Jetbike Gang

Jetbike Gang is a masterclass in finding that sweet spot between concision and evoking a world right on the edges of one's sight. The choices are quick, and the story keeps its foot on the pedal, so to speak, which adds to the sense of this being a world that's fast and dangerous. Right up there with ASCII and the Argonauts (which you should also play) for doing so much with so few words.

The plot of Jetbike Gang fits easily within the 300-word limit of Twiny Jam. It is written entirely in punchy, evocative sentence fragments, a style that reminded me a bit of some scenes in Porpentine's games. This enables a storyline that doesn't feel the least bit cramped, with many possible endings. The whole story functions thanks to a perfect choice of words, and by working from cyberpunk and teen gang tropes to fill in the backgrounds. Graphically, there are few modifications to the standard Twine interface, but they add to the ambience.

There is not much of a strategic element; choices are often a coin-toss. This would be annoying in a longer story, but Jetbike Gang is short enough that replaying is worthwhile.

(Spoiler - click to show)I played it about five times until I got to a winning ending.

Well worth playing. One of the high-water marks of Twiny Jam.

Written for Porpentine's Twiny Jam, Jetbike Gang is a branching story about being in a jetbike gang, written within 300 words. It has a similar vibe to Kitty Horrorshow's Wolfgirls in Love, with the PC living on the edge of the law in a buzzing cyberpunk-like city and being on the run. But while Wolfgirls focuses more on a particular relationship and hinting at things, Jetbike Gang uses more concrete imagery and more clearly described actions.

This game slants toward the gritty and grim, but even then there's space for some (very indirect) wordplay and a surprising amount of branching.

This is Pacian's only Twine game I know. Entered in the popular Twiny Jam competition for twine games of 300 words or less, this has a Time Cave type structure. You can see all endings by lawnmowering, but it might be more fun just to explore 4 or 5.

The story is grim and gritty. You are part of a jetbike gang, and the cops are coming. All of the branches are short, and they all paint out a dystopian world of grime and flame and bad relationships. It is a vivid world.

A peculiar and amusing approach to the Twiny Jam constraints.

The game has a relatively substantial story set in a vivid futuristic world - but tries to tell it in as few words as possible. Believe it or not, it has 11 different endings (see: time cave structure).

Like all games by this author, it's well-planned and well-written - but, first and foremost, it's just fun. You always wanted to be a member of a jetbike gang, didn't you?

Worth the (extremely short) time it takes to play it.