want that is a kinetic short poem about desires, especially the ones pushed aside for later. The text takes on both an absurd and philosophical approach to the question, as it wonders what happens to unfulfilled dreams. It made me wonder if going through the question was actually worth the effort, as your cursor runs after an exclamation mark (like a quest point), who is always running away every time you approach. Rather than running after the unreachable…

Tectonic is a short Twine piece, inspired by the myth of Persephone. While stuck in the underworld, you (as the goddess) reflect on your situation, with Hades being distant or seemingly interested in you, and you struggling with the reaction of your mother as the “deal” was made. Whichever ending will depend on whether you concede to your new role as the Queen of the Underworld, whether your anger is greater than your love. Whichever choice you make however, never brings back what was taken from you.

turn the lights off is the final part of the trilogy, wrapping up the story some times after the sequel, where the protagonist met someone new, but struggles with the differences in relationships. Comparing this one to the abusive one they left, they show how opposite these two men are towards them, in the way they interact with their body, respect their boundaries, and care for them.

While it is lovely to see the protagonist get their happy ending, or more like starting their path towards it, the entry still continues its depiction of how complex living the consequences of abuse is, and how it can still linger, frustratingly reverting you to old bad habits instead of going through the difficult work of accepting the past and healing from it.

Yet again, the minimalist aspect of the game, with one single dithered background, a looping muted track, and few words on the screen, hits all the more stronger. As a single entry, it is great. But as a whole, the series is fantastic.

Shrouded is the last snippet of a larger project, in which you interact with Joel, a religious man, praying by himself in a pristine church. Trying to find peace and solace, you interrupt his prayers, and he returns the favour by sharing his appreciation for the exercise. You get hints of his relationship with the other men of the cloth and his struggles in maintaining his circles separate (between his family and The Family?). Like inside a church, the atmosphere is solemn, both cold and comforting, warm and inviting.

(limited time offer) is a short Twine piece set on a faraway planet where you play as Theo, a drunk and dying woman, in front of Lisa’s door, your physician/crush, about to tell her the truth. Realising you have little time left, you take a leap of faith and blurt it all out. It is a short scene, muddled with many feelings, messy circumstances and inebriation. The choice given was a bit funny, with that second of clarity through the vapours of alcohol. I wished it had been longer. 500 words feels too short…

sweet shop is a short Twine piece about sweets, and accepting yourself. Feeling like having some sweet thing in your life, you go to a sweet shop, a place you find comforting and soothing. Seeing your favourite candy there, you give in and splurge a little… only to beat yourself up for it, falling into a cycle of despair where one negative feeling brings on another one (specifically of the trans experience). Until… something snaps. And you find some peace. Like the described candy, it’s very sweet.

It can’t be true it mustn’t be true is the third act of the RGB trilogy, recontextualising the events of the second act. Here, you embody another different person, in the bedroom of the man from the previous act, as you attempt to quietly leave his bedroom while he’s showering, following a warning text from a friend. Again, it switches up gameplay, going for the escape room puzzle. There are multiple ways to trigger the ending, though whether you are successful…

It didn’t click right away that this sequence wasn’t really following the previous one, though, as a whole, it made sense for it to happen now, making the events of the previous act even bleaker and somewhat more satisfying than at first play. And again, the game plays with your senses of agency and influence over the story (is this why the puzzles are relatively easy?). You get so entranced in trying to complete the game that it makes you forget about the inevitable end…

I don’t want it to end just yet… ;-;