One Fifty-Nine: Drowned Secrets

This is a military mermaid exploration horror game, a genre I didn’t know existed until now.

This is also a choicescript game of around 25K words (according to the author), which can be played in less than an hour.

In it, you are a captive mermaid used by the government to carry out dangerous missions. Several divers have died in a certain area, and it’s your job to figure out what can go wrong. Your greatest tool is your voice, which can injure or soothe others.

You have to explore a mysterious shipwreck and deal with a number of frightening phenomena.

I liked the storyline and the various creatures a lot here. And there was plenty to do, like choosing what to explore first, deciding how risky to be when encountering new dangers, etc.

I sometimes found my attention wandering, including one scene mentioning a splinter that I reread two or three times. Other times I was very locked in, usually with the things unique to being a mermaid (like using the voice or dealing with the collar around your neck).

I like Jacic’s games in general but I think this one is especially good; the aquatic setting is the perfect setting for the author’s strange creatures and creepy atmosphere.