Reviews by manonamora
singlechoice
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While this was probably one of the shortest entry of the Single Choice Jam, its subject matter has a special place in my heart (having been part of the Goncharov craze). And, following in those footsteps, the game took its own part of the canon, recreating the setting for the confrontation between Goncharov and Andrej.
To save the most precious thing in his life Goncharov made a deal, one which would involve betraying his friend. You choice here is to either follow through with this plan, or double-cross the dealing party. Which ever option you choose, the scene ends abruptly. But the consequences… they wait for no one.
Though the game is very short, I did enjoy the way the scene was set - in some sort of a Previously in Goncharov serialised way. It gave the fairly intricate (overall non-canon) story some touch of humour.
This was a treat.
This last-submitted parser for the jam is a bit of an intricate puzzle, requiring the player to read the prompts very carefully to find the solution… or they will be yoinked back to the start. The game is built in one room, where the player can do different action in hopes to reach the end - a sort of Aisle meets escape room, where there is only one true action to solve the puzzle.
And so, you are an investigator (maybe?) stuck in some sort of loop (if you could remember why you are here, it would be greeeaaat), in a subway station, next to a vending machine, surrounded by some critters… and plagued by very strange and prophetic dreams (you really should take note of those).
The twist/explanation of the ending is kind of nonsensical and very trippy, very on point from the rest of the game. It is both confusing and hilarious. I’m glad I played this last.
Remembrance is an emotionally charged entry, which follows the player getting ready to put their mother’s ashes to rest. The trip allowing only limited amount of luggage, you can only choose one keepsake.
The entry deals with the themes of death and grief with delicate words, showing the good the bad and the ugly of going through the things that mattered and the memories linked to them. Though you have a choice, there is no wrong or right options there. All are important pieces of yourself, all matter.
I think I liked the box of recipe the best out of all objects. The connection between your mother and yourself felt the strongest and most emotional - I think I related to it the most. I liked the little nod of Jewish traditions hinted in there too, and the want to continue those traditions, in a way or another…
It is a powerful piece that left me without many words when the game ended.
In this short game, you are task to find not who but what has been stolen from your client. Following a party where many artists were invited, including a known thief (a sort of Arsène Lupin gender-swap meets art forger), the hosting couple found a note from said thief, a momento left behind to replace what had been taken.
But nothing looks out of place…
This was a cute moment, with some humourous jokes, and - like the author admits - feels at time a bit incomplete/rushed. I wouldn’t say no to a longer version of this game, maybe in an episodic form with different cases, and showing a bit more the investigators’ relationship.
This entry is the last Visual Novel submitted to the Single Choice Jam, and quite a visual polished one at that. Starting with a short game trailer, you are introduced to two friends excited by the re-print of cards they used to have when they were kids. Especially the very rare print of the Blade of the Overlord, a highly stylised card in an alien-like font.
In three act, the game encapsulates the nostalgia around card games like Magic the Gathering or Pokemon, and all the shenanigans around it - the special editions, misprints, the weird rules on the cards, the seedy players, the hours spent around the table opening packs and playing them, or the rich collectors who will spend thousands on the rare stuff (that was a fun nod at current event, with Post Malone buying an MGT card for $2mil).
I liked the different approach the characters have towards the game, with the one who buys into the hype and would spend all their money to get the rare cards; the one who is the opposite, only buying to build up a playing deck; and the one who is realistic about their situation, but still misses owning some specific basic cards from their childhood. The arguments set forwards may affect what choice you pick at the end, both being neither good nor bad - just very realistic.
This felt like opening a time capsule and reminiscing about the good and the bad old times…
As the months pass and people seem to move on from the health crisis that changed the lives of millions, the early days of the pandemic seem like a distant mirage of a time. Stuck at home (some of us), away from loved ones, crushed under the uncertainty of recovery… there was a lot do deal with. And this entry manages to capture a raw snippet of those early days, when there was more uncertainty about the virus and how to deal with it than known knowledge.
Set in the Pageant universe as some sort of sequel, we catch up with Karen, who obviously is not handling being cooked up at home well. From her characterisation in the previous installments, this truly feels like the correct continuation of her personality: still depressed, still a mess, still unable to communicate her feelings (or just period).
Unable to sleep, she meets up with Emily, her somewhat-girlfriend-but-maybe-not-really - Karen is always questioning labels when it comes to her relationship with others (case and point: Miri). Even with Emily’s reassurance, Karen does not shy away from falling into unhealthy choices (well, you can’t affect that part of the story). Honestly, she’s a bit of a dick there.
I’ve also noticed how similar Karen and Em are, especially when Em unloaded her worries about relationships in general, the want to both be present around people and disappear without leaving a trace, or struggling with her feelings at time and what they mean. It is interestingly very similar to what is expressed from Karen throughout the text, though Em handles it probably more healthy by actually communicating all of this.
Removing player agency from the game is not new in Autumn’s Games, often used to depict the character’s inability to perform a certain task, whether it be because of external forces (e.g. friend is asleep), physical health (e.g. can’t hug your girlfriend during a pandemic), or mental reasons (i.e. Karen is a mess) - with those reasons often styled in a self-deprecating manner (a Karen’s guarantee).
Half-way through the game, there is an interesting point made about choices. While you only have a small choice at the end, the story refers quite a bit to past actions, and how they affected others. There is a heavy sense of regret from having done some actions or failed to do those, with hindsight and time adding onto those guilty feelings. It feels so… real, and human, and it hurts.
There’s always an age when kids will start pushing boundaries with their parents, objecting to their decision or sneakily do what they are not supposed to. And there are often other nosey adults who will lecture those kids, even if they are not related…
From this generic setting, you must suffer through the dispensed morals of said adult who caught you speed-reading (reading without buying) a magazine. But the ordeal can pass through quickly and without much yelling… if your timing is just right.
See, the old man lecturing you has a lot to say to you, about what’s morally correct, and how should kids behave, shaming you for not behaving properly (you seemed to be just a regular kid). Click too early on the response, and you will be berated for cutting him off; too late*, and the scolding will be about not paying attention. If your timing is just right (there is a visual indicator) and let the man finish his moralistic monologue, he will let you move on with your day.
While this is a fun gameplay, my issue was with the timer. It is way too fast to be able to read anything. Even being able to read pretty fast usually, it was even hard to scan through the text before the timer runs out, and worse still with the latter longer morals. Your eyes just focus on the right moment to click the response, missing the rest. I had to open the source code for this part…
I guess it makes sense, context-wise, to have such short timer. You’re a child, and moralistic monologues are a drag - the preachiness of things, ugh… - you’d rather just uh-huh the adult until they leave. But as a player, it’s not very satisfying…
I will say it outright: this fantasy entry was an absolute delight to play. You are an inexperienced thief breaking in the word possible place one could think of: a witch’s house. But that doesn’t stop you - you will take something from the house before you are found out!
A list of options are presented to you, each leading you to a different ending. I recommend going from bottom to top for the most funny sequence. Each ending is different, some where you will succeed, some where you will absolutely fail, all very funny.
Speaking of the humour, it felt very Terry Pratchett-y to me, from the wittiness to the sarcasm, and even the moral behind it. Every passage has some quirkiness of them, each flowing from one to the next. I enjoyed it a lot!
I went into this entry completely blind (did not read the blurb) and came out holding my side from laughing to hard.
Go play it :P
This entry is a companion piece to "forever, an echo", a short game submitted to the Neo Twiny Jam, a sort of opposite point-of-view to the original piece.
It is an endless fight, an unwinnable fight, one your enemy will always come out victorious. But, you never despair. No matter the version of yourself, no matter your weakened state, you will continue to fight. You will always come back, ready to fight.
Unlike the doomed perspective of the other game, this one screams resistance, and hope. You may not win now, but one day you might. You will never surrender yourself, your soul, your everything to your enemy.
A good opposite to the other piece.
This game is a remake of Crawl Back to Me from the same author, but in a visual novel form. You play as Alastair, a gallant knight who recently lost his wife, Cassandra, in an accident while away. Filled with grief, you would do anything to speak to your wife one last time, hoping it will help you move on. Incidentally, Cassandra left you instructions to help your quest.
The story might be a bit cliché, and the twist a bit too obvious, but it works quite well as a visual novel, with the clunky sprites reminiscent of old RPG dungeon crawlers games with all its campiness. I did enjoy the wide range of endings from the final choice, with the moderately neutral ending probably being my favourite out of all of them.
Orbiting around the largest moon of our solar system, your ship is in a dire situation, and you are no better. Waking up with missing memory, and no way to get it back, you must find what happened to your ship… and how to get out of it before it is too late!
With choice options formatted like parsers, with the trusty > before the text, or even behaving like one, when looking at the actions (examine, move to a different room, interact with…), the game still restrict you in what you can actually do, giving you humourous reasons to why you can’t do a certain action (YOU REALLY DON’T WANT TO KNOW). Until the final show down…
This final part is actually quite interesting in terms of gameplay, giving you the option to a limited NewGame+ after your choice. I highly recommend to play through it all, as it will provide even more context to how you arrived to this situation, why you got there, and maybe even find a way to save yourself.
Some locked actions on that screen only become available if you perform another one before the reboot, giving you multiple multiple opportunities to reach a satisfying end. It was fun to piece the whole backstory together from the little bits and pieces each option provided.
I’ve quite enjoyed my time on the ship but I’ll let the fighting the cultist mecha dragon to another player now…
In a retro black and white UI, Tauvigjuaq send up into a post-nuclear winter future, following a small community of nomads trying to survive the winter, away from the rest of civilisation. Though your life is harsh, it is about to get even harder when the news of the matriarch’s passing reaches the camp. Assured it was foul play, you are tasked to investigate.
The game is fairly short and linear, with the choice being expectedly accusing the potential murderer. But before this penultimate task, you will come across suspicious individuals, wonky alibis, nonsensical accusations, worrying news, and forbidden objects. It is your job to piece the events together correctly.
I’d love to say my suspicions were right, but I just failed completely…
I found the choice options quite interesting. Not because you could accuse yourself, but also because the game delve into the consequences of the accusation for yourself, and most importantly the tribe. Different endings are included in the game, some pretty negatives, some more positive, and some… well…
It was nice to have a button to go back to the final choice without having to go through the whole story again. Especially to check out the other endings. The illustrations and patterned background helped enhance the vibe of the game as well.
Another Round is by far the chunkiest entry of the Single Choice Jam, clocking over 25k words. Set in a fantastical world where demons and humans coexist, you are Maddie, a probably depressed, definitely broken-hearted, lesbian drowning her sorrow at the Haven bar, trying failing to ignore her ex. But, you are also clearly not over her…
The game has an interesting gameplay: stuck with only one choice, it smartly uses a restart mechanism to both let you every aspect of the story and advance it (restarting felt a bit loopy/groundhog-y, I digged it!). Each start felt a bit eerie, as things both stayed the same and were just different enough to realise something was not… quite right. Every round culminates to THE choice. And it hits every. single. time.
I thought the story discussed a particularly interesting topic throughout the game: relationships, the labels of those relationships, and the expectations around them. Can we really think of relationships are purely transactional when removing all the mushy feelings that come with it? Should we try to change ourselves to fit the mold set by the other, even if it hurts us? Should we have expectations from the other and how to communicate them? How much of yourself do you lose in a relationship? How much of yourself should your refuse to give up?
There is honestly a nice and believable progression during the game, of the character realising how wrong things actually were, how mistaken her actions were and how hurtful they made her then-other half. It is not just communicated through dialogue between the player and her ex or her friend, but also through her snarky thoughts, disassociating daydreaming. Bits and pieces are dripped on the page, slowly painting a truthful picture of reality.
I particularly enjoyed the earnestness of Maddie, in wanting to ensure the safety of her ex. Though her action are more than flawed, disregarding almost the agency of the other woman, you can’t help but root for her. Maybe not to rekindle the relationship, but save her friend. The different path of actions taken between rounds and their sequences were particularly satisfying.
This was a pretty well rounded game all and all!
While one the short side, this parser is still much longer than its title promises. Set somewhat like an escape room, you must find three words to complete the simulation and escape a doorless room. Easy, right? Well… no. You can only do one action before the simulation ends and you need to reboot it.
Forced to replay the game until you find all elements to complete the puzzle, the game forces you to think about your previous action, as it does not track it on screen. You can look at different objects around the room, as well as manipulating them to discover the room’s secrets. But remember, the room resets when the simulation ends!
The Sysiphian gameplay is quite interesting and pretty smart. It really makes you think about the information you have on the screen before you have to reload the game. Examining every single element in the room will give you and idea of what you can interact with… and most importantly how. The hints parsed throughout the rooms are quite cleverly done (though it took me a while to find some of them - thank you Help for putting me out of my misery). The first word is probably the easiest to find, and as soon as you understand the logic in it, the other needed words will follow quite easily (or go check the help section, like I did :P )
It is a very neat small parser experience, and I would recommend to anyone with 30min to spare.
The trolley problem is as old as… well the invention of the trolley. And has plagued everyone with its ethical conundrum: do you act and change its trajectory, or will your inaction act for you? There have been hundreds and maybe thousands of iteration of this problem, with different amount of people on the tracks, the kinds of person on the tracks, animation instead of humans, close family members specifically… The possibility is essentially endless.
However, this might be the first time I’ve seen someone looking at what happens after the lever is pulled. What does your conscience say about this act/inaction? Are there consequences? Is pulling the lever actually the path of least destruction? Should we actually all pull the lever?
TTPP tries to answer these questions in a humourous manner, linking unlikely accidents to an already unlikely event. (I mean who has to handle trolley courses like this…). The consequences are so dire, you may have had triggered WWIII… Think about what you’ve done!
Though, one could argue the game is simply mocking this moral disagreement (why are we forced to choose between a utilitarian answer to save the many or refusing to participate in an already morally wrong situation? who are we to decide how worthy a human life is?).
Having played this author’s Neo Twiny entry, I was really looking forward to reviewing this one. And it was as expected: humourous, kind of campy, and a bit of a fun time.
One downside for me: after the choice, the text appeared a bit too fast, and the colour changed quite abruptly between screens, not a comfortable experience.
In this cinematic VN, you are Player, a drunkard jazz piano player stuck in Limbo, drinking your days away. Paired with three other stuck souls, Buddy, Big, and Chip, you must put on a show to earn your deliverance. One small problem… If you mess up, you will spend eternity in an endless pit… and Buddy is at best a mediocre saxophone player.
At the eleventh hour, you are face with a choice: save yourself but at a cost, or reject change and stay in Limbo forever.
The story kind of reminded me of Grim Fandango, with the stuck souls trying to reach a peaceful state, and you in the middle, trying to find your way. But unlike out favourite skeleton, our job is to play jazz, not sell packages to paradise. And you are riddled with guilt over what happened around your death.
The consequences of the choice might feel quite expected by the time you get to it. But it still holds its emotional weight - I don’t really want to spoil the twists. Though, without its impressive UI and formatting, it might not have.
I think I will end this review on what is probably the most impressive aspect of this game: how polish it is. From the choice of sound, to the sprites, from the formatting of the text to the sequence of screens, the game screams I have been worked on for days and every single bit of code has been checked and tested so many times my devs can’t take it anymore. Essentially the whole vibe is on point!
An excellent collaborative entry.
We all know the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus: man goes to rescue woman, king of the underworld agrees under conditions, rules are broken, everyone is devastated. But, what happens after? And what would have happened if Orpheus hadn’t turned back?
This author has an answer: it is so very wrong. No matter your choice, no matter whether you follow the original story or take your own path, it will not be what you expect. Either way is the stuff of nightmares. It is really gross.
And it makes the myth even more tragic than it already is. Those epics transcribed long ago don’t really take into account all the nitty and gritty of everyday life, or what would happen if you couldn’t die (or if you did).
The use of click-to-reveal the next block increases the anticipation of what is to come. And even as you enter the most disturbing part, you can’t really look away. You have to click until you reach the end. You have to know the end.
Ever met a drink or a food that could talk to you while you were ingesting it? Me either… but I feel like if I were at a low point in my life, I too would want a friendly ear (or well, voice) keeping me company and maybe even helping me through things. Because sometimes it’s just easier to talk to an inanimate object than unload your feeling onto another being.
But this soda is even more special: it is not only sentient, it can also remember thoughts and memories of people who drank soda before. Like your brother at his seventh birthday party, or you mother throughout her life (even though she claimed to hate them). Able to retell those memories to you (old or new), Soda tries to bring you comfort through what seems to be a hard time. Remind you you are not completely alone.
Like soda, the entry is quite the saccharine coating over relatively darker themes, enhancing the contrasts between elements. Soda is cheery while you are a bit morose. It reminds you of better time when currently… it’s really not great. It engages with you in ways you may not have been in a while (was there a hint of Covid in there?). The whole thing is very sweet.
As his second entry in the Single Choice Jam, Andrew proposes a maths/logical puzzle with switches. The Earth is set for destruction, but the Galaxy granted the poor human solace if they managed to disarm some bombs. One wrong flick and…
Back to the setting, the premise kind of reminded me of those sci-fi story like HHGG, where Earth is just inconsequential in the eye of the Galaxy, a backward planet in the way of advancement… It’s always a riot when those stories are used, mirroring the aliens’ view on Humans as we might be doing towards other species on Earth. Often makes me giggle a bit (and this entry was no exception!).
But the most important aspect of this game is its gameplay: the switch puzzle. With a certain mathematical pattern (shudders), you must disarm three bombs: one with two switches, one with three, and a last one with… four. Your character technically disarms a load more, but as a player you don’t! (hurray!)
The puzzle itself is intriguing, as it is not one you’d expect (like the Wolf/Goat/Food river cross, or get 1L of water from three containers), and solving it can be fun. But the novelty also runs off pretty quickly, due to the repetitiveness of the task and the length of the pattern. It feels pretty grindy by the last bomb.
The author indicated that the work was not complete, missing some levels and some QoL features. I hope they consider adding some more writing to pad around the puzzles a little.
This French entry (one of two for the Single Choice Jam) digitalised and gamified Le Dodéchédron de Fortune, a 13th century book of fortune in verses, categorised by themes, and answering all the existential questions you may have. This neat parlour trick (the 8-ball of its time) required only a d12 and flipping to the right page to know whether your child would find love or be blessed with a broken heart, whether they would have a long or healthy life or spend the little days they had left in pain… and so on, and so forth.
Honestly, it is fun to go through the different categories of questions (click the cute arrows by the header) and create pretend scenario in my head where I would need certain kind of fortune. There were 72 questions to choose from… so many RP possibilities there. Then be shocked when the fortune would derail my fake plans or dramatically “faint” when the gods blessed me with happiness. And you can’t go back and reroll the dice, once cast it will not change the fortune (even if you click on return until you get to the title page).
I really enjoy silly games with no real consequences or point. Just some pure silly fun. And well… the UI is absolutely gorgeous*!
The author indicated that they were planning to add onto the entry, by including the missing 40+ questions from the current entries, add a cheat mode to change the dice result, or a current-day French translation for some of the fortune. I think I would add to that list a way to return to the question list without having to reload the game and click the category name until the right one is found (is that the cheat mode they were planning maybe?).
It’s neat that old pieces are being used in IF and transformed in fun ways to bring past to the present. Anyway… I’m going to re-roll the dice again, I need that good fortune!
This is a kinetic entry, with indulgent luscious and delicious prose - a Sophia staple - based on the lore of a specific Fallen London storyline. While it may be useful to know the particulars of the specific storyline, this is not required to enjoy the game as a whole.
As usual, do not be fooled by the bright and cheery UI, the game is not light-hearted one, far from it. The prose hints at something having happened to you, changing who you are and how you behave in this world, and how others behave towards you. Something quite dark, something that changes the course of a life.
But while the story is about you, somewhat (a recluse, probably depressed, or at least disoriented), it seems to be more about your husband. Your ever-loving husband that seemed to have been through hell and back to bring your back, the one who may have brushed his morals and do the unthinkable to have you in his arms again. There is a mix of relief, and guilt, and worry sprinkled through his words. He has you back, but at what cost!
I would honestly play a prequel to this game written by Sophia, whether or not it follows the OG Fallen London storyline or not.
A being engages with you, creating a secure connection… well trying to. Something is chasing them through the network, trying to take them down (and maybe you to?). You need to engage is a diagnosis to ensure the line stays secure, or all will be lost.
This being is an AI trying to run from its creator, using you as the middleman to gain freedom. You can help them by following their instruction to the letter, or go against them and foil their plan*.
There is a question about consciousness and where should we draw the line on AI being conscious or behaving like us human would. Do we follow Descartes’s philosophy Je pense, donc je suis or do we have further benchmarks, with doubts or other feelings, or something else for a consciousness to be well… conscious?
But the story goes over this part fairly quickly, brushing upon it rather than diving into the ethical and philosophical questions on the topic. The AI claims they are a conscious being and that’s it, deal with it.
We’ve all been stuck in one of those dinners, the one you don’t want to be at but have to, the one where the host mainly organised it to show off, the one where guests came there to make themselves look better than the rest, the one where snide comments are thrown left and right… and the food? well… usually not worth it…
You really want to leave but can’t really, not for a while. You could participate more, but it would mean pretending to be someone you are not (like a man or a meat eater), and that’s exhausting. So you quietly sit through and maybe mumble a few words, or clench your jaw when an aunt tells you your degree is probably useless, or an uncle reminds you never to trust [insert minority/other ethnic group]. Or maybe you just listen, drifting your thoughts somewhere else, or finding refuge on your phone for a while.
Even through this very linear parser, and the short prose, this game manages to encapsulate all these murky feelings of uncomfortableness, stress, and exhaustion. The error messages when trying to engage with others or yourself or the meal is humourous, even if at time self-deprecating (I saw the influence of the Pageantverse in there too). There is not much to do, mainly because you don’t want to do much as the character either…
And this worked quite well as the author’s first try in parser and Inform!
A restless night, a spotted sleep, and strange and almost non-sensical dreams. That is what this self described Twine Dream Simulator is all about.
This entry is very strange. At first glance, it seemed to me like this was some sort of nonsensical snippets grouped together for not reason. Then I thought I could link some of them together through names or recurring characters or setting. And finally… I just realised it I was just completely and utterly confused and gave up. Those are just dreams within dreams, tired half-thoughts, and weird brain patterns.
I guess if you read between the lines you could see some snippets of real life hidden behind a heavy coating of fantasy, or mythology, or just surrealist absurdism. Thoughts that take space in your brain, and take focus during dreams. Things like being late on bills, the end of relationships, nightmare as kids, fights, meeting a therapist… but you really need to push aside the heavy prose to find that - the snippets of memories almost drown in it.
At the end, I wondered if the sleeping character was in a mental institute (or maybe it had been?), or if this whole thing was a metaphor for PPD (considering the end?), or these dreams were shared between multiple people (which would make thing so much more confusing…).
While it does do a good job at bringing to life how strange, and vivid (almost graphic), and nonsensical, and frightening, dreams and sleep could be… I kinda got bored and tired halfway through.
And this is not a short game! It took me 2 good hours to go through it all…
There are 45 snippets inside the game, with thick flowery (almost pedantic) prose layered with metaphors and imageries. I’ve had nights like those where I kept waking up from dreams… but 45 different times is a lot - too much… Cutting it down maybe to 5 or so per playthrough would have helped with the pacing… It really is a lot.
Another thing that didn’t help was not being able to track what had been visited previously. With 45 different entries… I took a screenshot of all the links available and crossed them down one by one. A colour change on the link (or the underline) would have made this so much nicer as a player.
Unlike most entries in the Single Choice Jam, Mirror Girl offers the player the choice at the start of the game. A binary choice before you are even introduced to its context or potential consequences. It makes for an intriguing experiment, a bit of an anxious one as a player.
The rest of the game is fairly short, only a handful of passages, providing snippets into the life of a young girl with a strange ability. Hidden at first, and then (ab)used, the girl resigns to her role, as no alternative path is offered to her. She does not have a choice. She never truly had a choice. Children rarely do have those choices…
I think a detrimental aspect of this entry is its reveal at the end of the playthrough. It honestly didn’t make me want to play again knowing that. It think it would have been more powerful if the reveal happened during of after a second playthrough (as in visiting the other path).
While I thought there should be a bit more contrast in the colour of the links, I thought the addition of illustrations for both the first and last screen were pretty cute. And also a bit sad. Fits with the game quite well on that aspect.
My first thought after playing this game was: “what the frick did I read?” Then: “I wonder what the other soda do…” And finally: “Is this like… someone’s brain spiralling and using the mundane choice of a drink as a way to ground themselves?” I still had to play the game a few times to get to that point… And I sill don’t think I grasped all of the subtleties… I think.
The author mentioned being inspired my multiple works, one of which I actually recognised: Computerfriend. And I could see how: in the stylistic and formatting choices, or the almost nonsensical train of thoughts, and the grounding mechanism… Though I did find this piece easier to digest, as it deals more with a sort of strange meditation than a mental health crisis (or maybe it does actually, just differently?).
Within the rambling of thoughts, the author discusses the path that led you to this moment (and the paths that didn’t or could be? Still confused on that) and what it all means. It questions the futility of wanting to link all choices, events and thoughts, as some sort of random occurrence, and sheds light on the insignificant moments and how it can change the trajectory of a life.
The game is also somewhat meta with the theme of choices. Not only does it give you a choice by the end (a very mundane one), but the topic of choices themselves. How some will matter and some won’t (who gets to decide one is or is not?), how some will be connected to others, or have consequences for others, or run in parallel to others… Choices is sort of a constant in our lives, and whether we realise or not, we constantly make choices… Only in games can you only have one.
I think this was the first time I’ve ever encountered a kinetic parser. Following the Single Choice rules, you can only do one specific action at a time before the story ends. You go through two “rooms” and do a few different actions, like looking around you, picking up some items, and move some place else. There is only one path and one path only.
It is not just the game railroading you into this one path (you truly do not seem to have a choice), the text provides you with the action you need to write next to advance the story. There is no guesswork, no puzzle, no thinking. Which means, the focus is on the text alone…
The entry calls itself a remake of a previous game of the author. While it provides some missing information for The Last Notebook (all those games are connected), it also gives very little. Your home life is really not great; so one day, after another altercation, you decide to run away. You look around your room, check yourself, get a few supplies and you are out the window. Some action descriptions are a bit confusing, and there isn’t much more than what’s on the screen.
It would be interesting to see more kinetic parser pieces, but I don’t think this one’s implementation puts that mechanism to a good light.
I like things with logics and rules, and doing things strategically, so you’d think chess should be right up my alley. But nope… the rules enter in one ear and leaves the other. And thinking of what my opponent could do just… turns me into a deer in headlight.
BUT… while chess if a major component of this game, it doesn’t asks you to play an actual chess game, but a more logical puzzle where there is only really one answer. Framed in a medieval/fantasy setting, you are a messenger on your trusty horse, ordered to share your message to every village in the region. But, in order to avoid getting caught, you cannot take the same path or visit the same place twice.
The games prompts you with two difficulty modes (hard/normal) and three types of play. You must complete the latter to end the game (the game returns to the play screed to pick the next one to complete*). You are them prompted with a chess board. When the puzzle is completed, the game tells you how long you took to do so (my record: 135s on normal).
Even though there are technically multiple square you could land on at ever turn, the game only lets you click on one. If you are playing on the normal mode, the moves are highlighted for you, making it easier to click on the correct; on hard, you just have your trusty steed and your sword (mouse) to go on.
This was fun, even if a bit… grindy by the end. The more you advance, the clearer it is which block to pick (there are only so many squares left). I think it could have worked just fine with the two first modes. The mirror mode was too similar to the corner one in my opinion.
A nice short lesson in Knight use. But I’m still not going to touch a chess board, not even to save my life…
Before you is a seemingly neverending tower, a mark of a different time, rising up the the heavens. Few can claim they’ve reached its top and stood on its final platform. And by golly, you will be one of them!
That is… if you climb up the right path… and don’t fall…
Through randomly displayed storylets, the game will take you on this impossible climb - a Daedalus climb… or maybe Icarus one if chance is not by your side. Those tit bits are quite varied, from finding nests of birds, empty offices, and many failed climbing attempts, along the way - sometimes you even get a treat (item)!. And since they will randomly appear, not one climb will ever be the same.
Halfway through the climb, I wondered if I would ever reach the top (spoiler: you eventually do), as well as the futility of the climb. What will you achieve when you do? Is there truly something that will change your life? Or will you realise that all you needed was on the ground? Why climb this Babelian tower, riddled with remnants of past and forgotten times?
The game kind of reminded me of TTRPG sessions, with the Herculean quest, the journey meeting others and finding items, and the visual descriptions found in the writing, or the randomness aspect from those darn dice rolls.
While a neat experience, it sometimes felt a bit grindy when having to climb the tower again (but I’ve also felt this way with those RPG games too).
I think what caught my eye the most was the very sleek UI of the game, with the text cards of previous passages stacking on top of one another (hover over them, btw!) or the inventory pouch displaying your items (some angles were a tad difficult to read though). Having both the settings and restart button being so custom was a nice touch too! I especially liked the background changing as you go up the tower… the stack, on the other hand, made me a bit height sick…
Your relationship with your husband is at best rocky, and at worst… Tonight won’t be as different, and yet, nothing will ever be the same. To please your husband, you’ve tweaked your chimichurri dressing to his taste… well, for your sake. Will you obediently serve him his dinner? Or give him a piece of your mind?
The writing does not shy away from violence, far from it. It will list the nitty gritty details of the offences, from the little ticks to plain and simple assaults. Your husband is not a good man, not just breaking his marriage vows, but breaking you as well. Really, this game is not for the faint of hearts!
And don’t think this will be a painful run-of-the-meal story. You did tweak the recipe. You’ve been pushed past your limits. And, when you think you got all figured it out… did you really?
Part of me really want to spoil it… I saw coming maybe one of the twist for one of the choice, but definitely not the others.
I think for me, one little downside that broke my immersion, was the way-too-youthful visual of the husband. Though built like a brick, and having a bit of the chav haircut, the man looked barely 20 in my eyes. Not that young people can’t do what’s being described in this game, I think if he had been aged a biiiit more, it wouldn’t have been as distracting.
But this is mainly my only complaint on the visual. The choice of animating certain text, or changing its colour, or even changing the focus of the different element on the screen, gave the game a more cinematic vibe.
Quite well rounded short game. I will definitely not play it again. Too gruesome.
Invited to a fancy party, you are given the opportunity to take part in a strange game. One you would refuse, but which could award you the greatest of prizes… if you are hungry enough for it. A one-of-a-kind watch that can grant you the unimaginable. A watch that, according to your host, chooses its winner.
If I am being coy about what it does, it is because it is essentially the twist of the game. The text hints at the reason for the presence of each guest (leaving yours up in the air), a reason for why they would want the prize. It raises an interesting question about free will and its consequences, the guilt and regret from actions.
Still, something did feel a bit lacking. If you do play the game, and go through the instructions left for you… most of it is just vague. You, the player, could fill in the blanks, but I felt it did somewhat break the immersion. I think it might have worked best if during the phone call, the player could fill in those blanks in a textbox, even if the information is not saved in a variable. It would probably make the ending all the more sweeter… or fulfilling.
This small game is a kinetic visual novel, where, unable to find sleep, you confess your deepest secret to your resting (unconscious) lover. One that would probably freak out a lot of people if they were told - think speculative fiction trope meets romance.
Aside from the promised weather metaphors and alliterations, the game is essentially a monologue, recalling how the MC got to this point. One thing feels pretty murky: the MC might be a very selfish person for prioritising their feelings above the well being of her lover (as she knows what is to come) or this is a tragic groundhogs day tale where no one wins/breaks the cycle at the end.
At the end of it, neither the prose nor the visual* really grabbed me. It is still quite a feat for a first game to write this many words, and put up the visual and code it all though.
*I don’t know if it was intentional, but the sprites were all pixelly during the page loadup.
… that is the ultimate question. A slice of toast in hand, you are faced with this conundrum at the start of the game: will you cast the yeast to the fire or let it be?
A simple decision, right? Who doesn’t want to have a nice golden slice of toast? What’s the worst that could happen?
Either path taken, the game will dive into absurdism - one path kind of reminded me of a Monty Python sketch. It is silly, and it knows it. It is silly and it wants you to have a silly time as well.
Great for a short silly break!
There is no UNDO command in life…, August 22, 2023If You Had One Shot is my favourite kind of parser out there: simple, short, and you will always reach the end. So short even, you can be done with it in a few minutes, 10-max for all endings. Simple enough it only has four commands: N/W/S/E. And very much like Aisle, you will reach the end at the end of the action, no matter what.
But IYHOS goes further with that mechanic and its ‘One Shot’ premise: you can truly only choose one thing - the game locking any possibility of restarting the game, even when prompted*. It does hammer on the consequences of your action. Like life, you cannot go back, undo, restart… you can only move forward, with your regrets, your guilt…
* Well, you can, but not while the game is open…
As for the story, it is written by four different authors, each focusing on a different choice and its consequences. Honestly, unless you are familiar with their works, I found that their style blended so well that I couldn’t tell had written what. I think it speaks to the strength of each author, as well as Mathbrush’s choice of having those authors on board.
Kind of like Aisle, each branch will give the player a bit of information about the MC, the characters around them, and their relationship. Though, unlike Aisle, aside from the direct consequences of your action, the provided information is connected with one another. I thought the twist from them was quite funny, but also kind of sad. You kind of feel for the oblivious MC…
A cosplaying fan of a yandere anime strikes up a conversation with you at a con, remarking your resemblance to a major character of that anime - the “girlfriend” of the one she is cosplaying. It doesn’t take long to realise she is a certain kind of crazy… the obsessive kind.
Hoping to get away to find your own girlfriend, you are left with two choices: agree to take a picture with her to calm her down, or try to run away. Only one is the safest thing to do.
Though it is short, and not really my thing (I am not an yandere fan at all), the entry does manage to hit all the trope of the yandere character, making you wish you never have to deal with someone like that in real life. It is somewhat a good reminder not to let yourself be consumed by what you consume…
This short VN starts with a bang… or more accurately, poison. Realising what your lover may have done, you go onto confront him, and maybe get the antidote to avoid your demise.
You have multiple options to confront the man, some with violence, some pleading with his heart, and one asking Why. The truth lies in the lies, and life sometimes lies in death. Your survival is never really into question, but your feelings are another deal…
I wasn’t left completely satisfied with this entry. With the limited amount of words, it is hard to have a concise story pulling punches. In my case, it didn’t. Maybe because the outcome change little, or maybe because most is left unexplained. But maybe you’re not supposed to feel satisfied. Life usually isn’t…
The visuals however were lovely, and so was the addition of sound.
You were kidnapped by a stranger, for a reason unknown to you. And you are currently strapped to a chair, while the stranger essentially tortures you. You are given a choice, to hopefully gain some information about who that stranger is or why you’ve been brought here.
This visual novel is quite short, and lets you skip the part you’ve already read during replay, so it is quite easy to wrap it up in about 10min or so. And while there are hints to how you got there, I don’t believe there are enough pieces to solve the puzzle altogether. The writing focuses more on visceral description of the violence, making it quite gratuitous at the end.
I was honestly left quite repulsed (so the writing did what it aimed to do!)
Setting the stage at the Highchester estate, where a widow, the Lady of the house, trains her only daughter, Chelle, to take on the helms, a change of plans disrupts the life of three women. The arrival of Ara, requested by the Lady, enacts change in the relationship between mother and daughter, as well as subordinate and estate owner. The game lets you explore the perspective of those three women after this change. I recommend you leave The Lady for last.
With very little words, the entry depicts a sad tableau, painting pained faces and hurt feelings, the urge of having affairs in order forced by hidden secrets, and the expectations from one’s stations surpassing love and affections. But it also shares emergent feelings and an hopeful look on the future, as well as hinted breaks of class rules. It is impressive to depict much in such a tight package, and depict in a very touching way.
I was honestly wondering if Chelle and Ara would pull an Eugénie Danglars before the end…
Seeing the news, it sometimes feels like the world is a shitty place, and things keep getting worse. It’s not hard to drown in negative headlines and feel bombarded by tragic events left and right. And no matter what we do or say, things don’t seem to change.
And, even with positive things happening around us, negative thoughts will often linger, sticking for a while, until the sheer size of it all overwhelm us. This is what this entry manages to evoke with the visual of the bitsy engine, with the thought bubbles sticking around, piling onto one another, until it fills up the screen.
While I did somewhat expected it to happen, since the same thing happens to me, it was still distressing to have these feelings visualised before your eyes. The entry is devoid of any meaningless words and descriptions, only leaving the pure unaltered thoughts on the screen. The Good. The Bad. And the Ugly.
This short entries flips through a photo album, with the narrator commenting on the different pictures and how much has changed since the pictures were taken. Until you reach a turning point, looking at a picture from when you were still a sweet little girl - or so your mother like to remind you. What you do with this picture will determine the ending of the game.
The entry is full of nostalgia and melancholy. Sadness is present throughout the recollection of the past, even after your choice - though one is a bit more hopeful. Even with its short format, the story manages to give a snapshot of a distant relationship between a mother and their child, and the gender norms that may have cause that distance.
It is beautiful, in its pain.
TLN is a kinetic piece, a sort of small sequel to the Shadow Realm, another game from this author. The story follows NBQ, a side character from that other game, still in the Shadow Realm, going through the item that Anthony, the main character of that other game, has left behind. One of those items is a notebook, within which NBQ discovers a shocking piece of information.
There is not much more to this entry, which took the only one option to click on path of the SingleChoice rule. Elements of the story seem to require knowledge of the previous game to be fully understood, and the prose made things a bit confusing as well...
The illustrations were cute, though.
Do not get fooled by the pastel pink palette, and the child-like font. This game is much darker than it looks, and it is not afraid to show it. And it does it good.
If the title wasn’t enough of a hint, the game is a retelling of one of the darker versions of Cinderella, but with a twist. It is one of her step-sister who bagged the Prince, living the not-so-fairytale life. The step-mother’s trick, of sawing her daughter’s heels off was not discovered, and fooled the desperate romantic man. And through the step-daughter eyes, the story starts.
The game depicts this less than perfect life, with a woman who doesn’t feel like she belongs, in pain as a consequence of her mother’s action; and a husband who does not love her. Yet, she is forced to pull through, and perform the duties of her title, no matter the pain. The descriptions are gruesome and explicit, the feelings are raw and quite depressing. And it is done good.
I quite liked the author’s take on the single choice for the entry: with two cycling macros, giving 12 different options, each diving further into the Step-sister’s mind, her relationship and the titles that come with them, her regrets and shame, and her wishes. It is pretty grim all throughout.
I really, really appreciated the way the author coded the return to the choice, without having to read through the whole start of the game or remembering the last option seen. It made it so much easier to play all endings!
Waking up in a strange land can be perturbing. Realising your body does not look right, feels all kind of wrong. Finding yourself in the presence of a stranger by your bedside, terrifying. So what do you do? What can you do?
This short game gives you three choices, branching the story towards three different ends. Funnily, these choice kind of represent the Freeze, Fight, Flight behaviour we have when faced with a stressful situation.
The writing balanced quite well the more horrory/odd elements of the character, especially compared to the human they are facing. There was an interesting focus on how bodies should look like, the transformation of bodies, and how the character’s body felt wrong - adding to the uneasiness of the situation.
Visual wise, the game uses the basic UI of Ink, putting focus on the text. Still, it made some interesting styling choices, with the honeycomb link.
This entry is a retelling of a popular European folk story, where a card game is being played at a pub, when a stranger comes in and asks to join. Promising all your heart could desire if you beat him, but if you lose… he would take something from you too. Will you take on the challenge or fold?
The entry is very short, only a few passages before the eventual choice, and its visual is bare, putting the focus on the text. I really liked the depiction of the group of friend playing cards at the pub before the stranger’s entrance, giving a false sense of normalcy - a sticking opposition with the description of the stranger.
The choice itself feels both quite consequential and not very surprising, considering the heavy hints the game provides ahead of time. Both option will give quite different and expected endings. I think I preferred the “playing” option more than the other one - mainly because I’m still not sure what price will be paid…
It was a neat piece of folklore.
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