Reviews by Lance Cirone

Max Blaster is a game I am extremely divided on. On one hand, I love the written content and the story. Max and Doris are a great duo, with Max being the dumb action hero and Doris being the snarky sidekick who doesn't take his shit. Puzzles make use of their physical attributes and the different gadgets that each one has. You can switch between the two characters when they're together, but there are puzzles where you have to use a certain one.

The game's humor is really funny, with some highlights being a magazine full of bird puns and Max's repeated "I told you so"s to Doris after being saved from a snake. You also get a lot of footnotes that you can read for even more jokes. You can even type ">re-enact famous socio-political decisions" at one point and get a response. I like the interactive cutscenes that let you decide what you want to say, even if they're mostly at the beginning and end.

The thing I don't like about this game is the bugs and the unresponsive parser. So many times, I clearly knew what I wanted or had to do, but I had to figure out the right way to word it, and it felt like nothing I did would register. I'm not someone who usually gets tripped up by guess-the-verb, but this game was infuriating with it. Max's barrier tool -- you set it to a shape you want, then can summon that and use it physically -- was such a pain that I stuck to Doris until I was forced to learn how to use it.

It's so easy to get yourself hardlocked by bugs in this game. There is a mandatory portion in the middle involving opening modules on a computer, and if you use the same module more than once, you will get a parser error. There is no way to work around this and nothing you can do to progress. I also ran into numerous issues where text that was supposed to display didn't, leaving out critical parts of puzzles (the presence of a gap after you climb onto the stepladder) or story details (such as how Max gets across the gorge). I only saw these on replays.

Another problem I had was with the first split-up puzzle, Max needing to make a sandwich for robots. No matter how closely I followed the walkthrough, I was not able to get this to work. I had to restart the game and make sure I was Doris to get a different puzzle. When I entered an even more complicated puzzle with Max later in the game, I chickened out and decided to see what Doris's puzzle was, and it was thankfully more manageable. If you want the least frustrating way through the game, save often, and make sure you're Doris every time you get separated.

If you're willing to put up with an unpolished gameplay experience, give Max Blaster a try, because the story and jokes here is very much worth it.

(Adapted from intfiction.org post)

Lenard Gunda’s Lazy Wizard's Guide was one of the first IFComp entries I played this year; the charming premise made me interesting in what it could be.

One of my favorite styles of IF game is when you have a magic system that just builds on top of itself, starting with simple spells and then moving on to more advanced and interesting ones. It’s not that common, but it’s always a joy to play; compare Junior Arithmancer. Even beyond this mechanic, Lazy Wizard’s Guide amazed my with its varied characters and non-linear goals.

The plot: You’re a senior student at a magic academy, taking your final exam to be a licensed wizard. The problem is that you don’t have a clue on how do to any of it! Armed with only a Beginner’s Magic book, can you explore the school and its surroundings to figure out how to complete all five of your exam goals?

I love the atmosphere of this game. You’ll run into all sorts of fantasy creatures – tree people, ghosts, gnomes, witches, vampires, among others – and it’s fun to go around the school. The characters you can interact with are unique and memorable, and I’d always liked checking back to see if they had anything new to say as I progressed. Room descriptions are kept concise, and everything you’ll need to know is mentioned. The game also uses a special web parser that makes conversations easier (you get to click numbered options) and highlights certain important verbs or notifications, which improved the ease of play and makes it easier to recommend to people who are new to IF.

The spell system is easy to understand: learn a spell, and you know it forever. If you have the ingredients you need, go ahead and cast it (on something if needed). Some of these are as simple as lighting up dark rooms or unlocking doors, while later ones include entering paintings and summoning vampires. You also have to brew some potions to complete your exam. The versatile spell system also leads to some puzzles having multiple solutions, which I liked.

There’s one area I would like to see improved: if you’re stuck, you can call an “exam jinn” to give you hints. However, most of his hints are vague and there’s points where he didn’t even have anything to tell me. I ended up beating the game without any of his help. It’s also a minor nitpick, but at first, I ended up (Spoiler - click to show)drinking the tea that was meant for Mirlena. She kept asking for it, and I was wondering if I made a mistake, since I couldn’t get any more. I ended up going back to an earlier save to give it to her, but nothing new happened; the dialogue seemed the same and there didn’t seem to be any achievements related to it. It was a bit of confusion that stuck out, considering how good the rest of the game is at giving feedback and ensuring I can’t mess up puzzles.

Lazy Wizard’s Guide is a lighthearted and imaginative IFComp entry with strong gameplay and great worldcrafting. I liked it a lot, and I’d definitely recommend it.

If you have any doubt, stop reading these reviews and play the game.

There is so much to do in Counterfeit Monkey. I've played it three times and I'm still finding new stuff. Everything you do is rewarding and fun. The writing is consistent and the style is really original. The letter-remover is one of the most creative and well-implemented concepts I've ever gotten to use in a game, and the new tools that open up as you play just kept amazing me.