Reviews by ChanceOfFire

As per the rules of the jam, you can only have one choice per playthrough. However, looping back to the title screen or creating a fake title screen is one accepted way (confirmed by the organizer) to work around this limit.

July 21st puts an interesting spin on the idea. You play as a character with time travelling powers. Each time the playthough ends, you return to the title screen, but you can use your time travel powers (woven into the new game plus option) to go back and try to do things differently. To see all the content and endings, you will need to activate new game plus again, repeating history once more, just a little differently, until you find that sweet spot where you change the course of history.

The idea is solid, and the story and writing is fairly good too. The art is simple, but works. That said, each playthrough is a linear kinetic VN experience, so it's not really using up that one choice limit, unless you count the title screen as a choice.

It's a straightforward but solid read with an interesting idea behind it.

This brings back interesting memories. I am former military, and coincidentally, I did an internship at a fashion company back in college. Fun times.

Anyway, it's time for day one at work. Your boss asks you for your name (I won't count that as a choice) and gives you a couple of rules before you start. Remember, do not hesitate.

As you are taken around, the game appears to be a largely linear IF. Still, like some other games I have played in the jam, the choices come from timed decisions. At some points in the game, you can agree to something, or you can... hesitate. If you hesitate, that option is lost, and a new option opens up instead.

Notice that I said 'points' earlier. After playing through a few times and unlocking all four endings, I'll mention that there are three points in the game where you can make a choice, either by clicking the option or letting the timer run out. (You hesitated!) You will see two of these on a single playthrough, as the first 'choice' takes you down one of a two-branch path with another choice each. The single choice rule of the jam is (to me) open to interpretation, so never say never. Still, I'm declining to leave a star rating as I'm not entirely sure if this fits.

The writing was solid and interesting, bringing back some old memories at the fashion company I worked in. Still, there were a couple of typos which I spotted in the game. You could probably finish all four endings in ten minutes or so once you know where the hesitation points are. It was an interesting read for me.

It's 2023. Society has crawled and spluttered to the end of the Covid pandemic and all those restrictions. The always online world of Covid, while it lasted, brought about new opportunities in school, mainly increased online gaming opportunities and the opportunity to... refer to special materials in online exams. Now, it's over.

The game went through a pretty thought provoking topic, bringing back old memories of the pandemic situation and how it rewrote our lives. On another note, I have never used Covid to cheat in online exams (since I had already graduated from college anyway) but I do admit to zoning out during work meetings behind the cover of a computer screen. (Turn off the camera first.)

The player here now looks through the pieces of the online world which have now been shattered by the end of social distancing measures. But suddenly, you realize that you have an exam coming. Now, you gotta make a choice on how to deal with it. Sigh... You get three choices, with three different endings. I simply recalled the time when I wrote a 2000 word essay twelve hours before the deadline as I realized that the deadline was tomorrow right before I was about to sleep, and made a choice based on that. Fun times. :(

It is a read which really got me thinking, about my life during both college and Covid. As with the vtuber game in the Neo Twiny jam, I was thinking of giving five stars because of that. Ultimately, I'm giving four. Still, go read it. It gets my recommendation.

I'm a little iffy about the idea of a single choice jam. I personally feel that having a single choice in an IF game is kind of restrictive and takes away the fun. Still, this game provides another interesting take on the single choice idea.

You receive a message, informing you of the end of everything. You have one final chance to say your goodbyes. The message (and the overall writing in the game) was actually pretty strong, and moved me and got me thinking. I'm trying not to spoil too many details here, but go ahead and play the game for yourself.

Your single choice here is an open text option where you can type in something and say your goodbyes. Gameplay wise, it is sort of like Home from the Neo Twiny Jam. There are multiple fields in the form, with a pretty omnious timer on top. Write whatever you want. (As with Home, well... nothing is stopping you from typing something like 'giddafsdahjgfjw'. Another note, the game won't let you proceed if you leave the fields blank.) That said, if you let the timer run out without typing anything, it just shows a blank output on the next page. An alternate ending would have been cool.

It's a short bit of strong writing, so go ahead and give this a try.

This is a really short VN, with two choices. You stumble across a troll who is smoking a blunt and asks if you want to share some of the good stuff. You can either accept or refuse, but either way, dramatic things happen regardless of your choice.

This was fairly entertaining, and I really liked the simple art style. That said, the writing was slightly rough, and I spotted a very small number of typos here and there. The animations were interesting, although the troll's arm got... separated from the rest of him in the first scene.

As I said before, this is pretty short, and you could probably finish both paths in less than five minutes. Still, I suppose it was solid for a small bit of entertainment in the jam.

Bonus points for being able to play this without a download.

With simple art carrying a hand drawn feel, suspenseful writing and an interesting premise, Year Sixteen is a short but entertaining VN. On another note, I'm a little more iffy on the choice of background music, particularly for the first half, but I didn't mind it too much.

Be warned, this story takes a darker turn. If that is not your thing, turn back.

You have turned sixteen. In the midst of all the celebrations, you learn of a terrible secret, once which may require you to head down a dark path. You have a single choice to make.

Speaking of the single choice you get here, it's not a traditional list of choices you get in the VN format. Instead, you have some object(s) you can interact with on the screen, which serves as your choice. (Interesting take on the single choice!) I managed to find two endings, and I'm not sure if that was everything. (Spoiler - click to show)You have to either push the button, or refuse to interact with it and let a hidden timer run out. Great idea there. Remember that you can still say no.

It was solid for a short bit of entertainment in the single choice jam. I liked it.

Another interesting concept in the Neo-Twiny Jam.

You are tasked with listening in on several locations, making deductions on whether there is intelligent life present and suggested further action. Read the text, listen to the sound, and decide what to report. At the end of all the rounds, the game hands you your report card.

It was a creative and interesting idea, although you only get a small number of rounds given the word count constraints of the Neo Twiny Jam.

Also, cool font. I like the sci-fi feel of it.

A woman writes letters to her husband who is out at sea, talking about other folks, her new hobbies and finally hoping for his return.

This IF is told in the format of a letter, although you get one branching option in the game, based on what the protagonist wishes to write about. The writing was sweet and charming. The art was nice, although I think the pink colors were part of the requirements for another jam.

It was a short and sweet read.

There are several steps to shooting an arrow. Still, not all is well. As age begins to catch up to you, the movements may feel harder, and you get the sense that it is not always what it used to be.

This is a linear IF, going through each step, although at each step, you optionally have the option to see how age has affected you. It is a good read, and I enjoyed it. There were some nice background pictures as well, although I couldn't see them entirely on my phone. Still, the mobile display is solid and readable, minus that.

Whew... games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim have inventory weight systems which keep track of the weight of everything in that massive backpack of yours. When it gets full, you'll need to jettison some of that stuff unless you plan on crawling away.

Right now, you have an item to bring to safety, along with a couple of other items of varying usefulness. At different points in the story, when things literally get too heavy, you'll need to figure out what to leave behind, and hope that it doesn't turn out to be useful later on.

Oh wait, is that a laser cannon, pointed at me? I think I left my really heavy mirror in the driveway. ZAP!

It's a really interesting concept which (intentionally or otherwise) really brings out the concept of encumbrance. I managed to get a good ending on my first try, so I guess I got lucky.