OtisTDog

Top 25 Reviewer
Member since February 27, 2008
Last visited June 29, 2025
Profile ID (TUID): 8tqtppvpzluoq2jf

I've got some strong opinions for someone who's never shown the courage or skill to publish any IF of my own. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of the medium -- which I think is going to be rediscovered by the mainstream at some point -- and I hope you enjoy my reviews.

Here's a brief guide to my rating system. It is unusually harsh, because I intentionally rate using a power law distribution in which high scores are relatively rare:

5 stars -- a piece so incredible it effectively defines the genre or technique that it introduces or perfects. Very, very few works will get 5 stars from me.

4 stars -- a work that is significantly above average and achieves something notable. In general, a game that excels but does not quite reach the apex of its class. A relatively small number of works will get 4 stars from me.

3 stars -- a game that is competently put together and enjoyable to play, but lacks the special something that would make it stand out. Best summed up as "good, not great". Many games will get this rating from me.

2 stars -- a passable attempt that is deficient in one or more qualities that would make it truly enjoyable. Basically, something that could have been a 3-star game but fell short in some way, or otherwise falls into the "blah" category. Many games will get this rating from me.

1 star -- a work that, in my mind, has no redeeming qualities or is so horribly non-functional that any such qualities are not relevant to the playing experience. Very few games will get this rating from me, as I try to find something good about most games and generally avoid titles that look likely to score this low.

I am most harsh in my reviews when a work shows little evidence of effort on the part of the author. Conversely, I am inclined to generosity when I feel like the author tried hard to realize an interesting goal, even if he or she was not successful in doing so.

Interactive Fiction by OtisTDog

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Reviews by OtisTDog

First Things First, by J. Robinson Wheeler   June 23, 2025

"In its first moves, First Things First comes off as a kind of reverse "my apartment" game -- the protagonist has accidentally locked..." - See the full review

All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows   June 15, 2025

"I have known about this game for a very long time, but I had always put off playing it because I understood it to be fairly difficult in..." - See the full review

Word of the Day, by Richard Otter   June 14, 2025

"This game has possibly the most misleading title that I've ever encountered in a work of interactive fiction. Although the name suggests..." - See the full review

Six, by Wade Clarke   June 12, 2025

"The first time that I tried Six was many years ago, and, as I recall, at the time I kind of blinked at it a few times in bemusement, then..." - See the full review

Inevitable, by Kathleen M. Fischer as Timothy Lawrence Heinrich   June 8, 2025

"An older game submitted to the 2003 Spring Thing, Inevitable -- which is not to be confused with a 2017 work sharing the same name -- is..." - See the full review

See all 146 reviews by OtisTDog
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