Ratings and Reviews by Lance Cirone

In a Manor of Speaking is one of the funniest games I've ever played. Every line in this game is some sort of pun, and the writing style is so enthusiastic and excited. For instance, a "piece of your mind" is described as being "very thoughtful", and you can pick eyes off an eyepatch (failing to use them properly results in "Eye don't think that's such a good idea!"). You can walk into a bar (ouch!). You get to literally take a tourist's picture, find the proof in the pudding, and grow birdseed. There's such a manic energy to this game, I love it. It reminded me of Nord and Bert and You are a Chef!

This game may not be an in-depth puzzlefest, or have super deep characters, or an intricate story, but it's just fun. It's a comfort game, and it never fails to cheer me up every time I go to it. That's what makes it worth five stars for me.

Suveh Nux lets you work out what it's all about just by experimentation. Once I got my book, I started off by typing all the spell names. Then I charted down their effects, and what happened if I used them more than once. This just led to more ideas with what I could do, and it feels rewarding to keep trying and learning new spells. There's a small aspect that confused me, and it was (Spoiler - click to show)the ANI effect. I noticed that some of my effects were delayed, but I thought it was a method to make my next spells immediately more powerful; like maybe it would be better than casting it multiple times in a row? Still, the game has a useful hint system, and is loaded with Easter eggs. Try everything you can, and even if you don't, it's still a fun game.

Not the Lord of the Rings is an embarrassingly shallow game. It's full of immature "adult" humor. You'll run into characters such as Dildo Bumbite, Pipdick Brandymuck, and Stam Gangrene. Items you get include old underwear and smoked joints. Nothing in this regard is witty, funny, or even really has to do with the source material. It's just edgy and gross for the sake of it.

The game content doesn't fare any better, either. Walk through a bunch of rooms, pick up items (most of which are red herrings), explore some mazes. Whenever you come across someone, you usually have to give them an item, but there's barely any logic behind it. It's not fun to play, and none of the rooms or segments really stand out.

The parser doesn't respond to ABOUT, HELP, or most other out-of-world commands. The logic is inconsistent: you can't use GREEN to refer to a green key, but you have to use STONE to refer to a stone key, which is even more confusing because you already have an item that's a pile of stones. Even the speed at which it registers text is disappointing, and I had to type slower than normal or else it wouldn't pick up on everything. You also can't backspace and delete text you've already written, or use up and down to scroll through past commands.

Don't play Not the Lord of the Rings. It gave me Stiffy Makane vibes, if anything. There is nothing of value in this game.

You are a Chef! is flat-out one of the silliest games I've ever played. Stuff randomly falls from the sky and you have to put it in a pot. There are jokes like "It's called a parking lot because there is a LOT of parking!" It's a game that consistently makes me laugh whenever I play it, and I love it for that. Not the hardest or most complex entry in the IF catalog, but it's fun to turn your brain off and just laugh at a funny clown getting a safe dropped on it.

(Adapted from an intfiction.org review)

You are the first ever candidate in Arithmancy – a field of magic involving manipulating numbers. You are judged by the fair and impartial Morkan, the more emotive and reactive Berzia, and, most importantly, the rude and irritable Teraboz. Armed with your spell book, sheet of numbers, and list of tasks, it's up to you to win over your superiors by scoring as many points as you can.

While traditional IF can be fun, I really enjoy more experimental games as well: there's an unusual core mechanic that you have to work with, and its execution can make or break the game. Junior Arithmancer in particular reminded me of another game I really liked, Threediopolis.

The main appeal of Junior Arithmancer is that it's about manipulating numbers in surprisingly fun ways. You are given the digits of various well-known functions, such as pi, e, and gamma, and you need to reach these numbers in sequence with your spells. You can't use a spell more than once, but you can attach prefixes to certain spells to make things easier. Your accomplishments will earn you tokens that you can trade in for more spells, unlocked linearly. Once you have all the skills at your disposal, it's up to you to finish as many tasks as you can before you submit your final score.

Junior Arithmancer is a game where it's satisfying to get something right. I was intrigued by knowing what my next spell could be, and how it could help solve my problems. By the time I got them all, I just wanted to keep optimizing my techniques and returning to old sequences with new tools. Everything feels fair; the spells work consistently, the game logic is easy to follow, and you don't have to memorize any number sequences because they're all included on the sidebar. I never felt like I was lost with how the game worked.

Besides the framing device, there's a little story running through the game. Whenever you return to your exam room to trade in tokens, you'll overhear Morkan, Berzia, and Teraboz talking about the academy. Most of the story is carried by Teraboz; she feels that the test has become too easily accommodating for new people, she starts a debate over whether the word “witch” is offensive, she gets in trouble with the fearsome vice dean Merlena. Outside the story, Teraboz reacts in exasperation at your mistakes, which I thought was a fun way to tell me when I was doing something wrong. She even (Spoiler - click to show)delivers the final line of the game, quitting the academy now that you're a part of it.. Teraboz gets way more dialogue and action than the other two characters, which is a shame, because I'd have liked for Morkan and especially Berzia to have some spotlight moments.

Despite the unbalanced character focus, I'd say I liked this story more than I didn't. It's secondary to the puzzles, and even developed in an interesting direction I didn't expect. And with that said, I'd recommend Junior Arithmancer. It's a light, fun game that's easy to grasp, but hard to perfect.

Pytho's Mask is graceful and sophisticated. Everything from the theming to the characters has such a high-class charm and works to make you feel like a part of the world. The romance elements make it such an exhilarating and exciting story; I felt so blessed, assessing each intelligent and proper party guest as a potential partner.

You play as Soteria, a noblewoman who's been invited to a royal celebration, and you don't have a clue what it's about. Talking to the kingdom's rulers, you learn that it's to commemorate the Night of the Comet -- a chaotic event happening every 100 years, that can mysteriously change peoples' motivations and mindsets. Plus, the King is sick, and someone is out to get him... but who?

Pytho's Mask is a conversation game with light puzzles. A majority of this game is spent talking to people, working out their motivations, and piecing together who did it. It's a fantasy story with romance elements -- the Prince seems to have taken a liking to you (even though he admits he could do better), but others will tell you he's not the most faithful. It's up to you to decide whether to go with it, turn him away, or even go for someone else.

The game is good at giving you opportunities to understand its lore-heavy backstory. If you have a question about what something is, go ahead and ask someone who's knowledgeable about it. If you don't know where they are, just strike up a conversation with whoever's nearby and ask them. If you idle in a crowded area, you'll overhear some gossip that hints at where you can go or what you should do next. It's very much possible to figure this game out on your own, since the focus is more on the story, but the puzzles are a nice addition.

The game's writing is simply amazing. These characters all have their own memorable personalities -- I was especially a fan of Avril, who's disrespected by the other attendees for his emphasis on fashion and tendency to judge people based on it, but turns out to be one of the most sensible and likeable people in the game. We shared a mutual hatred of Valkir, how could I not love him? Each character has something unique to say about a given topic. It lets you draw your own conclusions as to who you like and who you don't, and there's a lot to play around with.

Pytho's Mask is an absolute gem, and ranks among my favorite interactive fiction pieces, period.

I had been working at this game for four months. I cannot believe how it turned out. It is one of the longest games I have ever played. This is one of the most insane experiences I have had playing a game. I feel like a totally different person now that I've finished it. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, and I never knew what would be coming next. It is unpredictable, it is difficult, it is different.

Cragne Manor is what happens when you take over 80 authors' contributions and intricately weave them together into a whole game. Every room is written independently, so just one step away is something totally different. Despite this, Cragne Manor has a method to its madness, and can feel amazingly coherent at points (props to the Carol arc). I kept going because I wanted to see everything and hopefully run into another engaging set piece, bizarre cultural reference, or well-developed puzzle. I wanted to know how the game could possibly end, and how everything would come together. You are given a basic goal -- find your husband Peter by uncovering bits of information in and around the manor -- but to list everything you have to do would be crazy.

I'd like to give shout-outs to some of my favorite, or most memorable, parts of the game. These are rooms that just blew me away. Please don't read these until you've been to the actual rooms!

Estate Agent's Office: (Spoiler - click to show)By far one of the best and most comprehensive rooms in the game. Everything Bethany says, everything she does, your inexplicable obsession with getting a lion sex book, the writing style, it had me laughing so hard. I actually came back here midway through just to make sure I asked her about everything. Some suggestions: Read the lion sex book and ask her about it. Ask Bethany about yourself, Peter, Jedediah Beaverhat, and Maple Kate.

Meatpacking Plant: (Spoiler - click to show)Cut up the corpses of dead animals! It's described in the most disgusting way possible. My stomach was churning by the end of this, and I actually had to put the game down before and after doing it because I was so uncomfortable.

Meatpacking Plant Bathroom: (Spoiler - click to show)How do we not talk about this one? It's iconic. Banish a boneless horse by using demonic rituals and a time-traveling toilet. It's worth trying everything you can here, because it accounts for most of your interactions; I spent a while trying to pee on every surface imaginable and I got a funny response for everything. Reading the diary is also a highlight, and the various "unfortunate baby names" gave me a good laugh.

Nursery: (Spoiler - click to show)Carol and Christabell offer up one of the most surprising moments in the game. There is an interconnected narrative between these two rooms. You get to watch Carol grow up from a kind yet lonely child to a politically-obsessed mastermind who wants to summon Cthulhu. Also, the part about Naomi apparently being pregnant really shocked me and made me want to know how the arc could possibly end. Christabell even comes in to wrap everything up! Carol apologizing, and the memento she leaves behind, made me genuinely sad.

Music Room: (Spoiler - click to show)A room that contains a bunch of small sub-rooms to tell an incredibly gruesome and disturbing story! Francine is messed up. Seeing her child self vomit, and then opening up a bag of body parts, actually made me feel sick and I had to put the game down for a bit. Not a pleasant story, but a memorable one for sure.

Workroom: (Spoiler - click to show)Cast magic spells and learn about the Cragnes' family history. The mechanics are fleshed out, there's a lot of optional deaths, and it's a nice break from some of the other more horrific parts of the game. It's a satisfying puzzle.

Curiosity Shop: (Spoiler - click to show)I like Jessenia. She's fun to talk to and she has all kinds of interesting items to trade. This is really late in the game, but I enjoyed it.

Narthex: (Spoiler - click to show)This kind of bizarre Catholic high school drama, complete with demon possession and tragic tales of love that was never meant to be, had me engaged. Brandon's eventual suicide attempt had me horrified and emotionally shattered, and even Naomi's shaken up by the whole thing afterwards.

Inside the Shack: (Spoiler - click to show)One of the last rooms in the game, this thing is surreal. The descriptions are disturbing and paint very horrifying images, there's a lot to do while you're in there, and messing with Naomi and Peter's history is a harrowing yet beautiful experience.

That's not to discredit the smaller rooms, though. They deserve appreciation for how they just tie everything together and they all draw inspiration from various sources. It's fun to have a few minor puzzles or transition rooms in between the game starts going off the rails and destroying you emotionally (yet again). I had visceral reactions to this thing; I almost threw up twice. I screamed so many times. It was great.

The main complaint I had with this game was an unavoidable, inevitable problem; sorting through your items gets hard. Attempting to use a noun like "dial" or "key" in a command will result in everything showing up and you needing to use disambiguations. Sometimes I'd just throw out my backpack before I went into a room so I wouldn't have to deal with it. The mildew was also a massive misstep that I wish was toned down, and if I were to give one piece of advice to anyone before playing the game, get rid of it as soon as you can. It made me begin dreading opening my inventory and filtering through items, because it inflated it with useless text and ended up taking the entire screen.

My review has only scratched the surface. Play this game, don't let the content warning scare you, just go with it. Play it to the end. There's always something new waiting. Jenni Polodna and Ryan Veeder, both absolutely amazing authors and people in general, thank you so much for this. I'll never forget Cragne Manor.

Opening Night is so much more than it appears. It's a short game, taking me around 40 minutes, so please give it a try.

You are attending an opening night show for Miranda Lily, your favorite Broadway star. You've saved up for weeks with your pay from the factory, and you've got a rose ready to give to Miranda when you finally meet her in person.

Getting into the theater and intercepting the doorman who won't let you in because of the dress code requires some good ol' cartoony hijinks. I was expecting a similar silly tone from the rest of the game, but the performance sets the stage for something much deeper. Spoilers abound.

So many moments after (Spoiler - click to show)the intermission just had me ask "wait, what?" and "did I read that right?" It drove me to figure out the mystery and understand what was truly happening. The game weaves in flashback text with the current happenings, and time skips at key moments.

The game's biggest surprise would have to be that (Spoiler - click to show)Miranda is DEAD. She started acting in movies, which "stripped her of her immediacy, her presence, reduced her to the sum of her parts" and sent her into a downward spiral. She became an alcoholic and died. The fact that we came back to the theater just to remember the biggest day of our lives, before the place gets torn down. We spent weeks trying to build up the courage to give her the rose, because one in-person performance made us feel unworthy of her presence; and you get to put the wilted stem in a vase in Miranda's abandoned dressing room. It's a perfect bittersweet moment.

I couldn't believe it by the end. I was shocked. The way everything develops is outstanding. The puzzles are simple enough that you can solve them without hints, putting full focus on the story. I'd definitely recommend this one.

After I had fun with Nord and Bert,
I thought, more word games couldn't hurt!
I had high expectations,
and with little hesitation,
went in receptive and alert.

The comedy rhyming is consistently a joy,
and depending on who you employ,
the story will take different a turn.
You can always undo, so no cause for concern.
(A good move, as the inverse would annoy.)

To the heist's challenge, my squad arose,
all written in the game's unique style of prose.
Not once did it feel bland or uninspired,
it stays quite fresh, so you won't get tired.
Lots of work was put in, and it shows!

The premise enticed,
review scores sufficed,
so allow me to conclude this review
with a statement that's honest and true:
I'm glad I played Limerick Heist!

Nord and Bert was the first piece of interactive fiction I ever played. I read about it and it sounded right up my alley. Looking back, it's definitely got its great moments, but also some not-so-fun parts. You can play the levels in any order you want, and they don't have any interconnected story elements, so I'll recap them all:

Shopping Bizarre: One of the highlights. You run around a supermarket and make all kinds of crazy things (turn a sale into a sail, or a moose into mousse). The homophone theming is fun and never feels too obscure. Prime segment here.

Playing Jacks: Use a bunch of tools with "jack" in the name. I actually broke this one on accident. (Spoiler - click to show)The mermaid simply wasn't showing up after I did the jacuzzi scene. It's a cool concept, but needing to remember how to activate my tools slowed me down a bit. The jacked-up coding makes it a pass.

Buy the Farm: Might be my favorite level. You try to restore an empty farm through taking idioms literally, like teaching the old dog new tricks, or putting the cart before the horse. One very tricky puzzle here, though. Still, horse around with this one for a bit.

Eat Your Words: Harass and inconvenience a waitress and a cook, also by taking idioms literally. A lot of the terms you have to use here are pretty obscure, so it's easy to get stuck. It and Buy the Farm are like two peas in a pod, but this one's a harder nut to crack.

Act the Part: Act in a 50s sitcom and get your annoying brother in-law to leave. This segment doesn't really have any relevance to the rest of the game, contains some really esoteric puzzles, and it's easy to make it unwinnable. Hook it off the stage.

Manor of Speaking: Confusing and pointless. Find a way to scare a portrait of Karl Marx. Also, there's a room in this one with a frustrating mechanic (can't use the same verb twice) that just slowed it down. Quiet it up and move on. (Or play Hulk Handsome's similarly-named game, because that one's awesome!)

Shake a Tower: A fun return to the earlier segments! Come up with silly spoonerisms (a head louse becomes a lead house, a shoving leopard becomes a loving shepherd) to save the day. I do have to warn against a game-breaking bug here, since my (Spoiler - click to show)well-oiled bicycle just disappeared between rooms for no reason. Going into this one was a pretty rough take considering how the quality was slipping, but it actually felt relevant.

Meet the Mayor: You can only play this part once you've finished all the others. Is it worth it? Not really, it just feels anticlimactic and doesn't really work as a review of what you've learned. Tell the mayor I'm out.

Half of Nord and Bert is witty and comical. The other half is baffling and just not that fun. Whenever I return to the game, I go through Shopping Bizarre, Buy the Farm, and Shake a Tower, maybe Eat Your Words, and leave the rest. It's a good game with some bad segments, rather than the other way around, so that even out into a 3/5 star rating.