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6 people found the following review helpful:
The unreviewable game, August 15, 2021by Rovarsson (Belgium) The first part of Spider and Web plays an intricate game with the expectations about the relations between player, protagonist, narrator, parser-voice and non-player character. It culminates in a cathartic intuition-bomb. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- sw3dish, April 22, 2021 - Karlok (Netherlands), April 14, 2021 - Jonathan Verso, April 11, 2021 - arslonga, March 14, 2021 - starlitevenings, March 13, 2021 - TheBoxThinker, January 25, 2021 - meadowmower, December 17, 2020 1 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
All-time favorite, December 9, 2020by baka-na-haha This is one of my all-time favorite IF games. Fun, with lots of depth - one of the most memorable games I've played. I could not recommend this more strongly! Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- mifga (Brooklyn, NY), October 14, 2020 - smrq, September 27, 2020 - C4rd1n4l, September 24, 2020 6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
Love Story, September 17, 2020by deathbytroggles (Minneapolis, MN) In high school I was in an abusive relationship; the song "Push" by Matchbox20 resonated with me so much that it became and still remains one of my favorite songs. Is it a great song? I don't know. I only know that it stirs within me something raw and profound. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- William Chet (Michigan), July 19, 2020 - Xuan Li, July 5, 2020 - quackoquack, June 10, 2020 - Cognitive_Prospector, June 6, 2020 - Panawe, May 28, 2020 - kierlani, May 12, 2020 - Ry (Philippines), May 2, 2020 - Elizabeth DeCoste (Canada), April 2, 2020 - Artran (Taipei, Taiwan), March 6, 2020 - Durafen, February 22, 2020 - Case, January 26, 2020 - _firexe, December 4, 2019 - beecadee, September 15, 2019 - Stian, August 27, 2019 - Ashen_, July 23, 2019 - florzinha, July 12, 2019 - tempest102, July 8, 2019 - Spike, May 16, 2019 - elias67, March 11, 2019 - nf, February 16, 2019 - Zach Shifflett (VA, United States), December 11, 2018 - JoQsh, December 10, 2018 - mrfrobozzo, November 29, 2018 - davidar, November 10, 2018 - kevan, October 12, 2018 - Laney Berry, September 28, 2018 - wisprabbit (Sheffield, UK), August 22, 2018 - DustyCypress (Hong Kong), May 19, 2018 - Ruber Eaglenest, May 13, 2018 - calindreams (Birmingham, England), April 13, 2018 - Helena Vernon, February 19, 2018 - o0pyromancer0o, January 30, 2018 - Guenni (At home), January 24, 2018 - 1PainfulPocket, January 10, 2018 - e.peach, December 28, 2017 - Prosilire (New York City), December 3, 2017 - stet, November 22, 2017 - karlnp (Vancouver, BC), August 23, 2017 - doodlelogic, July 17, 2017 - Aerobe, June 24, 2017 - Cory Roush (Ohio), June 3, 2017 - Bartlebooth, May 8, 2017 - ulmo, April 23, 2017 - TheAncientOne, March 25, 2017 - pox, March 24, 2017 - Christopher Hall (London, Great Britain), March 8, 2017 - Audiart (Davis, CA), February 17, 2017 - lkdc, January 31, 2017 - magicnumber, January 9, 2017 - piffling-paka (State College, Pennsylvania), December 6, 2016 - syb0rN1NJ4, November 14, 2016 - NinaS, July 3, 2016 - nosferatu, June 21, 2016 - Sodajerk, June 9, 2016 - Xavid, May 10, 2016 - Pegbiter (Malmö, Sweden), May 3, 2016 - Denk, April 11, 2016 3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
A mid-length sci-if puzzle game with two outstanding ideas, February 3, 2016Spider and Web is one of the most famous interactive fiction games, appearing at or near the top of several lists of Best IF. While I personally have enjoyed some other games more, Spider and Web is still in my top 10. I believe that part of its fame is its ability to draw in every kind of gamer; the story is interesting, the puzzles are hard but get easier with each failure, and those that don't know what to do after the transition mentioned in the game's ABOUT text can still feel great about their accomplishments. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- LynXsh, January 28, 2016 - Fantacide (California), January 14, 2016 - branewurms, January 13, 2016 - Aryore, December 13, 2015 - CasualGamer33356, October 14, 2015 - brian.j.sanders, September 29, 2015 - Khalisar (Italy), July 22, 2015 - Lanternpaw, May 16, 2015 - timsamoff (Southern California), May 4, 2015 - Mike Root, March 23, 2015 - Thrax, March 11, 2015 3 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Perfect, stripped down execution of the concept, February 25, 2015by Matt W (San Diego, CA) Spider and Web is the perfect distillation of an IF story that is designed entirely around a particular conceit. I'd say there's no way this story could be told in another medium, but (Spoiler - click to show) The Usual Suspects has a very similar structure, though it involves the viewer as dupe rather than Spider and Web's very clever involvement of the reader as the creator of the deception. I enjoyed Spider and Web very much; it's a reasonably short, well contained experience that shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in how interactivity can work in novel ways. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- BlitzWithGuns, December 21, 2014 - Catalina, November 30, 2014 - RaulFPL (Brazil), November 23, 2014 - CMG (NYC), November 10, 2014 - Matthew Darby (London, United Kingdom), September 20, 2014 - Sobol (Russia), September 12, 2014 - SleepyEmp, May 10, 2014 - shornet (Bucharest), March 23, 2014 - Ismarus, March 11, 2014 - favonia, March 10, 2014 - Lorxus, March 8, 2014 - Snave, March 7, 2014 5 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
A masterpiece, February 12, 2014by Simon Deimel (Germany) So, as this game seems to be praised by everyone, I finally decided to check it out. It is hard to give a review about this game without spoilers, so read with care. It starts with a scene that let's you think you are a tourist, but the player will very soon be taught better. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Katrisa (Houston), January 23, 2014 - francisthe3rd (Horseheads, NY), January 23, 2014 - scottmbruner (alameda, california), January 17, 2014 - lisapaul, January 9, 2014 - KidRisky (Connecticut, USA), December 20, 2013 - bigotitos, November 8, 2013 - Adam Myers, September 19, 2013 - Indigo9182, August 17, 2013 - Enrique, July 31, 2013 7 of
8 people found the following review helpful:
A good magic trick of a game, June 8, 2013by Jim Kaplan (Jim Kaplan has a room called the location. The location of Jim Kaplan is variable.) Related reviews: andrew plotkin, zarf Play it if: you want a short, sweet line of puzzles with a couple of good twists. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (5) - Add comment
- DJ (Olalla, Washington), May 9, 2013 - Jonn Mostovoy, May 5, 2013 - Floating Info, April 3, 2013 - Stier, March 29, 2013 - ptkw, March 6, 2013 - Edward Lacey (Oxford, England), March 4, 2013 - dk101 (London, UK), March 2, 2013 - Stewjar (USA), January 29, 2013 - Jimmy Gonzolo (New Mexico), January 17, 2013 - Emerald Rhapsody, January 1, 2013 - Sdn (UK), December 24, 2012 - Puddin Tame (Queens, NY), October 27, 2012 - AADA7A, September 19, 2012 - Meredith (California), August 25, 2012 - Carrideen (Iowa), August 7, 2012 - lastplaneout (Boone, NC), August 6, 2012 - Ben Treat (Maine, USA), July 27, 2012 - iffotun, July 3, 2012 - Herr Rau (München, Germany), June 24, 2012 - Dannii (Australia), June 13, 2012 - kala (Finland), May 25, 2012 - Trif (Germany), May 6, 2012 - Peloquin, April 14, 2012 1 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
Pretty rad, April 2, 2012by brandonmack I quite enjoyed this game - once I figured it out. I found myself trapped for some time, but once I got past that, the game got awesome. I love the ending(s). All great.(Spoiler - click to show) My favorite is, of course, the part where you use the acid to escape. I love that former knowledge and understanding of all the tools at your disposal give you the answer to the puzzle. And the answer is very simple. of course, the whole fact that the player starts knowing nothing is slightly frustrating, it also leads to an excellent result :) certainly one of the best pieces of interactive fiction I have played so far. Good stuff! I look forward to readig more of your work. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Christiaan, March 27, 2012 - Relle Veyér, March 1, 2012 - Costis, January 2, 2012 - Zack Kline (Near Seattle, Washington), December 29, 2011 - amciek (Opole), December 18, 2011 - Marco Innocenti (Florence, Italy), November 17, 2011 - X, November 7, 2011 - EJ, November 2, 2011 - trojo (Huntsville, Alabama, USA), October 13, 2011 - Ann R. J., September 11, 2011 4 of
9 people found the following review helpful:
Cool idea but a little too narrow, September 5, 2011I have to honest. I did not make it through this game. I was full of excitement when I started to play, but as soon as I typed 'i' and was carrying nothing of importance -- and later discovered this wasn't entirely true -- I became a little annoyed. I understand the reasoning behind this (because the player knows nothing at the start) but I found the handicap of this sort of play to be more bothersome than cool. The last straw for me was... (Spoiler - click to show)hiding from the guards. I knew I had to distract them with a noise and spent more than an hour trying to put together different pieces of spy equipment (voice transmitter, etc.) to throw them off. When I finally looked up the answer and saw all I had to do was throw a metal object, I decided to stop playing. In other words, there seemed to be endless combinations of how I could distract the guards, yet none of them worked -- which disappointed me. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (3) - Add comment
- Digibomber, July 29, 2011 - Shchekotiki, June 23, 2011 - Juleske, June 18, 2011 - André St-Aubin (Laval, Québec), June 1, 2011 - Rotonoto (Albuquerque, New Mexico), May 16, 2011 - Joshua Wilson, April 25, 2011 - baywoof, April 25, 2011 - JasonMel (Florida), April 14, 2011 - Jonathan Blask (Milwaukee, WI, USA), April 4, 2011 - Felix Pleșoianu (Bucharest, Romania), March 18, 2011 - frocutio (Irvine, CA), February 22, 2011 5 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
Intricate, February 2, 2011This game channels the player towards a pivotal, brilliant, "gestalt" puzzle which requires the player to piece together a couple of different patterns that the narrative created through its repetition of the backstory. The fact that the puzzle works so well is impressive all by itself, but "Spider and Web" also features clipped, stylish prose that creates a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere and describes a sinister, memorable NPC. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- snickerdoddle, January 28, 2011 - Ben Cressey (Seattle, WA), January 25, 2011 - Bernie (Fredericksburg, VA), December 23, 2010 - Stickz (Atlanta, Georgia), December 22, 2010 - Sylvia Storm, December 7, 2010 2 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
Amazing game, what most IF can only hope to achieve, December 6, 2010This game is so good it hurts. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (2) - Add comment
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6 people found the following review helpful:
What else is there to tell?, November 27, 2010by The Year Is Yesterday (California) Spider and Web is all about trial and error. Yet it somehow manages to make those trials and errors fun, intriguing, and occasionally illuminating. A too heavy-handed description of the story, or even the gameplay, would ruin the several "a-ha!" moments that Plotkin has set up for you. Play for a few minutes and you'll see the first. The second is nested much deeper.... While the game provides enough hints to keep things moving along, I was occasionally overwhelmed by the multitude of items in my possession, and the occasionally maze-like layout of the setting. However, there's a cognitively dissonant moment near the end - you'll know it when you see it - that could only be pulled off in IF, and only by somebody like Plotkin. It's when - no, I'll never tell. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Karl Ove Hufthammer (Bergen, Norway), November 8, 2010 - strask, October 1, 2010 - Brian Lavelle (Edinburgh, Scotland), September 12, 2010 - Joel Webster (Madison, WI), July 26, 2010 - karcher, July 11, 2010 - perching path (near Philadelphia, PA, US), July 7, 2010 - Sorrel, July 5, 2010 - Dan Efran, June 15, 2010 - Ghalev (Northern Appalachia, United States), May 14, 2010 14 of
15 people found the following review helpful:
A clever take on Rashomon, May 14, 2010by TempestDash (Cincinnati, Ohio) This was my third Plotkin-written game (discounting the Plotkin-starring game I played first, ‘Being Andrew Plotkin’) and I think it’s my favorite thus far. “So Far” was somewhat standard adventure hunt and puzzle faire (at least from a modern perspective, maybe in 1996 it was evolutionary), which was well written but wasn’t very fun for me. Then “Shade” was surreal and technically accomplished but left me feeling very unsatisfying because, ultimately, dream logic is really the absence of logic and Interactive Fiction games suffer horribly if you can’t figure out what the author was thinking. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Patrick M. McCormick (United States), May 4, 2010 - GDL (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), May 4, 2010 - lavonardo, April 28, 2010 - Azazel, April 2, 2010 - Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), March 19, 2010 - omenofdoom, March 6, 2010 - Sam Kabo Ashwell (Seattle), February 15, 2010 - Pinstripe (Chicago, Illinois), February 7, 2010 - Brian Conn (Eureka, California), January 29, 2010 - Josh Ragem (ID), December 31, 2009 - Grey (Italy), December 25, 2009 - yandexx (Saint-Petersburg, Russia), December 1, 2009 - Matt Wigdahl (Olathe, KS), November 12, 2009 - Brad Buchanan (Seattle, Washington), October 26, 2009 - Divide (Wroclaw, Poland), October 16, 2009 - tadjinar, October 9, 2009 - lupusrex (Seattle, WA), October 4, 2009 - Pepisolo, September 30, 2009 - strivenword (Utica, New York), September 2, 2009 - Squidi, August 27, 2009 - Cuxxu (Albany, NY), August 9, 2009 - Stephen Gilbert (Canada), July 23, 2009 - Hipster Scumbag, May 4, 2009 - four1475 (Manhattan, KS), April 10, 2009 - Jerome C West (United Kingdom), March 18, 2009 - Newbot, March 8, 2009 - winky, February 24, 2009 - bolucpap, February 12, 2009 - albtraum, February 8, 2009 - Adam Biltcliffe (Cambridge, UK), December 28, 2008 - Aaron Mumaw (Appalachia), December 22, 2008 - kba (berlin), December 21, 2008 - Shigosei, December 6, 2008 - brattish (Canada), October 26, 2008 - Nathan (Utah), October 25, 2008 - wlerin (Orichalcum Citadel, California), October 8, 2008 - beatdevil (Toronto. Canada), September 21, 2008 - Daniel Hermle, September 10, 2008 - Juhana, September 6, 2008 - burtcolk, September 3, 2008 - Genjar (Finland), August 31, 2008 - Maze (Rome, Italy), August 7, 2008 - Xazak (Oregon, USA), July 31, 2008 - Anders Hellerup Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), July 21, 2008 - Steven (Honolulu, Hawaii), July 4, 2008 - Catherine Daze, July 4, 2008 - Rose (New Zealand), June 25, 2008 - Beekeeper, June 8, 2008 - Seren (Paris, France), June 4, 2008 - Pavel Soukenik (Kirkland, WA), May 31, 2008 - Radhil (Lost), May 30, 2008 - Michael Everson (Canberra, Australia), May 6, 2008 - paperclypse (Portland, OR), April 23, 2008 - Dave Chapeskie (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), April 23, 2008 - Clare Parker (Portland, OR), April 22, 2008 - VK, March 31, 2008 21 of
23 people found the following review helpful:
A New Implementor is Born, March 24, 2008by OtisTDog When I first discovered that interactive fiction had started a renaissance of sorts, I was mostly excited about the possibility of playing the old Infocom titles again. I had tried several games before Spider and Web, and, like so many of those before it, this game started out bland and uninteresting. Like the others, it seemed to be the product of someone with far more enthusiasm than skill as either a programmer or storyteller; its most interesting feature seemed to be the title. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Aris Katsaris (Athens, Greece), March 17, 2008 - Cheryl L (Australia), March 11, 2008 - jfpbookworm (Hamburg, New York), February 25, 2008 - NiMuSi (London, UK), February 23, 2008 - J. Robinson Wheeler (Austin, TX), February 22, 2008 - Dan Schmidt (Boston), January 31, 2008 - Michel Nizette (Brussels, Belgium), January 18, 2008 - frankpape (San Jose, California), January 18, 2008 - incandenza (carrboro, north carolina), January 17, 2008 - Knight Errant (USA), January 9, 2008 - oddgrue (California), December 30, 2007 - Havoc Crow, December 28, 2007 - RichCheng (Warwickshire, UK), December 19, 2007 - Tyrog, December 14, 2007 - Miron (Berlin, Germany), December 11, 2007 - Sami Preuninger (New York City), November 30, 2007 - David Schweinsberg (Pasadena, California), November 27, 2007 - MattArnold (Ann Arbor, Michigan), November 24, 2007 2 of
14 people found the following review helpful:
Best IF game I've ever played, November 22, 2007by puzzler (Everett, Washington) This is the best IF game I've ever played. The story, puzzles, all work together perfectly. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Leland Paul (Swarthmore, PA), November 19, 2007 - ErWenn (Bloomington, IN), November 18, 2007 - Wesley (Iowa City, Iowa), November 11, 2007 - protobob, November 8, 2007 - Wendymoon, October 26, 2007 - Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), October 26, 2007 - aparrish (NYC), October 24, 2007 - zer, October 22, 2007 - John Murphy (Lebanon, NH, USA), October 21, 2007 - Michael R. Bacon (New Mexico), October 21, 2007 - Tracy Poff (Hamlin, West Virginia, United States), October 19, 2007 - Emily Short, October 19, 2007 1 of
24 people found the following review helpful:
No clue., October 18, 2007Had no clue from the start, tried to read the beginning of the walkthrough 5 minutes later(the existence of the walkthrough itself shows a fatal weekness in the design)... didn't manage to find some interesting pattern to play with. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
14 of
33 people found the following review helpful:
Frustrating and Dull, October 18, 2007by AmberShards (The Gothic South) Games like Spider and Web are why I've never understood the wide appeal that the author commands. At the beginning, the mechanism that drives the game lures you in. "This is different," you think. But then you realize that the entire game works that way, and the spartan storytelling style provides neither clues nor room for exploration. If you don't get every single detail right (and you have no way of determining the details ahead of time), you're sent back to start over. So you start over, and over, and over again. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
Baf's GuideA futuristic spy story with a highly unusual structure. The bulk of the game consists of flashbacks, as you try to recreate, to the satisfaction of the man interrogating you, the events leading up to your capture. The strangest thing about this is that the protagonist knows more about what's happened than the player does. Gameplay is quite linear, but somehow works anyway (in part because your captor gives you so much guidance). Starts off very forgiving, but ends with a frantic race against time. Nice gadgetry, unexpected twists, ties together in a very satisfying manner by the end. A real gem. I'm still discovering subtleties just by thinking about it afterwards. -- Carl Muckenhoupt
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