Reviews by manonamora

return to home is a short walking simulator, doing exactly what it says in the title. The road back home is blocked, forcing you to leave your car and finish the "journey" by foot. Along the path, going up and down a hill, you're given the option to sidestep and visit a grove, or go up a knoll and check out the view. There are also 4 objects you can find and pick up (just for fun, they are not used anywhere). And when you finally get home, you can enjoy a well-deserved rest.

Though the piece is short, and parse in its implementation (trying to X whatever noun in the description won't give you much), it knows exactly what it's about and doesn't pretend to be more than that: an atmospheric little walk back home. Its strength lies in fulfilling the expectations formed by its synopsis, no more, no less. Though, part of me did wish you could examine a bit more your surrounding, as the game does nudge you to take little detours and take your time. I don't know, maybe sit on the knoll and take the landscape all in, or interact with the items you find in some way... But that's out of the scope of a romp creation.

It's an atmospheric tiny piece, that reminds you to enjoy the journey, and the little things you find along the way.

The Butterfly Dreams is a sci-fi game introducing the next big gaming tech: a virtual reality machine that brings the whole of *you* inside the game. No more clonky accessories or heavy headsets that give you nausea, just stick some patches to your head, and off you are to Dream Land. And while this invention, appropriately named *Fantasia*, is not yet available to the masses, you along with six other brilliant individuals from various fields are one of the lucky few to not just test it, but create.

You are introduced to each individual, through a short conversation (where you discover your name, Tom/Thomas), about who they are, their personality, their view on *Fantasia*, and what they might end up creating during this workshop. Through forced proximity, relationship blossoms and thoughts turn into concrete ideas. Or so your inner thoughts tell you, as the story doesn't linger enough for you [the player] to experience it yourself.

Still, the story must continue, and you "play" through everyone's creations, each relating pretty closely to their respective identity: the chef creates a virtual restaurant to test out ideas, the children's author bring her characters to life, and the gamer revive old forgotten games.
Of course, nothing goes without a hitch, with one of the characters essentially breaking the machine (hinted at, but it didn't marinate enough to punch...). But things are swiftly swiped under the rug - there are still creations to test after all, including yours!

And this is when the "twist" appears. I use quotes here, because it really came out of the left field. This whole time *you* were playing everyone - with your identity and background never revealed, you could have been anyone, it just so happen you're a conman for some reason. The complete change of tone between your thoughts and the confrontation feels to disjointed, I kept wondering if I'd missed a whole section.
During my first playthrough, I didn't see *any* reason for Tom to be inculpated with some crime - you are so bland and boring, and no one ever ask *you* any question about yourself. So I went and checked out the other options of the few choices (only because others mentioned hints in comments), and still, the vibe felt the same. Maybe *once?* there was a whiff of you having some sort of plan? idea? but you could easily chalk it off as "well, he's just thinking of what to create for Fantasia".
The only thing I can think of is Layna being curt and distant towards you. But that's not enough to make a mystery interesting.

It's a shame, really, because simulations concepts, dream within a dream, and dystopian/cyberpunk-y takes on technologies are really fun, and you can make compelling critiques of society through those. Even conspiracies of nefarious agents using technology for evil is a tried and true trope. But you're not given enough time to explore the setting here (exploring a whole mansion and being caught touching something you really shouldn't be touching, or finding someone doing just that), to interact with the characters and learn more about them (maybe even pit them against one another?) , to have them interact with you so you learn more about yourself (*oh, why are you here, Tom? why are you special?*). And in general, give time for the mystery to settle.

Lewd Mod: Noir is "noir" spin-off to the pornographic series Lewd Mod, where you play as a new analyst in a spy agency called the *Red Hats*, which combs through sexy pictures for "reasons". Your arrival also marks the start of an internal investigation, as you learn there is a mole in the agency, selling out its members' information. Your two points of contact, Agent Scarlett and Agent Cyanne, have different motivations on how to deal with the situation. And you can side with one or the other.

Along with the usual phone chatting from this author, the game introduce another game mechanic to add a bit more interactivity: "analysing" the pictures and indicate whether a Red Hat agent has been photographed or not. Very simple, very basic, and as the days go one, pretty sexy. And if you make a mistake? the game makes you check the series of picture again.

There is also a Noir Mode, which adds a greyscale filter to most of the game, particularly the picture you swift through, which honestly adds an air of mystery (and sexiness, in a vintage way). And to the atmosphere of the spy setting.

Story-wise, you have your run-of-the-mill spy story: there's a mole weaving chaos into an agency, putting all the spies in some sort of danger, and *YOU* get the figure out what happens... *eventually*. You know, after you get to flirt with a woman or two. And there's your very flirty and approachable "love" interest (usually blond), and the stern and sulry one (usually brunette). Shenanigans may ensue.

Now, there is some charm to the game. At first at least. The game sort of nudge you to play as some sort of himbo to get Agent Scarlett frustrated with you (and you get some funny back and forth), as a way to give some exposition and explain the main mechanic of the game. It definitely got some chuckles out of me.

But then... It kinda fell off. I can't pin-point the exact moment when it went sideways for me. The vibe of the setting just shifted and turned sour. I think starting by the end of Agent Scarlett's backstory, where she essentially slutshame other agents for their bigger chests (making her insecure about her own B-C cup herself), it sort of became... *disappointing*. And the cheating, again...
Up until then, there was some tension between Agents Scarlett and Cyanne -- a sort of frenemies with sexy undertone, the kind you keep hoping they will kiss at the end of the story, because they realise how attracted to each other they are.

But then *this* happened, and it threw the vibes all the way off. And there is nothing wrong with conflict, heck, this is what makes stories interesting. But the pitting the women against each other, with a good dash of misogyny and bodyshaming, almost fighting for *you*, the lowly newbie analyst, cooled me off completely. In an agency that uses sex appeal as their modus operandi, how is there space for... *this*!
You'd think they would just treat it as the job, their body as a weapon, their actions the same you would filling a boring file in an office job. Instead, we get women hating each other's bodies, some slutshaming and accusations... What a bummer... And it takes away from the whole sexy vibe too.

The end of the demo happens after the major choice of helping Agent Scarlett, while she's targetted by a conspiracy, or selling her out to get into the good graces of Agent Cyanne, the boss. Follows a little conversation with whomever you sided, and a strip-tease of some sort. If only the women weren't bashing each other during that conversation... It would seem less sad.

The consequence of this choice, I assume, continue into the next chapters (but I stopped where the demo ends). Part of me sort of hope the Agents actually realise their feeling for each other, ditch you, and drive into the sunset for their cool-lesbian-on-the-road ending. But I'd probably bet on your regular spy story of their both got betrayed by a third person (let's call her... *Agent Yarrow*, and it's the super boss) and team up to take her down (but then don't apologise to each other, and make you choose again who should take the boss' seat). That or the one you pick is actually the mole and you got to "save" the other one. Or they are *both* the mole.
With how the demo ended, I wasn't tempted to find out. I'll just stick with my fanfic of the two Agents making out on a beach. :shrugging:

TW: mention of eating disorder

*Office Temptation* is a demo for the larger pornographic game *Lewd Mod*, where you "converse" with Maddy, a train-wreck of a coworker in your office. She is trying *really hard* to flirt with you, teasing you with snapshots and hinting at a sexy surprise at the end of the day. And she won't stop talking to you, whether you accept those advances or not (well, you can't *really* say no, it just translates as playing hard to get). The only big difference is whether you get the sexy surprise at the end or not (and *even then*, it's a tease).

This was... *weird*. There's no way around it but *weird*. I tried to play as the reticent co-worker first, that just wants to get through the day, see if Maddy would leave me alone (she doesn't, and the game kinda shoehorns you into giving in), and the one who's all into the whole thing. And both times, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Sure, it's porn. But gosh darn, I have standards!

First of all, you have doughnuts and you don't even make a porn joke with it? Stack em or lick em, there are so many ways of using the treat smartly and smutly. But no, Maddie just doesn't know how to eat them and ends up with jelly on her chest. Which.... *WHY?* Why the doughnut?? when you have the phallic *éclairs* right there, or the booby *religieuse* or *profiteroles* or *choux* right there! If the MC is not gendered, the *religieuse* work even better, in the game's context too (with the AC and Maddy)! Such missed opportunities.

Second of all, Maddy has a boyfriend. She's actively cheating on her boyfriend by essentially sexting you at work (and then at home if you took the right path). What's sexy about cheating? How are we supposed to be ok with being the affair partner? Why can't I call Maddy out on her actions??? As soon as she mentioned a boyfriend, I was out of it completely. I was ready to call HR and report her. Which you can't, because the game is hell bent on responding positively about Maddy's advances.

Most egregious of all, and that's not even touching the whole office affair, which its whole canworm, the way the game deals with Maddy's relationship with food is just... *questionable at best*. Maddy refers to herself as disgusting if she eats the doughnuts during the day, that she ate a whole box of cookies the day before and it made her feel bad, that her boyfriend essentially fatshames her when sending him sexy pics... and *she urges you to fatshame her so she won't eat the doughnuts she obviously want to eat*. In the year of our Lord 2025... why are we still doing this? This is not sexy to restrict someone to *not* eat something, especially you can pick the options of *calling her a GREEDY PIG*. Even as some sort of degradation/feeding fetish I don't buy it. It only reads as a woman who has some sort of eating disorder and not dealing with it (and *you can make it worse to get sexy pics* yay! /s).

Smut can be fun, smut can be flirty and cheeky, smut can titillate with neat graphics. This... was just uncomfortable throughout. I kept wishing for a *Report to HR* button so I could stop the game early. But, in retrospect, this would have been like monkey paw's request: instead of HR, I'd have *Horny Resources* on the line, and end up in a whole new layer of corporate hell.

The Deluge is an emotional exploration of your recently-flooded hometown. Trying to gather supplies to safely leave the town, you can (re)visit some major spots, reflect on the years behind you and the relationships that were, and give yourself one last chance to say goodbye. Leaving is inevitable -- you always had plans to do so, voiced so far back that people you meet are surprised you're still lingering around. But this time, it's for real. It only took you a literal deluge for you to move forward.

It took me a while to figure out the underlying mechanic of the game, and the steps needed to complete story in the way it's meant to me -- like the protagonist at first, I erred around, not knowing how to accomplish my goal, visiting spots without being able to connect with them properly, believing once was enough. My feet would take me times and times again into the northern road, thinking this was the only way out of town.

I only have myself to blame, for the game clearly points out multiple times you should come back to this place later, or that you shouldn't forget to get a specific thing, or that you still have unfinished business. I thought one goodbye was enough, even if the ghosts of the past still lingered, even if I didn't deal with my feelings. That what mattered was to turn the page and close the chapter regardless. Life is full of badly closed doors anyway. Because... the town is flooding, why the heck would I put myself in harms way???

Well... turns out, you have all the time in the world to mend your broken heart, to untwist your torn feelings, to iron out the crumbled pages of your past. You shouldn't linger and forget to *actually* leave town at some point, but you won't find yourself washed away by the water either (just by your own thoughts). I got there eventually, patiently combing through each location in town, and taking the time to internalise what was going on (be patient! or you'll miss something too!).

Loss is prevalent throughout the game. Obviously, the town, ravaged by the floods. Your apartment by proxy, the sanctuary you're leaving behind. The people who left before you, leaving *you* behind, something you both grieve and envy. The people still there but changed, with unrecognisable relationships. And inside your own heart, the loss you never dealt with, keeping you from moving on.

All this to say, it paints quite the melancholic atmosphere. Taking the time to process and accept loss before moving on makes all the difference. Will you drown in your sadness or bittersweetly float above it?

The Sword of Voldiir is a D&D inspired text adventure made in Twine, where you play as a mercenary with the task of recovering the eponymous sword for riches and reputation. Like in true D&D fashion, your quest is not without trials and tribulations: what seems to be a quick and easy task turns into an ambush that almost leaves you in your breaches, and a series of fights to recover what was stolen. And this is where the demo ends (about halfway through the story, looking at the word count - which is also where I stopped).

The D&D influences are obvious in this one, from how you create your character, to the turn-based combat, and the general flow of the story (aka get together, agree on a plan, try to execute it, something goes wrong, and repeat until you succeed). Though it streamlines the more obtuse rules of the game: you don't need to worry about your walking abilities, or spell slots. Which is awesome, because D&D combat can be pretty tedious.
However, it might be a bit too simplistic: at the start of a fight, you only pick your weapon and hope for the best. Even though the fight itself is turn-based, and you see the health bar tick away as you hit your enemies, you can't change your weapon or develop a strategy between turn. I think it's a bit of a shame, because variety in actions make combat fun! Even if you end up only smashing your sword, the option to have a choice is what makes it interesting.

Story-wise, it also felt a bit rushed at times, especially outside of the "beat" moments (going from one scene to the next). I think it makes sense when playing a campaign when playing with other people because scenes can drag on and on and on, and you don't want to linger on the side of the road when the big baddie still need to be defeated (and we're already 5 sessions in and nothing of note has happened). But in this context, I think it removed a bit of the charm of the adventure.
What about an encounter on your way to the city after being robbed for a meal and a listening ear? Maybe even letting you borrow their rusty sword because the forest you need to cross can be treacherous (and BAM tiny combat)?
Or between Act II and Act III, during the week before getting the sword back, why not getting your affairs in order, maybe buying equipment or scouting the building? Similarly to getting information around the city when tracking the woman who robbed you.

While it wasn't really my cup of tea, I can see some solid bones inside. I think it needs a bit more muscles on it, like adding more player agency (in the combat, during the story), so the player isn't just strung along, but an active participant of the story, or fleshing out some "down" moments, to make the combat/action/exploration more energetic (like the meal scene in the inn). Dare I say... maybe a puzzle?

Just a final point for dark mode users, the palette is not super accessible.

Habeas Corpus is a short interactive surreal exploration through an abandoned wandering fortress. You awaken in its centre, only sure that you were meant to be in this space - even if you are not quite sure where you are, or even who you are anymore. In this unfamiliar and perpetually moving construction, you are prompted to look around the 5 different available rooms and its contents. Rummaging through those, you may find objects which can unlock further interactions. Depending on your actions, you may end up with one of two endings.

The highlight of this game is its atmosphere: a mystery shrouded in its incomplete description and minimal exposition, continued through an exploration that reveals little still. You won’t solve the mystery, but might manage to fit some of its pieces together - though you’ll still be left with more questions than answers. I kept wondering what we had done to end up here.

Relating back to the title, Habeas Corpus, I imagined the building your find yourself within to be some sort of dystopian machinery imprisoning its residents. You seem certain of your place in this environment, but who says whether you came here with your own volition or you were brought here against your will. If only you remembered things clearly…

I think the styling of the interface influenced this sci-fi dystopian read on the story, with its pixelated font, the shaky cycling text, and the old school 3D buttons. It made me think of computer interfaced you’d find in sci-fi movies like Aliens or The Matrix.

Overall, this was an interesting game to play, if just for the exploration and the atmosphere.

Le Manoir Abandonné is a multi-episode escape game based on the LucasArt game Maniac Mansion, imitating with its images the point-n-click feel. This review continues on the one in the first part.

In the first part, you found yourself stuck inside a manor, and was able to explore the "front" part of the building, with a hallway and a few rooms. During that time, you gets bits and pieces of the former owner of the manor, with hints of a tragic event. This game continues where the previous part left off ((un?)surprisingly you are locked inside this new part), and allows you throughout the game to piece out what happened.

Spoiler for the mystery: (Spoiler - click to show)A brilliant surgeon/doctor loses his wife in a tragic accident. Ridden with grief, he gets in his head that he must find a way to revive her. After many trials and errors, he unearth the body of another young woman who recently died, resembling his wife in some ways, and manages to fulfil his wish... for a few minutes. The revived wife soon turns on her husband and kills him. Still her ghost remains.

This part continues in the same vein as the previous on, in that it is choke-full of puzzles, and different variety at that (as much as a choice-based format allows you). There are many more ways of succumbing to your wrong choices, but the game sends you right back to your previous action (unless this is the last escape bit, when you run out of time, but I'm sure that is a bug). Out of the puzzles included, I liked the putting the torn paper back together, the books in the library, and the unlocking the doors without a key, the most.

Unlike the first part, this game has fewer hints for some of its most important puzzles, forcing you to interact with all of its elements, even if it means dying in the process. It is at times tedious, having to go back and forth between the many rooms because you needed to examine an item multiple times in a row even if it told you there was nothing in the drawer, or finding a key in one section for a door on the opposite side. The frustrating aspect of the game feels very much similar to the old point-n-click games.
It does, however, include a video walkthrough on Youtube.

The horror aspect in this game is cranked up higher, as you start in a hallway with bloody arrows on the many doors and on walls, meet some spectres, have strange visions, and get a few more jump-scares. The ambient sound and sound effects does add to the creepy ambiance.

As for the prose, it follows the tone of the previous part, with its humour and wittiness, playing again on the tropes of the horror genre.

This was a good game and I enjoyed it quite a bit!

Le Manoir Abandonné is a multi-episode escape game based on the LucasArt game Maniac Mansion, imitating with its images the point-n-click feel. This review will only account for the 1st part.

Starting the game with a prologue, the prose plays on horror tropes with the sudden breakdown of your car and that manor looming in the distance as your only place to find potential help, taking a witty approach to those. Once inside the manor (you really have no choice, no matter the other options), the doors shockingly close behind you, leaving you stuck inside the building. Starts then the escape-game portion.

In this first part, you get to interact with the "front" part of the house: a large and luxurious hall and a handful connected but locked doors. Some of the rooms are quite freaky, down to the more obvious horror elements (like blood on the wall).

The game allows you to explore this section of the manor, examine items lying around, and manipulate them through a list of options. There are a handful of puzzles, which are fairly well hinted, even with the curveballs it tries to throw at you. The thing that took the longest was trying out the different keys on the different doors (lots of back and forth).

While I got to the end of the section, which is fairly abrupt, there was still one locked door that stayed locked, even after solving the main puzzle.

Looking forward to play the second section!

La fugue d'un homme-poulpe is a small fantastical Moiki adventure, in which you incarnate an octopus-man stuck on a pirate ship. Though your fate is more alluring than being enclosed in a zoo, you yearn for freedom. With your trusty herring spoon and oyster fork, you will face some trials before you can reach your goal or... chose the wrong answer and end up back where you started. There are 20 endings to find, most resulting in your bad choices.

While short, the prose is witty, veering at time on the sarcasm. The companions allow for a branching of choices down the line, which is neat. The game includes some illustrations, whose different styles don't always match well together, and sounds, which do add to the ambiance of the story.

Nice for an entertaining short break.

Le Grimoire de Saphir : Prologue is a short Moiki game, which, as the title indicates, is the prologue of a much larger fantasy epic. Leaving your home, you are in search for quests and adventure - hopefully, glory and riches would come to follow.

After a rude maritime crossing, you arrive in the town of Sirfang, which you can explore or try to find and employer. Thanks to a handful of coins, you can visit a few spots in town, like its library, a smithy, or a bazzar. The latter option will give you a quest: find the titular grimoire so the great wizard Saphir can be dealt with. Unfortunately for you, this quest will also land you into some political intrigue, as multiple parties have different goals with the grimoire.

It will be up to you to locate the book and decide the best path for its use... in the next episodes!

So far, the series seems rich in worldbuilding, which you get a taste of, and a nice amuse-bouche. I'm looking forward to see how it will continue.

The Lacquer Screen is a short horror game made in Twine. Your neighbour, for whom you've been remastering the eponymous series for some quick cash, just passed away... leaving you a short window to snoop around his apartment and go through his memorabilia.

Though fairly short, the atmosphere is quite interesting, balancing between the mundanity of a life as a recluse and more surreal/horror-y aspect of your subconscious playing tricks with you. The prose is pretty evocative at times, especially in the descriptions of the past.

Exploring the apartment felt somewhat sacrilegious, considering the setting, even if the PC indicates no one would bother going through his neighbour's things. Paradoxically, I wish there were more to explore, both about the show itself, the man that lived in that apartment, and yourself. There are traces of this being the author's plan, as the computer (with a neat little puzzle) includes files that would explain things... if they were clickable.

Par une nuit d'Halloween is a short Moiki Halloween adventure, meant to be read out-loud for children (according to the comments on the Moiki website). In this game you play as a child during Halloween, going around the neighbourhood to pick up some candies. Between the spooky house and the grand manor, the game subvert expectations in what you encounter in these locations.

The concise prose is simple and light, perfect to be played with children. It was sweet.

Four Mates is an interactive game made in Moiki, in 48h for the Global Game Jam, where you play as a queen ant whose subjects are not quite happy with her. Humouring their discontent, the queen must find ways to increase their happiness, without making a fool of the kingdom or loose all the money in the treasury.

The game is incredibly delightful, both in the prose and the interface. The former is full of puns (on names, organisations, and locations), some memes, and absurd jokes. I found the dig at La CAF to be hilarious. There are a lot of silly choices you can make throughout the game (like make the country drunk or have a military parade worthy of Monty Python.

The game includes a bunch of endings, and quite a large amount of variation. Depending on your choices, you could be done in a few minutes, or spend a good half-hour sorting out your advisers' ideas. I managed to max out the happiness meter, getting my subjects to essentially worship me!

An important part of the game is the design of the page, with its many illustrations. Like the variation passages, these added a lot of flavour to the game: from "photoshop-ing" famous masterpieces to silly little children drawings made in Paint, or the many depictions of the scene... all fit so well with the game, and made things at time even funnier.

Very funny!

Le Grenier is a short puzzle game made in Moiki, where you explore the attic of your childhood home. Among the forgotten comics and old games, you stumble one a locked box, tied to which is a note from your mother that starts a small treasure hunt. Going through the different old boxes and furniture pieces, you must solve a little enigma to find the code, and open the locked trunk.
It was cute, and the prose felt sentimental. I struggled with the code, starting with the wrong end of the hint...

Solitary Stars is a hyperlink exploration game written in Inform, set in an alternative earth, in a capital of an unnamed country after a succession of Wars (potentially WWII?). You receive a letter from a former mentor, inviting you to see his incredibly discovery that will change the world. The letter, and travelling back to the capital that shaped the trajectory of your life, forces you to reminisce on the past, bringing up difficult and painful memories.

Through its extensive and flowery prose, the game describes quite the dark setting. Between the memories of a distant past, filled with conflicts, a rise of an authoritarian power, and your own personal struggles (choice-dependent), you find during the little walk around the Observatory a somewhat dystopian society. The city is filled with scars from the war, with buildings left in shambles, flyers mandating orders from the populace or face the consequences, militia roaming the streets. But also consequences of the wars, with immigrants fleeing further conflicts flooding the region, past acquaintances avoiding you, etc...

The outlook of life and society through this lens is both depressing and melancholic (enhanced by the choice of background), with bitterness towards the old mentor, as he has thrived while you (and the rest of the Group) clearly have not. And the revelation of his discovery does not bring solace to the MC - aside, maybe from spending time with an old friend.

I think I found the exploration of the city/neighbourhood with the reflection of the past from the MC more interesting than this final revelation. Seeing how the city changed since the last time the MC walked its streets, as well as how little it did in other regards, is a familiar feeling - like going back home or to a place you spent an important part of your life.

the mountain is as it always was is a short kinetic piece made in bitsy, as a reflection of memories, loss, and what it means to be alive.

With its minimal 3-bit palette and concise prose, this tiny piece follows a little sprite struggling to find meaning in their life with a job that doesn't inspire them and struggling with their finances. Their thoughts (and feet) keep bringing them back to Nature, with its calming and unchanging state. Away from the drowning surroundings of the city, the sprite get to take a moment and meditate on their life.

Through the reflections of relationships and heartbreaks, loss of trusted parents, or their ever-lasting fears, the short piece is very touching and resonated deeply with me. The return to nature to find-oneself might be a trope, but the calming factor of being away from everything, disconnecting with our complicated lives, and just be there, present, surrounded with things that were here before us and will probably be here when we are long gone...

It made me quite emotional.

She Rises is a short fantasy adventure, looking more like a prototype than a fledged out story. Set in an unnamed fantasy kingdom, you play as Princess Arcadia, who just learned of her father's death and the loss of an important artefact. To ensure the safety of the kingdom, you must find said artefact and bring it home.

The setting is a bit silly, with (Spoiler - click to show)a diamond fork being the only thing ensuring the safety of the kingdom, or the fact that no one but her tries to avenge her father's death. This may be due to the formatting of the text, as some sort of script/theatre piece, but a lot is glanced over for the sake of moving the story along. There is little breather for Arcadia to grieve her loss, not much kerfuffle to prepare the journey, or anyone pulling the Queen left and right to handle affairs, as if the kingdom runs just find without the monarch or no one cared much about the passed king... It's a bit strange?

Gameplay wise, you are given two choice blocks: where to get information to retrieve the artefact and which path to follow. It is a bit of a shame, as the latter part of the story has multiple opportunities to include branching and add to Arcadia's growth as a new monarch, like: (Spoiler - click to show)whether to fight or convince the Vikings blocking her from getting the map, continue or retreat on the difficult journey when following the seer's/map's path, avoid fighting the person protecting the slave, talk to the slave who stole the fork... or even stay back at the castle and send a party to retrieve the fork. Even if those choices fail, it would have helped against the feeling of lacking agency, especially during the beats with tension. As is it, you are more strung along than actually leading the search.

Another small thing about the available choices: the game shows the player a binary choice with the potential actions, which is repeated just above the listed action in plain text - options introduced above said line in the actual story. This repetition felt pretty unnecessary...

Interface wise, there was a bit of an issue with the display of new passages. After clicking a link to a new page, the text doesn't scroll back to the top, you have to do it manually. This spoils the story quite a bit...

The Family Records is a short interactive game made in Decker where you find yourself stuck in an empty manor after a snowstorm. Except the manor is not empty as you think, you find out by going through the different rooms.

Unable to leave the manor, Death greets you with a task: help the remaining souls find their way and you too will be free of this place. Along the task, Death gives you a book of rituals and the family record of the residents of this manor. Throughout the manor, you will find said ghosts, remnants of souls that you can talk to, and items, which you will need for the rituals.

In the style of older point-n-click games, in a black-n-white palette, the game lets you explore the manor, search the different rooms, listen to the ambient sound, and talk to the available resident. Find all the souls, gather up the items, and match the rituals to the correct person to set them free.

I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and didn't see the end coming.

Try not to die is a short Twine story mixing English and French through out the story (between and in sentences).

As the title infer, your goal is to survive the day and if you can have some food. You must try not to die because your partner is trying to kill you (Spoiler - click to show)because you refuse to sign the divorce paper, so they can move on. The game offers different ways to fill in your belly, some which will endanger your life, and others which you will refuse to do. Find some edible food and you'll be good.

While the premise and the paths are somewhat entertaining in a silly way, the confusing prose does damper on the enjoyment of the game. The mix of the language (which is not actual franglais) is inconsistent, as some sentences are fully in French or English, some swap languages with each word, some will have bits in one language and the rest with the other... This often creates strange sentences, as the structure is also muddled between the two languages - English and French don't order the words in the same manner or use the same amount of words to say things.
Adding on the many typos (in both languages) and the textism of only some of the words, you end up with bizarre writing.

La constellation des Intracines is a short choice-based game set in an apocalyptic future where humanity is under the threat of extinction. A strange plant from underground has started taking over the ecosystem: drying out the land, rendering the waters acidic... Between the military in its futile fight against the plant and the scientific community in shambles when faced with little solutions, humanity tries to survive as best it can, even with this uncertain future.

Your background as an astronomer helps little with this struggle, and you can choose to despair and accept humanity's fate, turn to the stars for solace with this end, try to find other survivors and fight until your dying breath, or succumb maybe to madness.

The writing does a pretty good job in capturing the horror and gloomy aspect of this apocalyptic future and the unknown of this natural enemy, and the mental breakdown of the PC when faced with the realities of the situation.

La Maison de Mamie is a fairly short parser where you play as Sarah Wolverton-Pelletier, a woman who recently lost her grandmother, going through her house to retrieve some keepsakes before your mother sells it.

Through the exploration of this home, which was yours too for a time, and inspection of the different objects in each room, you remember fragments of your past and people of your life. Through the memories of the individuals that crossed your life, you can piece back the broken puzzle of Sarah's fragmented relationships.

Those memories are quite short, just a handful of sentences at most, and are either linked to examining objects or remembering people. You learn of tensions between mothers and daughters, as they understand their identity and find themselves rejected by the ones they love. The prose goes from bitterness to warmth as you remember things, though most of the text felt quite detached and indifferent to things.

While I wish you could remember more things, like through the different events mentioned, it was interesting to find the different hidden elements to get the background story. (Spoiler - click to show)Your grandmother married your grandfather after the war, a marriage that fell apart when she meets Chantal and realises she prefers women to men. Your grandparents divorce, something that your mother doesn't/can't accept. Your mother first keeps you from seeing your grandmother (now in a relationship), before kicking you out later on (when you realise you are gay too). You find a roof and acceptance with your grandmother. It is really telling, and sad, why the mother wants to sell the house...

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!

Trying to get back home after visiting your cousin, you are met with a few challenges - your trek is blocked by a few obstacles: little insects and giants block your way. Trying to solve the little puzzles are fairly simple (if you remember to climb things around you), and the responses quite silly. Who knew an acorn (Spoiler - click to show)could make a great seat!

The second half of the game is filled with puns and funny names for things around the building. If there is a list of cursed food out there, the menu hanged in the building should definitely be included (so yucky! poor kiddos!).

A short but very sweet little adventure!

I Gave You a Key and You Opened the Darkness is the introductory epitaph of a longer project set to be released episodically throughout 2024, named Los Huesos del Cielo, as an archive of the author's thirties in short form IF.

IGYKYOD is a short piece about returning to your former home, now empty and abandoned, reminiscing on your past, one you are forgetting, and identity.

Only branching out at the end towards one of three endings, the piece uses interactive elements to show that disconnect between what is there, what once was, and how lost you seem to be. Memories get darker as you interact with the text, the state of the house more decrepitated, choices questioned. You're here to find something (thought it's not really made explicit).

There is something quite uneasy about rediscovering a place: one your body remembers clearly but your mind does not (want to?). Surreal in its depiction of how uncomfortable it is at time - almost horror-y at some points.

Looking forward to see the other instalments.

This short kinetic piece is presented as an elegy written by a Dr. Chandra Roy about the Men'nai people - a distant human cousin from deep space. Following a forward about said scientist, the piece goes on to describing the Men'nai, from their biology to their culture.
It does make you wonder how far into the future the setting is supposed to be, and how related we (humans) are with that race (did we go to space and become the Men'nai? did the Men'nai arrive on earth and become us?). The end leaves you with more questions than answers...

It also included image snippets to help illustrate the text - though it was a shame these lovely illustrations were hidden by default.

While the interface reminded me of those sci-fi screens and the content of codex pages you'd find in games, there were a few friction elements with the UI, like the description of the text being cut-off/unreadable.

In this lovely meet-cute moment, Blood and Company follows Zach, a vampire looking for his next meal. He walks into a local bar, currently hosting a student meetup for the local architecture department - one he frequented once - and finds Lyle. The two strikes up a conversation... and may end up with something more.

To say I was gushing as their interactions was an understatement - it as so adorable seeing two ace not only finding each other but also vibing to the same wavelength. Two peas in a pod! When things click so well and the chemistry is flying off the wall, you only need to sit back and enjoy the events unfolding. It is so smooth and so right. Every beat just fit with the others so well - whether you do take the bitey path or not.

I went an played it again and again to try to find all the different endings (still looking for some), but even the more... bummer(?) ones felt satisfying - though none beat the more romantic one.

Such a delightful read!

This was such a different experience from when I do grocery shopping. From arriving just before closing time, to having the option of berating the poor employees, or just choosing items that are definitely not on the list... there are so many way of getting on the wrong track - and, at best, disappointing your wife.
And that's also what makes this game fun: you can be pretty chaotic, to run down the clock or feeling your terrible-manchild fantasy or being an absolute horror of a customer. Who cares about the consequences, just start again!
I did get the best run on the first go, because I can't be mean to service workers or not following lists...

Still... good thing this is just a game. Cause I'd feel bad for the wife of this person.
Entertaining chaos nonetheless.

This binksi game is an text-adventure adaptation of the *Jabberwocky* "poem", with hand-drawn background to represent each location/bit of the story. The text is quite a faithful adaptation to Carroll's whimsical (and slightly dark) style, and I'd even see the illustrations being part of a printed edition. While I managed to beat the monster on the first try (completely at random, because I forgot how the poem went - a poem included in the game, btw), it was fun restarting the game and try other directions, finding other monsters - ones you are not prepared to fight...

I think the synopsis says it all: it is a reformatting of an old short story, accompanied by contemporary pictures and music. This is supposedly meant to enhance the ambiance of the short story. You can go back and forth in the story, which is shown a couple of paragraphs at a time.

Though I do like adaptation of older work into an Interactive format… It didn’t really work for me, especially when portrait-oriented pictures were included (forcing you to scroll up/down the page). I found the contemporary pictures kind of going against the story, not finding the link between the specific picture and the text shown on the screen. I think it might have worked better if the adaptation also included more interactive text…

The context to which the game was first released (the *Worst Game of the Year* Jam) helps understand this pretty strange game. This short minimalist bitsy game introduces a handful of "maze" screens, where you must find the element to interact with (often a "sense") to move to the next screen. It is pretty silly and nonsensical, and if you manage to pass the first screen (I think your cursor is "invisible"?), you'll be in for a wild ride...

In this short Twine adventure, you play as a "fake Star Wars/Trek" fan, excited to see the anticipated new movie. Fan as you are, you even have a whole costume, with accessories, ready for the event. But *oh noooo!*... you didn't manage your time correctly and find yourself unable to get inside the movie theatre. Your goal is to find a way in and see the movie, whatever the cost!

The game provides you with different possible actions, branching into different fail/success scenarios - some funny, some pretty embarrassing. It's clear the PC feels very entitled to a spot in the event, even if it was their own fault they didn't get there - ready to even start a riot, if that is what is needed.

This kinetic (and looping?) entry spans a conversation, between two unnamed/undefined pixel characters, about a vague subject ("it") -- how it was made, what value it has, and whether to end it. The game advanced by clicking on the pixel circle appearing on the screen, rather than through choices or other active participation.

It is a bit strange and quite confusing.
What is this "it"? Are *we* the "it" those those characters talk about?
The snippet is much too short and vague to provide any answer.

The low-res interface is pretty neat tho! with the little animation of the background and the characters.

The game is a short-ish explorative game made in bitsy, reminiscent of point-n-click (except you use your keyboard arrows instead of your mouse), where the goal is to find all treasures of the Dwarf King. There are about 20-30-ish screens that you must go through to find all treasures, some where you will find the wanted objects, others where an element is interactive. This "fetch-quest" relies on your memory of having already explored a certain screen or not.

The game is a bit silly in its premise, with (internet?) trolls having taken treasures and hidden it. And the design of each screen, with it's 3-colour palette, is reminiscent of old school games. But it is made extra tedious by the choice of program, as bitsy relies on pressing arrows to move the cursor around...

Interactive Fiction has an immense potential in making educational topics fun, especially concepts and procedures that feel pretty unapproachable and complex. Gamification and all that!

As much as bill passing can be explained simply (representatives vote on a bill they read, and it can pass - or not), it is clear there is more to the process. With needing to find support, raising funds to change minds, but not taking too long before submitting the bill to a vote... the process includes a lot more stakeholders, each with their own agenda or influence. From the Assembly to the Office of the President, you will need to min/max your way to pass your bill.

An interesting way to get a bit more of an insight into US politics (as a non-US citizen).

As a sidenote: Bill reminded me of Clippy.

This almost kinetic visual novel follows three (vigilante?) fighters inside a bunker plotting against a controlling (otherworldly?) organisation called VIRGIL (Big Brother-vibes). The latter’s control is so spread and wide that the only way to fight it would be to essentially nuke the Earth - or it would regenerate. Away from “real life” to ensure their safety and so their plan wouldn’t get discovered, the three characters uphold different view on how to approach the issue - discussions turning more into arguments with the “weapon” being ready.

While there aren’t meaningful choices, none that really affect the story at least, the story is quite engrossing. The story sets up enough to get an understanding of the conflicts, but stays vague, forcing you to piece things as you get more information. The culminating scene is satisfying even if as a player I barely has anything to do with it - putting an end to the MC’s struggles with their goal and their wavering will.

The visuals, with the limited palette and sprites looking like they were sketched, complements the writing and the scenes, with blinking and shaking elements, and an interesting focus on gazes.

I stiiiiiiilll… wished we could have had one choice at the end, rather having the PC making that choice for us (even if it made sense story wise).

*Door(s)* is a tiny game where you are shown doors on the screen, which you can click open or close, and throw them off the screen. Mess around enough with them and the screen will change, showing a different bit of text. Though it is obviously interactive, there isn't much narrative wise - the text only amounting to a sentence.

I guess the concept is interesting in a philosophical way, in that doors can open and close before us (opportunities/paths), or we can leave them behind (changing direction), but that they can still be there? There is only so much you can extrapolate from just a sentence...

Murder at the Manor is a short pulpy murder-mystery game, where you play as Detective Picton, tasked to solve the an unsolvable case. The game, however, only lets you interrogate the different suspects. The corpse and murder weapon have been sent for testing, and you don't even get to investigate really where the murder took place. You only get information about the case through the suspects' answers (who give very little, throwing blame on one another).

With the murdered chosen at random with every game, the whole mystery relies on a he-said-she-said about each other's alibis - each suspect never changing their location but sometimes changing their stance on whether they saw the other NPCs. After talking to everyone (which you are forced to because the butler is weirdly invested in being part of the investigation), you can accuse someone and the game ends. You are told whether your choice was correct or not in an ending sequence, which, if you were successful, mention how tight your investigation was, with a folder full of evidence (WHERE?).

Because of its length, and the surface-levelness of the investigation, neither the good or the bad ending feel quite satisfying. You accuse someone and thrown forward in time to after the court case, told only of the result. Not knowing why the suspect would murder the major, or even how they could have done it... what was the point of it? Where is the conflict? Why was there a murder in the first place? How could they have done it?

I restarted the game a handful of times, randomly picked a suspect without going through the whole interrogation... and managed to get the correct murderer half the time. I think it would have worked better if you could actually do some investigating, searching for actual clues, maybe get the coroner's report or more information about the weapon, or pressing for motives.

On the interface side, the chosen colours for the links made it pretty hard to read with the dark background. The "Undo" button wasn't working either when you reach the end. There didn't seem to be a "Restart" button either.

In the format of a kinetic visual novel (you have *one* choice that doesn't affect anything), the story follows an almost fusional couple, brought together by a traumatic event. With surprisingly similar principled values (pretty conservative and somewhat condescending views on relationships and intimacy), the couple faces a bump in their relationship when Patty Nicole starts behaving strangely.

Unable to go to certain spots or to talk about what is bothering her, the games makes it obvious what happened to her (CW: (Spoiler - click to show)attempted assault), though it does it with a twist ((Spoiler - click to show) the assault wasn't physical at the end, because she escaped him, but he cursed her by "removing space" with magic???). Honestly, it feels like trying to make some sort of allegory for sexual assault on pure/virginal women, but spoiling it with its implementation of an otherworldly/fantastical element. SA is a very touchy subject, and the game handled it carelessly.

The games lays it on thick on the critique of society, especially the loose morals, individualism, and the focus on money rather than relationships. It comes out as pretty patronising, especially when opposite values are presented to the couple -- if you don't follow their principles you are bad -- and almost childish.

And that's without going into the last third of the game, where the couple deals with the Patty Nicole's issues, which weirdly turns into some sort of anime-like fight, with the big baddy monologue before the "power of love" punch ends it all. It does cheapen the whole thing...

In the format of a kinetic visual novel (there really aren't any choices), the story follows an Harvester - an otherworldly being who 'harvests' human memories - on a case: a young woman wanting to erase the memories of her former lover and the child she gave away.

I... don't know what to take from the game honestly. I can't say what the message of the story was. It seemed to be critical of one-night stands and loose morals - almost condescendingly, with pushing the almost unattainable 'pure love' - while dealing very carelessly with the situation of a child ((Spoiler - click to show)in what world was the child given away without getting the father's approval?? when the father was told about the pregnancy and birth? It seemed to hint the child was some months old?). It was as if the story put itself into a corner with having the child involved into the woman's back story and just... yeeted it away when it became too cumbersome. That was... very uncomfortable.

As for the climax of the game, the story kinda pulls the rug from under you, by having the Harvester (Spoiler - click to show)"seeing the light" and becoming a human because of what he witnessed with that case. I don't really get how *this* was the turning point for them to change this way. It felt a bit cheap?

I did like the introduction of the game, with the exposition of Harvesters and one of the humans who used their services.
I thought it could have been more interesting following *that* person after losing their memories...

I had completely forgotten about this short story until I tried to pick up the cookies. I thought this was going to be a Pick Up the Phone Booth and Die type of game, with multiple possible actions - but the game adapts more faithfully the short story than the title may let on.

The game does encapsulate the story pretty well in a parser format, leaving you with little to do but follow the events of the story (I did try to not pick up a cookie first...). It's pretty concise and very Adam.

I was not prepared to feel that secondhand embarrassment again...

When it comes to time-loops settings and gameplay, Tabitha always delivers. This time taking a more silly approach to the genre, with you playing as a "dumbass time agent" that ends their missions in the stupidest of ways (essentially winging it). The goal here is to get through a guarded door. Simple, right?

WRONG!
Who Thought trying to get through a measly door with just one guard would be so difficult!

With each passage are given a couple of options, each branching into other set of choice, until you either manage to enter the building or reach a dead end. The game also lets you reset the loop from the start. Resetting will sometimes add new options (when you uncover information).
There are 3 ways to properly end the game, with 4 achievements to get.

Each path is pretty silly, tricking the guard by confusing him, or distracting him. There are tons of funny one-liners and hilarious exchanges (I laughed so hard at the (Spoiler - click to show)UNO-Reverse No, I'm your therapist option). The third ending was so stupidly funny!

I had a bit of an issue with how the learned knowledge was displayed on the page (with the oldest bit disappearing from the page), but changing the colours of the links, to display which path had been taken or which led to a dead end, was really helpful when starting a new loop!

Word-play-ish parser my beloathed… (/jk)

Through exploration and mini-puzzles are part of the game, its central mechanic relies on the player trying to find the word for a special command to navigate through the coded world. While the commands [help] and [hint] are not configured, the descriptions/responses of actions or discussions with the NPCs (and incidentally the name of the game) hint at what that word could be.

I needed to restart the game a couple of times, because I kept being stuck in one room that required that command to exit it (and since I hadn't found it then, there was nothing else I could do). The game does advise you to restart and explore a different part of the world if your get stuck as well - so you can get another hint that would get you closer to the end.
[I thankfully got some help from super-parser players, after going through a list of potential word and being super frustrated...]

Even with the frustration of being forced to restart and getting stuck again and again, and trying way too many words, the game is still delightfully funny, especially in the responses from the game!

I should probably preface this review by saying I've never read Hamlet (or Shakespeare's work) outside of lone lines or loose adaptations (I think the Lion King/Dune applies?). And while I know there are murders, betrayals, unrequited feelings, madness and monologues galore, the game does not punish you for not knowing the intricacies of the text. Because the story is set after Hamlet's death... and it is not really about Hamlet either.

E:aH uses Hamlet as a framing device to explore the themes of grief, the fear of and hopelessness about death, and identity (esp. Asian American), when living through a global pandemic. During this period, many of us have experienced grief and hardship, from not being able to meet people, to losing family members, seeing one's health worsen, or being subject to violence from others... And within its 15k+ words, this game creates a snapshot filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Yet, amidst the depressing setting, the prose is parsed with humour, little gems bringing levity to the story.

The story happens in two folds: you working on your assignment, trying to suppress worries about your loved ones and the state of the world, and your hallucinations(?) set in Elsinore, imagining events following the end of the play. Both somewhat mirroring or criticising the other. You struggle to find something meaningful to say about the the text, while Horatio scolds you for downplaying their agency as people. A "plague" starts in Elsinore, which you notice from a servant coughing. you share comforting words to Horatio and compassion for his situation, recalling times of struggles during the "war" against COVID and the violence some were forced to endure because of their ethnicity.

The game feels like a critique of the text, through the added character of Petra challenging the crown while passive Ophelia goes mad, or a critique of some reading of the text, like with the comments about the relationships between Horatio and Hamlet. The critiques are sometimes a bit more blunt, with the player character roasting Hamlet for derailing his father's quest (meeting his demise) or his poor treatment towards other characters (esp. Ophelia).

While the UI strayed very little from the basic Harlowe base, it does utilise the enchantment macros in an interesting manner, often enhancing the player character's feelings, a few even added to the hallucination assumptions (especially when ignoring the first sign). Some of the strangely formatted text will hide the way to advance through the story. I wasn't particularly fan some typed text (a bit too slow) or timed ones (wait a bit too long), and one hidden link was biiit too obtuse to find - but it didn't detract my overall enjoyment of the story.

But as every story, this too must end. So let's finish with the endings. The game has 7 possible endings. Some easier to get than others; some longer than others; some good, some bad, some neither. I reached the shorter ones more easily than the longer ones. Depending on your choices, the story will confirm these hallucinations were just a dream or will let you believe you are still trapped in Elsinore; you may reach a bittersweet end where your heart lightened, or one sharing the same fate as Ophelia. Out of those, I think I preferred the ones where the isekai theme was the more obvious, regardless of how forceful the return to reality is, as it mirrored best the start of the game and felt more like a closing the circle moment.

Please Answer Carefully is a very, very short game. And yet, in a few passages and very few words, it manages to pack a heavy punch. I remember this game being my introduction to litrouke's catalogue, leaving me pretty sick at the end (my review on itch at the time: So creepy. I felt nauseous at the end even. Great game!). It is a great example that you don't need much to make something impactful.

The survey starts pretty tame, with some very boring questions about internet use and communication habits. The UI is very simple and smooth, with fancy poll-like animation (the question cards disappearing when answered). Until...

(Spoiler - click to show)... a glitch appears in question 5, showing a probing personal question that should definitely not be there. It soon disappears, replaced by the expected question card. Further down the survey, you are given an extra option (I'm being watched right now), a strange dummy question asking about forgiveness, and further live-reaction to your answer. Soon, you lose your ability to answer anything else than what the "survey" gives you.

By question 7, it should be clear you are being stalked by someone, to the point they have found a way to break into your device and contact you through a simple survey. No matter how you answer, they are there watching you, trying to get to you.

On its own, PCA is very creepy. But as a woman on the internet having lived adjacent situation, the game truly captured that unsettling (at best) feeling...

It is a very effective psychological horror game.

You play an (older?) gentleman doing some late night groceries after a long day. Most of it is pretty mundane and uninteresting, until you see some fresh gnocchi in the pasta aisle. Your mind can only think of the last time you had those, in Rome. Around you, the shelves block your view to the other aisles, and a brunette woman stands a few meters away, filling her trolley with pots of sauce.

And in this aisle you stop your trolley, waiting on what to do next.

Though I never found more than a few dozens by myself/with the French IF peeps, there are over 136 actions producing an ending in this game. 136! Whether you interact with yourself or your environment, there are a lot more you can explore with this very restrained environment.

Even if the experiment of one-action-the-end is truly amusing and insanely entertaining (who doesn't like a treasure hunt for all 136 endings), it is the writing that shines the most in this piece. The game is humourous, and dark, has bits of lightness, and becomes incredibly sordid, it is sad and genuinely touching... It can say so much with so very little. Truly incredible.

Through the endings, a backstory forms around the PC. Or maybe two or three. He had a wife, went to Rome with her, but something happened (death/illness/something else?), and he was left alone. It is not truly clear what happened to his wife, or the PC's involvement in said disappearance/death, but what is certain is the pain and the guilt the PC still feels after all this time (has it be years, by now?), making him unable to form new connections with people, leaving him truly and completely alone. What stays is his fond memory of that trip to Rome and those gnocchi he ate there...

Pageant follows Qiuyi (Karen) Zhao (mentioned as Karen below), a Chinese teenager living in the US, as she navigates through school and extra-curriculars, relationships and identity, family expectations and community, and the pageant her parents signed up for. Through limited storylets choice, you can carve Karen's priorities and relationships.

Pageant was created with Dendry, a storylet narrative program, where the player get to experience linear side-stories in fragmented way. Every week, the player can pick up to three options from the storylet lists to start or continue a path. As the list is often longer than three options, the player is forced to make choices and prioritise a certain path (a recurring gameplay type in Autumn's games). This makes for great and interesting replayability!

The story start with Karen being summoned by her parents, revealing that they signed her up for a pageant, happening in three months. There is no bargaining no quitting (it's good for college apps!). In three months, Karen will be on that podium*. During that prep period, she still needs to balance school (a full AP curriculum), the Science Olympiad, doing an understudy with a college professor (also set up by your parents), having dinner with your family, going to bible study on the weekend, and etc... Doesn't this sound like too much for a high school student? And was it yet mentioned that Karen is a socially awkward mess, who has trouble making relationships, is full of anxiety and self-loathing, struggling with her identity as a Chinese teenager in the US (her used name not being her birthname, and having the option to butcher your name's pronunciation) and a closeted lesbian (or something like that says the game).
*well, there is a way.

Along the way you are introduced to a handful of characters: Emily, a trans woman still in the closet, Aubrey, a girl Karen had a crush on also part of the Science Olympiad team, and Miri, Karen's only friend. There is also Karen's parents and her little brother, Kevin; Professor Chen and his grad student; the rest of the Science Olympiad Team; and the other families attending the Church. Through out the game (and your choices) you get to learn more about these characters, like how Emily deals with her family's trans/homophobia, or Miri's feelings towards you, your family's history...* The storylets really shine here, giving you crumbles here and there, forcing you to piece those back together (and forces you down a certain path to learn everything).
*Even after playing multiple times, I have yet to found all variations.

And at the centre of it all, Karen, the very flawed teenager. Yet, even with her self-deprecation and anxious spirals, with the awkward way she interacts with other people, with dealing with different cultural values and expectations about her life, or with her inability to stand up to herself (partly because of her guilt of "having it easy" compared to older generations), Karen stays a character you want to root for. You want to help her win that pageant and be more sure of herself. You want her to be more confident in her identity (and get a girlfriend). You want her to find her passions (in science?) and win accolades. You want to pluck her from her stressful world, wrap her in a blanket, kiss her on her forehead, and tell her that everything will be ok.

The whole game is filled with such genuine interactions, with teenagers blurting out their deepest secrets to strangers, declaring their love to one another even after but a few meetings, being self-loathing with a self they don't recognise or don't want to be anymore but unable to leave that shell, trying to handle the stress and anxiety of the expectations of others and not being able to reach those. And those are made all the more vibrant through Karen's inability to react "properly". Faced with bad and worse choices, you get to experience that anxiety of what would happen if I say or do the wrong thing. It feels genuine, because it feels real and lived through.

As the ending came around, and you get the rundown of Karen's actions, it felt like, while winning the pageant is definitely one/the goal, the journey was much sweeter than the destination. And that's what keeps making me want to come back to it...

Great-grandmother and the war is a story within a story, following Lan/Christine Zhang (referred as Lan/Christine below) listening to her great-grandmother (Zhang Xiaoyun, referred as Zhang below) recounting the tale of her meeting Yan as a child, growing up during the Sino-Japanese war, and her survival. It is a mix of hyperlinks and choice-based interactive fiction.

From the start, you are informed the story will have three distinct part, each with the possibility to start from the main screen. Those parts depict different period of Zhang's life throughout the Sino-Japanese conflict, through her retelling to Lan, her great-granddaughter: during the bombing of Tianjin, where Zhang is just a child having to leave everything behind; under the Japanese's rule, during which Zhang lives in a girls' boarding school, having lost contact with her family and struggling with her identity and emotions; and starting from China's liberation at the end of WWII, where snippets of Zhang's adult life is described, as she yearns to find who she considers to be her family.

An interesting parallel to this is that Lan/Christine experiences the retelling of her great-grandmother's life at a similar age Zhang is supposed to be during the story and facing mirroring those events, as Lan is about to move to the Americas as a child, then coming back as a teenagers struggling with her identity (changing her name being a major point), and as an adult reconnecting with her family after many years apart.

An other important character I have yet to mention here is Yan. First finding and following Zhang (or pushing Zhang to overcome her anxiety about the situation), then staying with her at the boarding school where she ends up getting involved with the local revolutionary group (and romantically with Zhang), before leaving Zhang behind in the final part to join the Communists. Yan and Zhang do manage to find each other twice after that (both by chance), with the final meeting reigniting their relationship, until Yan's death.

Another interesting thing with the depiction of these characters is how opposite Zhang and Yan are from one another. While one is very shy and awkward, the other was social and outgoing; one comes from a comfortable bourgeois setting with little thoughts(?) about social order, the other a lowly orphan* with strong communist leanings; one needs to be pushed to move with her life**, while the other kind of takes life by the balls. Like the saying goes, opposites attract...
*well kinda...
**you do have active choices, but her character seemed to be a bit more of a pushover, especially compared with Yan.

From the writing of things, it is clear the story stems from a very personal one (see post-mortem), from the questioning of one's identity and place in the world, the yearning for connection (family/lovers), to one's survival in strange times. There awkwardness in some of the dialogues (aside from Zhang's awkwardness), which I found very touching, and somewhat added to Zhang's struggles with adapting to the changes outside of her home/of the boarding school or of her relationship with Yan (stranger to closer to lovers to cold to strangers to family). It also made the more romantic passages all the stronger.

It took me a while to grasp it, but Zhang mentioning how she sees Yan in her great-granddaughter felt more of a wish than a parallel (at least I wasn't seeing it as clearly as Zhang did): finding a friend in a strange new place and adapt to changes, discovering yourself and be more vocal about your identity, reforming bonds with family.

Additional context about an event, a location or a character is hidden behind hyperlinks, where "present time" Zhang or Lan/Christine will interject/get cleared/ask more question... This also sometimes strengthen the parallel between Zhang and Lan/Christine and the bond they have for one another.

There was quite a bit of abruptness within each part of the game where time/location jumps a bit out of nowhere. It is more forgivable in the first part, as child Zhang might be a bit confused by what is happening around or more by what it means. But in the second and third parts, those abruptness feels like something is missing (as in something had been planned for scrapped up at the end, which was confirmed by the author in the postmortem). Still, one could write it off as the great-grandmother forgetting bits of her history as she gets older (and maybe senile) or repressed memories from that traumatic period in her life (in one bit, the missing explanation through a hyperlink is filled in by an uncle).

The game ends bittersweetly, with a visit to the family memorial, where great-grandmother Yan is now buried. Yet, there is this sort of hopeful future that emanates from it, as sunrays break through the rain-heavy clouds...