The 9:00 AM Train

The 9:00 AM Train

This is the third tzbits game I've played, and it's more fleshed out and well-implemented than the others.

This is a Dialog game with a nice grey background styling in the online version. It's a fairly serious game, but the story doesn't get unveiled until later on. It includes some branching dialogue and some timed scenes.

The idea is that you need to get onto the 9:00 am train out of the area, and you haven't picked up your ticket yet. Trying to grab it, you find the service counters empty.

As another reviewer pointed out, the game is very constrained. While most actions you can try are implemented, they are implemented to express helplessness or frustration. Some games have tried that before and only ended up frustrating the player as well. This game keeps things moving though, making it fairly easy to keep going.

There's an option to add German or Italian into the game. I added German for practice, since I'm teaching it for the first time this semester. It was added in some key moments, but the game also used rot13 to express some soldier dialogue that is meant to be unintelligible.

I think the story here is much more effective than tzbits' earlier games, with some understated moments and some overt explanations. I wonder if it could be pushed even further; while I can't put my finger on it, some parts felt like there could have been more story or emotion or description, especially early on, more individual characterization. But I only say that because I like what is already there.