Grief

This is one of those games where you have to play over and over again in order to find the secret combination that allows you to win. The problem with this game -- as with all games of this sort -- is that emotion is crushed by the bus of monotony. You need prose that really hits home in order to motivate players to replay a game repeatedly, and Grief doesn't come close to such prose.

I played the game through once, and while I was surprised by the ending, I wasn't motivated to play it again -- nor did I have much hope that victory was achievable, given the name of the game. I suppose that's another way to play this game: just once, lose, and then reflect upon the nature of grief. However, even that method of playing is unsatisfactory, due to the just-the-facts-m'am style of prose. So what does Grief achieve? It manages to be decently coded, threadbare, and unmotivating.