Ratings and Reviews by ChanceOfFire

All World Pro Wrestling leaves little to the imagination when it comes to the sexual content. The story, from the beginning to end, is filled with plenty of not-so-subtle sexual innuendos, BDSM concepts and the plentiful nudity and sexual content on display. It pulls no punches when it comes to spice level. Perhaps Extra-hot might be an understatement.

Generally speaking, the story and writing is solid. It’s well-written while not being hard to follow. There are a lot of characters to choose from, and they are mostly interesting, although some could use a little more depth. The stat design is also solid, and I liked the way the game is upfront about stat changes. The avalanche of sexual content from the beginning to end MIGHT be off putting to some folks, but YMMV.

There are some interesting characters, but the cast might have been too big. Less characters might have allowed for the story to focus more on each of them. Anyway, I picked someone I liked, and managed to complete the romance at the end.

If you’re ok with the spice level, this is a pretty good entry in Heart’s Choice.

I’m generally a free spirit when it comes to romance… but come to think of it, a female gender-flipped version of this game would be really really hot.

The premise is interesting. Your task here is to don your invisibility cloak and harvest the tongues of the dying, tongues which contain their memories. The story presents some interesting choices and conflicts throughout. However, this game also has substantial weaknesses.

The writing can get long-winded, and there are plenty of infodumps throughout which serve to expand on the game’s lore, but do so in a heavy-handed manner. There were choices to express interest in some characters, but I don’t know if there were actual elements of romances as I couldn’t find them.

The ending is sudden and really makes you go WHATT? Things were starting to tense up, and I was expecting to see more action. Instead, an ending screen just shows up out of nowhere.

There is a genuinely interesting concept and idea here, just that the execution is a miss.

Events and parties in 20s London! You play as a novelist, enjoying the glamorous lifestyle and going on misadventures with a bunch of friends. Meanwhile, a gossip column is publishing dirt on your friends, and happens to know some things which should have been a secret. It is up to you to figure out who's leaking the juicy stuff to the infamous rag.

Honestly, if you read the way the game description is worded, you could probably figure out who the culprit is. (Probably not intentional on the writer's part.) That said, I actually liked said character the most, and went on to romance them from the start, while role-playing a loyal and blinded-by-love character. There wasn't any kind of intimacy that I saw, although I'm not too sure if other ROs have more intimacy on their routes. Still, the romance and character interactions are strong enough.

The story and writing is solid, even if the plot could use more excitement. The stat system didn't work for me. There is a large selection of stats in play, but some felt like they had a lot of overlap with the other, in terms of meaning. There were many choices in the game where I was struggling to figure out which stat was tested, or if something was even tested at all, and ultimately just picked at random. A more focused system with more distinct stats could have worked better here.

Minor note, headers in the stat screen are sometimes much closer to the bar above than below.

It's a solid game in the writing and romance department. I didn't see any intimacy, not even at a mild level (maybe it's in another route), but that's a non-issue as the romance elements are solid.

This was a surprisingly strong entry. The prose paints a beautiful picture of France, as well as the mystery and intrigue within your life as a spy. There are interesting characters. The plot packs mystery and surprises. Also, it’s pretty good as a romance game, with a good number of romantic scenes, as well as little bits of affection here and there.

I romanced Charlotte on my first playthrough and didn’t leave disappointed. She was probably the most well written character in the game, although the others are also fairly good. The romantic elements with her are also good, and the game elegantly weaves together your business and romantic relationship with her.

Stat wise, the game is pretty straightforward. I dumped everything in Duelist and Chaleureuse, although I overwhelmingly relied on duelist, and I don’t think I was ever in a situation where I couldn’t beat any of the offered checks. There is a pretty annoying bug however, where the game repeatedly awards me the achievement for having a high skill level in these stats after every chapter.

The prose is good, but it also might be a bit heavy for casual readers. I noticed a very small number of typos during my playthrough, but nothing major.

The font for the chapter headings fits the setting, but it’s pretty hard to read. Additionally, they look somewhat awkward in the stat screen as the headers are physically closer to the bars above.

Either way, minus a few minor flaws, this is a solid entry, both on the story and romance front.

Undercover Agent contains pretty much everything you’d expect from the genre. It does not do anything outside the box, and is as standard as can be.

As far as plot and writing goes, you’re an agent for a government agency tasked with taking down a mysterious weapon. With the usual infiltration and espionage missions, there is little originality here. The spy genre isn’t really my thing, and with little here I haven’t seen before, it was hard to stay engaged. The writing is ok and pretty easy to follow, which is a plus, but a small one.

The stats (I believe) use fairmath, so reaching the higher levels can be tricky. I dumped everything into combat and IT, and ran into a few areas where I didn’t have the right skills to beat the available checks.

Like many other CoG (and some HC) games I’ve played, the romance is pretty throwaway here too. That said, I did like this one better than a lot of the others. There’s some flirting and affection, and the ROs role in the plot makes them better suited (in my opinion) to be an interesting RO.

Ultimately, this spy game doesn’t do anything wrong, but it doesn’t do anything right either. It’s up to you to decide if that’s your thing.

Despite the low word count, this game actually feels pretty long for something well under 100k words. This western title is no match for the 1.4 million word Tin Star in terms of the quantity of content, but still manages to punch above its weight.

It’s a strong story with a good mix of investigative work and action. I mostly dumped my stats into sweet talking and shooting, while leaning more towards sweet talking, and I think it worked out fine. There is a health system, but I’ve always ignored paying a visit to the doctor, and still managed to make it to the end (although I had to check the stat screen to notice that every part of me was hurting). There are a good number of choices on dealing with different groups and taking different actions.

Romances feel underdeveloped though, and that’s me being generous. I had some mild (me being generous again) romantic encounters with a few characters, but it didn’t amount to much. The stat screen listed some characters as my sweethearts, but it felt pretty meaningless.

Overall, I think the title is still pretty solid, even if it’s on the short side.

Like Treasure Seekers of Lady Luck, we find ourselves back on a pirate ship. In terms of plot, this is a little shorter, with only one major mission. After an… unorthodox recruitment process, you join up with a group of pirates who want something from a group of aliens. Of course, you could attempt to side with them or stick with the pirates.

There is a fairly straightforward stat based system over here. However, a good part of the game’s challenges comes from math questions and logic puzzles. At one point, I even got a couple of data analyst interview type questions, where I’m shown some patterned shapes, and need to pick the next one which belongs in the formation. Most of these questions are multiple choice and weren’t too difficult for me (save one which I just guessed at random because the question wasn’t very well written). However, something so logic-based just didn’t fit the vibe of the game. While there’s no excessive violence here, I started the game as a thuggish character doing rough stuff, and it feels more than weird that I’m now answering math and logic questions from some random aliens to please them. I don’t mind having these kind of questions in general, but the game uses them very heavily and it just feels inconsistent with the game’s tone.

The plot is pretty short and straightforward, with a fair bit of choices around a peaceful or violent approach. There is also a mildly interesting RO whom I romanced. However, there is little to explore in this setting as much of the plot is focused around a single mission with the aliens. There are also some choices around getting to know the crew, but it’s hard to make this meaningful with such a short plot. Writing is ok for the most part. I don’t think I saw any issues.

Honestly, I feel that this game could have benefitted from a longer plot, maybe with two or three connected missions to explore the world. There are some good parts here, such as the stat system and the relationships with the crew. However, it’s tough to make this work on a shorter plot. As for the puzzles, that’s one thing we could have less of. Multiple choice math questions get tedious after a while.

It’s a pretty engaging premise. Finding fame and fortune on the all-women opera, and finding love as a female character, romancing other women. Unfortunately, there are considerable problems with the execution which prevent the good ideas from getting off the ground.

The setting is interesting and the prose is evocative, conveying the atmosphere and the elegance of the Opera world and the city. There is plenty of romance and flirting, and the sexual content is mostly tasteful and well done, offered in good doses throughout the story without feeling excessive. The writing and descriptions can be a little heavy for causal readers, but I was largely able to follow it.

However, this game has its weaknesses as well. A lot of the characters and ROs just do not feel very deep in terms of personality. Apart from their well… physical attributes… which the game is happy to tell you about, a lot of the female characters don’t feel very distinct in terms of personality, and I eventually picked the lady with the nicest sounding name, because what else? The romance is fairly well executed and quite easy, with flirty encounters with each potential RO before you decide whether you want to say yes. The game also acknowledges your previous relationships (potential or decided) which is another nice touch. However, it was often hard to see how the current romance candidate differed from the previous one, personality-wise.

In terms of the story, there are quite a few interesting encounters, ranging from an escape from the cops to dealing with a difficult Ambassador. However, the plot does not thread these scenes together well, so it often feels like I’m jumping from one place to another without knowing why.

I liked the idea behind this, but the weak plotting and character writing really hold the game back. The romance elements are good, but these really needed to be paired with stronger character personalities to work. But, if you’re just looking for some light erotica and romance, you’ll find it here.

I pretty much stumbled upon this one by accident on IFDB.

It's incomplete, and likely forever cancelled. Still, it's extremely cute, with fairy tale JRPG vibes. It's short and pretty much ends when things are about to get exciting, but I still had some fun with this.

As with Jazz Age, I wanted to give this game four stars. However, I’m (sadly) giving it three for the same reason.

You’ve just gotten a new job as a nanny at Brimstone Manor. The story is actually very interesting and engaging here. I enjoyed getting to know more about the family, making friends with the toddler and the family dog (both of which carry their own dark secrets) and getting to learn of the battle between angels and demons. This is really good stuff, and I liked it.

However, the problem comes again from a lack of romance. I picked my RO very early in the game, and confidently picked all choices bringing me closer to him. However, while there are a very small number of steamy scenes (not strictly sex scenes), there seems to be little in the way of romance here. The ending chapter also has a choice where I choose to stay with my RO, but otherwise gives weak indication that there is a romantic relationship going on. Again, it wouldn’t be a big deal under the CoG label, but it just feels self-defeating under the Heart’s Choice label.

Thus, I’ll give the same recommendation that I have given for Jazz Age. If you want a good story, come here. If you want romance, you might not find it here. But… you’re playing a Heart’s Choice game for the romance, right?

Back again with another itch game from the Interactive Bonbons writer.

This one is pretty simple gameplay-wise, but with the same technical wizardry from the last two games. Again, there is an interesting use of styles, custom layouts, sounds, emojis and so on. Interestingly, the shotgun uses a train emoji.

It's pretty simple. Here, you walk around a 2x2 room, scrounging, resting and eating while waiting for the zombies to show up. Once that happens, you can attack them.

It's a survival game with gameplay broken up into different waves. You'll simply have to beat the current wave of zombies to reach the next level. It's not a very deep game, but it's pretty good as a short proof of concept and also feels more polished than the farming sim.

But after playing two other games from this writer, it's perhaps harder to wow me with all that tech savvy now.

While snooping around itch, I found out that the Interactive Bonbons writer actually has a few choicescript games up there. Well, I’m off to take a look.

As with Interactive Bonbons, there is plenty of tech savvy here. This game was written in choicescript, but the use of custom styles, sounds, emojis and the overall display really shows how a choicescript game can look creative and great. Seriously… I might want to get my hands on whatever custom styles.css file this game used.

Unfortunately, the gameplay is just a grind. Day by day, I’m picking up feed from the barn, walking to my livestock and feeding them. If I forget to feed them, they fall sick and require medicine to get them back in health. Then, after feeding them, I butcher them one at a time, so that they can feed me instead.

After some time, the animals decided to spice up the party by breaking their own stalls, requiring me to spend time fixing them. Navigating the barn in choicescript is also pretty tricky, and a map could have helped.

I ended my playthrough stuck in an infinite loop, where I was unable to leave a stall. (All other options were disabled, and the ‘leave’ option returned me to the same screen.) Buutt… I got to enjoy the technical creativity on display so I guess that’s something. :)

Earth is a penal colony, where all sorts of aliens, or mythological creatures to us humans, are sent to serve their prison sentences. Honestly, with all that advanced technology, whatever alien government out there would be better served finding a barren planet out there to transform into a prison. Maybe with actual prison facilities, life support systems, or whatever.

You're a parole officer for these alien-monsters, making decisions on whether these monsters had been on their best behavior and deserve to go, or whether they need to spend more time in the slammer. Honestly, with tons of delicious humans right around the corner in this 'prison', it seems like a recipe for trouble. Life in a penal colony is probably pretty boring after all. I would be surprised if they weren't thinking of ways to handle the monotony.

To nobody's surprise, some of these monstrous folks are out there causing trouble on Earth, so it's up to you to deal with them.

Minus the absurd premise, the story and writing is pretty entertaining. There was one decently interesting RO who works with you on missions.

I messed up a ton of checks during the game, and got my clearance decreased until it became negative. Still, I managed to beat all the checks for the final battle, turning my fortunes around and ending the game as a top agent.

It's a fun adventure if you're able to get over the premise. Seriously, what makes you think these alien-monster-prisoners won't be tempted to cause trouble?

Dawnfall is pretty tough to rate. It features an interesting setting and somewhat strong writing. The ending scene explores some interesting themes of loyalty, betrayal and sacrifice.

However, the prose is as heavy as a tank, with a lot in the way of length and detail. There is plenty of lore, special terms and worldbuilding which the game wants to convey to you. But in this regard, the game basically throws you into the deep end from the start and keeps you submerged there for the entire story. I was pretty much running the CPU in my brain on overclock mode throughout the game, just to digest the thick and heavy prose as well as the content within. For casual readers or someone who wants an easy read, I can’t recommend this.

There are a couple of stats in the game. I was mostly sigils, sigils, sigils everytime I saw a stat check, and as far as I can tell, it seems to have worked.

Romances are a tricky thing. You can romance everyone, and there’s even an achievement for it. I got it on my first try simply by picking the romantic options whenever they came up. There is also a final romance scene where you have the option to talk with anyone (and everyone?) for a final romance scene, but I decided to stick with one person at that point. Some characters are in polygamous relationships and will insist on it if you try to suggest otherwise, but at least they’re upfront about it. (For the record, I’m not strictly opposed to poly relationships, just that it’s not my thing.)

Romance scenes appear to be mild for the most part. I always picked the “romance and sex” options, but didn’t see anything very explicit.

It’s a good title, but it feels really impenetrable to casual readers. As a romance game, I’d rate it as okay. The strength of the game comes from the worldbuilding, setting and storytelling. But you’ll probably need brains of steel for that part.

To the City of the Clouds is quite interesting and well written. The archeology genre is not very common, and you'll probably need to be a grad student or professor to get some of the writing and the jokes, but this was generally an easy and enjoyable read.

However, the game's main problem is the rocket-boosted pacing. The game darts from scene to scene, spending little time on each before jumping onto the next. When you finally reach the fabled City of the Clouds, you'll only be spending a few scenes there before you're out.

The game does branch quite a bit, especially given the low wordcount, which might give you an idea of how quickly everything needs to run.

There were also some questions on gender and romantic preferences in the starting chapters, but I don't think I saw much of romance in this game.

If you're the grad student type, or if archeology is your thing, you might enjoy this.

Before this review, the lowest rating I gave to any game on this website was three stars.

You play as a ‘Headcrusher’ for a powerful crime lord, tasked with sending messages through some particularly unspeakable means. My guess is that it takes place in 1950s New Orleans, going by the initial setting description and the fact that this game calls itself a noir thriller. However, some references to Disney’s imagineers and Donkey Kong broke the immersion. Unfortunately, the problems were just getting started.

The plot makes no sense and seemingly jumps from one point to another without coherence. At one point, your character can encounter robot animals and become some kind of sci-fi cyborg. Nothing in this game indicates that it’s supposed to be a parody of some sort, so all I can do is go “whaaaattt????”

There is also plenty of blood and gore in this game, but much of it felt like the game trying too hard to be dark and gritty. Minus everything I’ve said above, the prose is okay, but nothing which can salvage the many issues I see.

I managed to get a pretty good ending in the game, where I defeated the bad guy and saved the love interest. Yet, it was hard to feel satisfied.

With genuinely snarky and humorous writing, this game is a pretty entertaining read.

Without spoiling too much, you’re working as a real estate agent for your unreasonable and tyrannical boss. One day, she sets a challenge to deal with ‘overstaffing’ issues. You are given an awkward property to add to your portfolio, and you’ll have to try to make as much as you can from it. Fail to meet the cut, and you get the sack.

Most of the game is centered around making money off your property. It starts off pretty innocently as you struggle helplessly to rent the house to all manner of problematic tenants, before finding out some… supernatural… means to bring in the bacon with your haunted house.

Unfortunately, at its core, this is largely a simplified business sim, where you make decisions to maximize the money the house makes for you. There is little in the way of exploring relationships with other characters, save a rival whom you try to screw with on a few occasions. You do make a few slice of life type decisions here and there, but otherwise, the game is largely centered around the main goal of driving up that dollar number. It’s not strictly a bad thing, but I felt there was more that the game could’ve explored.

It’s a solid short story, and probably recommended for an easy and funny read.

The game felt promising initially. The prose, writing and setting carried a lot of charm and cuteness. I liked the premise and felt that this could be a pretty good kids game.

However, much of your search for the elusive mermaids takes place over a series of scenes which do not feel very well connected. I got a pretty negative ending in this game which also felt sudden and confusing. I think this game has multiple endings, but I didn’t feel like returning for another round.

You can romance your patron in this game. I managed to accomplish my romance, but it felt really forgettable.

I liked the genuinely sweet and charming vibes in the game. However, the story and plot didn’t quite do it for me.

Joining a crew of space pirates and working together on missions to steal treasure. The premise works, but the execution has no shortage of problems.

Starting with the minor issues, there are unexplained pronoun changes in the game, sometimes on the same page. There is an inventory system, but it’s heavily underused. I bought almost everything in the shop on the first time I had access to it, but found limited opportunities to use those items. Character relationships are measured with opposing stats. (why??)

Most of the missions are ‘room puzzles’ where the game allows you to walk between different rooms, solving puzzles to move on to the next stage. Sometimes, you’ll need to unlock something in one room to unlock the other. This can be tough to pull off in the choicescript engine, and it’s actually quite well done here. Unfortunately, that’s the biggest praise I can offer.

At the ending battle, I chose to openly betray a certain group of people. Yet, in the ending mission, they were treating me as a hero, without much explanation as to why they had decided to forgive and forget. Another character was working to rescue someone who had been imprisoned, yet does not follow up on this after successfully defeating the imprisoned character’s jailor. The ending just didn’t make sense and felt rushed.

It’s not a bad game. Maybe it’s worth your time for a small bit of entertainment. But it could use some work.

My first playthrough didn’t exactly go smoothly. I failed to romance the character I liked (I did carelessly mess up a few choices there) and my special project with my kids didn’t go all too well. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the playthrough and left with a good impression.

You are a single mother, caring for six children with werewolf powers while trying to manage your day job. You’ll also meet a few interesting characters, go on dates with them and perhaps win the game of romance. This is largely a slice of life game, although there are plenty of interesting events to keep the story going.

The prose can feel kind of rambling at times, although it’s mostly well written. The ROs also have fairly interesting personalities, and I ultimately went with the schoolteacher.

It’s a short but solid title, with a good dose of romance and parenting.

The Fleet is probably somewhere between Interactive Fiction and a choicescript battle simulator, but not a game which fits either category completely.

Most decisions in the game are centered around battle decisions or management decisions in preparation for said battles. The story and plot is very barebones, most characters do not receive much development and there is little done in exploring the setting and the different races/factions you're allied with or fighting against.

There are a few interesting choices around dealing with rebellions, betrayal and politics, but these are a small minority. Most of your choices will be around combat strategies or combat resource allocation. As far as I can tell, the stat system appears fairly deep and the combat system gives you plenty of options. Still, I was (seemingly) able to beat these battle checks most of the time, so I'm not sure how the game's difficulty really works.

If you want a choicescript game which is heavy on battles and battle management, this is it. However, I do think it could have benefitted from more exploration of the setting and the different factions in the game.

The story starts out with you trapped in a videogame universe, trying to figure out what just happened. For the first part, you travel through several videogame worlds, meeting some other characters seemingly in the same predicament while being treated to various videogame references and jokes. It's an interesting start, although there is one very annoying spaceship puzzle which gave me a lot of frustration on my first run (it took me three attempts to beat it, on a blind playthrough) and alone really deterred me from multiple playthroughs.

There are two romance interests in the game. Be warned, there is no happily ever after here. Trying to keep things spoiler free, the game splits into two separate paths depending on your selection, with one RO path having much more content than the other. Here, the game explores some really thought provoking themes of AI, reality, existence and so on. I felt it was really well done, although folks after a happy ending would likely disagree.

There is plenty of branching at the second half of the game, and the writer released a full flowchart. However, if you want to see most of it, this necessitates playing through the earlier chapters all over again and doing that annoying spaceship puzzle all over again. Having checkpoints or a save system (seriously) would have made exploring more endings a less daunting proposition. For me, I played the game twice (one with each RO) and was too lazy to go back for more.

It's definitely a unique game in terms of genre and structure, and one that really gets you thinking. I liked it a lot, but it's definitely not for everyone.

And please give me the option to skip that spaceship puzzle on second playthroughs! (I know the game gives you an option to skip it, but I only got it after failing the puzzle twice.)

It's a pretty quick but enjoyable romantic short story, where you enjoy a few romantic activities with your partner before concluding it with a moment of passion.

Character creation is pretty detailed, especially for a game of this length. The writing is sweet and evocative, although a little more on the descriptive side. Overall, I enjoyed reading about the romantic activities, and would say this is good for a quick read.

Science nerd puns and jokes galore! You’re a brain in a jar, working for a dubious corporation as a brain for hire. Clients need your help, and as a brain, you’ll have to do some of the thinking for them. Of course, spending the rest of your existence being a brain-slave is not on your plans. In the meantime, you’re plotting to escape and save the other brains.

The story and plot isn’t too difficult to follow, although it won’t win much interest among the fans of fantasy and superheroes which make up a large portion of the choicescript fanbase. The pacing gets a little quick at times, but otherwise, I enjoyed it.

The stat system is a headache, however. Like Choice of the Dragon, it uses an opposed stat system. However, it was hard to guess what choice affected what stat (if any) most of the time, and I wound up with a pretty balanced (read: useless) character in the stat department. Some of the stat checks at the end are also pretty tough.

There’s some branching and multiple endings. If you like science humor, you’ll probably enjoy the writing here. It was a fun read for me, largely of the science variety.

In Divine Ascension, you play as a powerful deity, working to spread your faith and gain greater power for yourself. Unfortunately, this world isn't quite fully at your disposal. There are also other deities around, whom you can choose to form alliances with or destroy over the course of the story.

There is a stat based management system here. It works like a currency, where you gain a certain amount of it, and can spend it on a stat check when the need arises. It would be good if the game could describe what some of these stats meant in story terms, but you'll work it out along the way.

There are multiple options and paths in the final battle, and the game will also give you some hints as to your chances and the easier and harder options. I managed to get a fairly good ending on my first attempt, siding with some deities and annihilating others.

Games which allows you to play as a deity are still pretty rare in the Hosted Games space. All in all, it's a short and fun game, with fun stat management elements and decision making.

Under different circumstances, I would’ve given this game four stars. However, there is one major problem which led me to give its current rating.

You play as a fresh-faced new arrival in Prohibition Era New York, hoping to find fame and fortune on Broadway. However, the road to stardom is a perilous one as you try to scrape a living in the city while hoping for your lucky break.

The setting and writing is actually pretty good, and I enjoyed the story quite a lot. However, there is one major flaw with this game.

Romances feel secondary in this game. In a Heart’s Choice release, that does feel self-defeating. There are two romance options, but there just seems to be little in the way of romance with these characters, and interactions in the game make them feel more like business associates for the most part. There is a fairly intense sex scene in the story, but with the lack of romantic buildup, it feels like it was merely there to check a box.

If you’re here to read a good story, Jazz Age provides one. But if you’re here for romance, which I presume you are if you’re looking at the Heart’s Choice label, this might not be it.

This is a surprisingly cute and entertaining game. Likely inspired by spore, you start from a microorganism in a rock pool which gradually goes through various stages of evolution, building a civilization and going on to rule the galaxy. Most decisions are reminiscent of the game, from choosing evolutionary paths to deciding whether you want to befriend other species or eat them. The writing is also humorous and conveys the feeling of the 2008 game well. If you’ve played Spore, this is certainly an interesting choicescript adaptation to try out.

I have a terrible weakness for fur babies, so this game gets five stars. Especially after the onslaught of cute cat pictures.

Anyways, you play as an aspiring cat breeder, and can choose from different breeds to raise. This involves meeting with an interesting cast of characters with their own backstories, and cats. There is a slight bit of resource management here, where you can decide what sort of goodies you can buy to spoil your cats with. There is also some discussion on disability, which I also felt added to the game’s depth. I think there’s an optional romance as well, but I wasn’t able to trigger it on my playthrough.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward and fun, and the story is engaging. I largely splurged on the most expensive things for my first playthrough and landed in the negative for a while, but managed to pay back my debt and then some by the end of the game.

It was short, but a good bit of fun. It seems that the game managed to find my weak spot.

An apocalypse (of an unspecified nature) takes place, and you decide that it’s best to take refuge in a Zoo. I’m not sure I buy the game’s reasoning, but let’s keep going anyway.

Much of the game consists of making decisions to maintain this zoo and manage the animal inhabitants within. You may also get a companion to join you, for better or worse when it comes to the zoo. There is some level of branching, as well as a final battle of sorts where you can reach a bad end.

Unfortunately, it’s just hard to have an engaging story and gameplay with this sort of setup. The writing is good, and it is interesting to think about choices regarding the different types of animals within, as well as to learn more about them. The product, as a whole, just isn’t as entertaining. The game’s branching does allow for some replay value, but it was difficult to motivate myself to go for another round.

All in all, it’s a polished and competently made game. Just that it wasn’t something which I really enjoyed.

This is a fairly solid title where you play as a starship captain, working alongside an obnoxious onboard computer to achieve mission success. The story and ethical dilemmas, while not the most original, do a fair job.

Your job here is to aid humanity in a conflict against an unusual alien race. Along the way, you find out more about the motivations of the different players in the conflict and the stakes involved. Some of the revelations did leave me scratching my head a little, but it was mostly ok. For the record, I picked the ending to wipe out the enemy completely, gaining vast riches in the process.

There is a fairly deep skill and upgrade system in the game. I had probably failed or messed up a good number of checks, but still managed to reach the end of the game.

It’s not difficult, and the story is likely aimed at a younger audience. It’s not the most outstanding game out there, but it does a fairly good job.

You’re trapped in a nightmare, and need to pick the right choices to understand what’s happening to you.

The game’s design is pretty straightforward. It’s a linear adventure through a series of scenes in a nightmare. Well… dreams (and nightmares) can take all sorts of forms and generally don’t make any sense, and that’s the case here too. Still, your objective is to get a certain stat above a certain level to get the ‘good’ ending. Additionally, you’ll also need to raise another stat to unlock more options and better outcomes.

You’ll need to deduce which choices in this nightmare will bring you closer to the stat increases you need. It could take some trial and error to reach the ‘good’ ending.

There are a few typos in the game, even if the writing is generally ok. Unfortunately, there’s just little in the way of plot in a series of nightmare scenes. The trial and error based gameplay may or may not cut it for you, and even if you reach the ‘good’ end, it’s pretty short and doesn’t say much. You could play with it for a bit, but it’s probably not a game you’ll spend plenty of time with.

The plot behind this game is simple. You’re a thief, you’ve heard of an opportunity, and now you’re out to liberate some gold from a vault.

Gameplay is quite heavy on trial and error. There is one (or maybe multiple?) true path to reach the good ending and obtain the gold. A few choices will test your thinking and calculation, but most choices appear to be the sort you work out by trial and error, to figure out a path forward which does not lead to a dead end. There are no stats here, just choices which will bring you forward or to a premature game over.

If you’re looking for a more traditional choicescript game, this isn’t it. This is mostly a short challenge to complete a story by working out the best (only?) path forward, possibly through numerous game overs and restarts. Still, it is a decent way to pass the time if that’s your thing.

Island of Carnage is a fairly solid short game for a bit of entertainment. You play as a journalist, traveling to a dangerous island for a special investigation. However, said island is filled with red-eyed mutant people looking to make you their next meal.

The game is pretty combat heavy, with a lot of action/horror scenes and fight or flee options. Health is a stat within the game you have to keep track of, as letting it fall to zero could lead to a game over. There is also a simple inventory system, with consumables which can restore your health, and a few rare chances to pick up other items. It’s a simple system, but it’s serviceable.

There are some plot twists and moral decisions, but the game’s plot is generally quite heavy on action and fighting.

If you want a fast paced game with a mix of horror and action, this short game should do a fair job.

For some reason, I decided to dig through one of my oldest memories, the second choicescript game I played and the first one ever made.

Unfortunately, as with Choice of Broadsides, this hasn’t quite aged well. The game starts you off with a lot of character creation options, including gender, but this does not seem to affect the game in any way. It does not even get a mention on the stats screen.

The stat system is a mix of opposed stats (e.g. brutality/finesse) as well as regular stats (e.g. infamy). To beat most stat checks, you’ll need to focus on a certain stat and stick to it consistently, hence staying on one end or the other of the opposed stats. The infamy stat can be used to beat some checks in the game. The wealth stat keep tracks of how much money you have, but to the best of my knowledge, this is rarely tested in the game and is largely a personal progress meter.

There are some characters in the game, but most have little in the way of development or personality. There are ROs as well, but these feel like no more than stat checks.

It’s a short and fun romp, if you want to see the very first choicescript game which started it all. Nevertheless, if you are out hunting for free choicescript games, there are longer and better options on the CoG and HG omnibus.

Interactive Bonbons is no typical choicescript game. Instead it is a bunch of minigames made in the choicescript engine. A couple of these minigames have very small plots around them, but this is mostly mild flavor.

If I were to rate this game on the basis on creativity, uniqueness or technical chops, it would be five stars, no question about it. There is a very interesting use of the engine's code to made this game, as well as an interesting use of sound, emojis and other gimmicks.

However, this game feels more like something I'll play with for a bit, get bored with, then return to the shelf. After being wowed by the technical display, a lot of these games really struggle in the fun department. Games like snakes and ladders are probably more fun to play as an actual board game rather than through the choicescript interface.

It's good for playing with for a moment, but it's not something which I'd keep for the long term.

If I had an award for “Best Game which nobody but me liked,” this probably would be it. Arthur: A Retelling wasn’t too warmly received in terms of ratings, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

The game is a parody of the original tale of King Arthur, with strong vibes and references from Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. As with the Disney movie, Merlin is a comical and bumbling mentor, leading young Arthur on a couple of misadventures. Sir Ector is a tyrannical master, sentencing young Arthur to a life of pointless drudgery. The game is also one which doesn’t take itself seriously at all, with countless modern references. Humor is a tricky thing to pull off, so it may or may not work for everyone.

You get to pick your gender, although you’re stuck with Arthur as your name, despite the apparent option to choose something. There is something of a mild romance option with Guinevere (but this isn’t a romance game so set your expectations accordingly). There are no stat checks from what I can tell, although there is a fair bit of branching with all sorts of humorous options.

I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. Perhaps I’m crazy or perhaps everyone else is crazy. Maybe both. Honestly, since it’s free to play, I would personally recommend giving it a try if you’d like a short story with a few laughs.

Choice of Broadsides is the first choicescript game I played, back in 2010. For some unfathomable reason, I decided to come back to it some fifteen years later. It brought a slight bit of nostalgia, but not much else.

The game breaks a few modern recommendations. There are a good number of two choice options, as well as fake choices which do not even change flavor text. Mini walls of text are present in some of the choice options, making them look somewhat unsightly. Also, while I recommend a long and linear approach to writing CS games, this one is linear to a fault.

Apart from one character who serves as the player’s main rival and final antagonist, a lot of the characters, including the ROs, have only a little more character development than a name on the screen. There is a lot of copy-pasted text for the three ROs, reducing their depth even further. There is one part where you have to choose a subordinate officer, but there is so little development for the selected characters that it’s difficult to make this a meaningful choice.

Choice of Broadsides is free to play. Still, there are plenty of better free choicescript games around, even under the Hosted Games label.

Full Disclosure: I was a beta tester for this game. This review is based on the version of the game I played during the beta testing process.

Leas: City of the Sun is a fantasy story of sizable length. You play as a highly skilled agent, proficient in a selected set of skills and sent on a mission in a mystical world outside, filled with strange creatures.

You have three romance options in the game, each with their own quirky and interesting personalities. I eventually picked Keo, but making a choice was certainly hard, and reading about the romances was certainly enjoyable. RO genders are determined based on your own gender and sexuality. Speaking of which, there are plenty of customization options which you would expect in a choicescript game. Along with your name, gender and skills, you can also customize your physical appearance, hair and tattoo selections.

The skill system is probably a bit of a weakness. Without giving too much away, the skill system isn't too difficult to handle, and beating checks should be pretty straightforward almost all the time. Personally, I think it could be a little harder, and this is coming from someone with a severe aversion to difficulty.

The writing and worldbuilding is solid and does a good job of conveying the fantasy world before you. The pacing is slightly on the slow side, but still reasonable for the most part. If you like fantasy and prefer a stronger focus on romance or story elements, you probably won't be disappointed here.

Oedipus Rex is a tragedy, a man cursed by prophecy to (Spoiler - click to show)kill his father and marry his mother.

However, that does not have to be the case here. The game gives Oedipus the option to avoid the tragedy of the original play through a series of decisions. Additionally, the game also provides some optional hand-holding. You can choose to have the game guide you down the path of the prophecy or away from it, or an intermediate option which gives you the freedom to make choices and decide your fate.

The story and writing is told well, and does a good job of conveying the world of ancient Greece and the elements of the play. There are some mild RPG and resource management elements here, such as managing your supply of the in-game currency and buying things which may aid your adventures, but nothing overly complicated. There is also a riddle section, as per the original play.

There is plenty of branching and different options within the story, where Oedipus can follow the path of the original tragedy or stray away from it. The game is a little short as far as a single playthrough goes, but there is replay value here. All in all, it is a thought-provoking and enjoyable ride.

Oh yes. The most rated game in the HG omnibus. In the Great Tournament, you start as a young boy from a humble background who works his way up to be a squire, and then a knight. Gameplay consists of two parts, a largely linear story section at the beginning, followed by an exploration section for the second half.

The story is actually surprisingly good, with a solid cast of interesting characters. This section is pretty linear, although there are a few combat sections here and there to put your gameplay skills to the test.

The second half is also great from a gameplay perspective, where you get to travel around, visiting various places and interacting with different characters. The sandbox and free-roaming elements are also quite well done.

There are also several romantic interests, with a good mix of different personalities whom you can get to know and build a relationship with over the course of the game. This part is also good.

The game culminates in a final challenge with various choices which will put your skills and past choices to the test. I’ve never really had any trouble beating it, but I’ve always played on easy so…

As with Swamp Castle, this game demonstrates how gameplay elements can work in a choicescript game. In addition, there is a solid story and character cast. I have different thoughts on the sequel, but this game, as it is, is definitely fun to play.

In Swamp Castle, you play as the newly minted lord of a small fief. Gameplay largely consists of making decisions about fief governance, particularly in regard to taxation, construction, dealing with various factions and so on. Still, there is an overarching plot to follow, with a substantial bit of branching, which adds to the replay value. There are also plenty of little secrets here and there for players who try to venture off the beaten path.

The prose is slightly rough and won't win any awards, but it is mostly serviceable and has a nice touch of humor at times. The game also contains art, mostly stock images with little regard for consistency with each other, so it could be somewhat immersion breaking.

The gameplay elements, while straightforward, are actually pretty fun and fairly well implemented. Some management decisions are woven into the story, and battles provide a good bit of strategy, while being provided in doses not large enough to feel tedious.

All in all, the game provides a good example of how management and gameplay elements can be well implemented and fun in a choicescript game.

In this game, you play as a child who is sold into slavery and trained to become a gladiator. There is a pretty interesting cast of characters to get to know. As far as I can tell, the story is largely linear, with most choices affecting your stats or relationships with said characters, or testing those values.

It is also possible to die in the game, which ends in a final battle which will put your stats and decision making to the test.

The most disappointing part about the game is that it is somewhat short and clearly intended as the first part of a much larger story. It is great, but just leaves you wanting more. It is an enjoyable read, and I really wish it could have gone on to its intended end. Just be prepared if you do decide to take a look.

Reviewing this game is tough. In this short RPGmaker game, the developer talks about his own experiences working on previous game projects. Gameplay consists of visiting different houses within a small map, talking to some characters who briefly describe their experiences, and by doing so, recounting the developer's own experiences with developing those projects.

Is this interactive fiction? Given that it mostly involves talking to characters who deliver text-based content, I suppose the answer could be yes. However, being an autobiographical game, it is probably somewhere between fiction and non-fiction.

The bigger problem is that something like this might have worked better as a series of blog or forum posts rather than an actual game. As a game, it's just hard to make this fun. I enjoy reading about the experiences of others, just that I'm not sure that an exposition-delivering game is the best platform for this.

(Spoiler - click to show)There is a final boss in the game which completely destroyed me, while delivering some commentary about the current state of the game industry. I'm not sure if there's a way to beat it, but after 2-3 unsuccessful reloads, it wasn't something I cared to do any longer.

Flashpoint is one of the longer games I’ve tried in the SGC, and one which checks most of the usual CoG boxes. Players can select their gender, name, RO options, physical appearance and so on in the first part of the game.

There is an interesting cast of characters, and much of the first part is spent getting to know them. For the overall length of the game, I felt that a smaller cast might have worked better, but this is a minor complaint on my end.

There is also a basic stat system, with some skill checks when the story heats up. If you fail the checks or pick the wrong choices, you have the option to restart from a checkpoint, thankfully saving plenty of time.

I messed up the combat encounter on my first attempt, but managed to work out the right stats and choices upon a retry. All in all, it’s a short and entertaining game with a good dash of thrill and horror.

It’s an amusing and surprisingly thought-provoking entry, poking fun at how we constantly find ourselves late for something.

Gameplay is generally straightforward and as far as I can tell, the story is largely linear. What the writing actually does is reminding us how it feels to be late, then poking fun at our (often) fruitless attempts to do better next time.

It’s a short but entertaining read, reminding us of one of our biggest challenges in life.

In Temporal Thief, you play as an otherworldly being, out to obtain everyone's most precious yet criminally mismanaged resource.

While the game is broken into two parts, it's actually quite short, with just 1-2 choices in each part. Completing the first part activates a hyperlink which automatically brings you to the second part (an interesting trick right there).

The writing was evocative and helped to convey the suspense and dark atmosphere. I finished both parts in about a minute or so, but it provided a short bit of fun.