External Links
- ecdysis.zip
Contains ecdysis.gam
Requires a TADS interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links. (Compressed with ZIP.)
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About the Story
You wake, a pounding headache loud in your inner ear, the back of your head itching and tingling, your mouth full of cotton. The pain drives away your dreams, weird visions of alien landscapes...
Ecdysis is based on an entry in H.P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book.
Ratings and Reviews
| Average Rating:    Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 16 |
3 Most Helpful Member Reviews
Ecdysis is a compact bit of horror. Summarizing the plot too much would only ruin it, but it's worth knowing that this is one of several games based on snippets from H. P. Lovecraft's "Commonplace Book", and that the premise is a weird and disturbing one.
Ecdysis is fairly linear up until the late stages of the game. I found that the first release of the game had some awkward moments, but the later release is smoother and easier to play. Puzzles are mostly a matter of figuring out the one next thing you can do, and are not too hard -- but all the same this does make some good use of its interactivity. Worth a look.
Robbed of the "Best In Show" award, March 14, 2008A shot of pure Lovecraftian horror. Unlike the disappointing Dead Cities, this entry in the Commonplace Book Project maintains the creeping dread perfectly from beginning to end. No jarring implementation issues or intrusive default parser responses, no aimless undirected wandering, Ecdysis is short, sharp, and perfectly formed. There are multiple endings, all suitably Lovecraftian.
Ecdysis is underimplemented, extremely short and linear, heavy on directing the player and very limited in scope. However, it makes up for all of its shortcomings by being a very disturbing small piece of IF - even more disturbing than Lovecraft's average work. Not for the squeamish.
2 Off-Site Reviews
SPAG
You play an average husband who wakes up in the middle of the night in a cloud of weird visions and physical pain. As the short, linear narrative plays out you will be gradually transformed into something Other. It's genuinely creepy to guide your character's figurative and literal descent, although one might wish for a bit more interactivity to go with the solid writing.
-- Jimmy Maher
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Jay Is Games
"Ecdysis" toys with the player's perceptions in ways that only a text-based game can [...]
-- Emily Short
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Tags
Game Details
First Publication Date: June 15, 2007
Current Version: 1.6
License: Freeware
Development System: TADS 2
Baf's Guide ID: 3111
| IFIDs: | TADS2-73A28DCF8EB6077691F1273C2DA41118 |
| TADS2-4237898024ECA31166DFB23C3B352D26 |
If you enjoyed Ecdysis...
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Recommended Lists
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Disturbing by evil tabby cat
These are games which either sent a shiver down my spine, or made me look at reality differently. Only including games I've actually completed.
Polls
The following polls include votes for Ecdysis:The dark, the bleak, and the tragic by OverThinking
Send me your downers, your bummers, your wretched games that leave the player feeling like they've been kicked in the teeth.
Games with diseases that alter perception by Mrs. Info-adventurer
You know those parasites, fungi, and viruses that attack small insects or animals and control their minds? Well I'm looking for a game with a disease like that which alters your perception. Are there any games like that? Thanks a million...
Unreliable narrators by verityvirtue
I'm interested in games which hinge on the 'unreliable narrator', from amnesia to a plain distorted worldview. The more this distortion affects the storyline, the better.
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This is version 9 of this page, edited by JTN on 5 February 2024 at 1:35am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page
