GET MANIFE$TO

GET MANIFE$TO is a small-to-mid-sized sci-fi/fantasy/comedy/surreal parser adventure set in an energy research compound which has gone kablowie. It's not a game which makes a lot of sense, aesthetically or plot-wise. The blurb says the PC is an investigator of the kablowie incident, but the PC starts the game trapped in the compound, seemingly not having experienced the explosion. Since they're locked in, and wondering how to get out, and not an amnesiac, how did they get in? And when? And why is the S in MANIFE$TO a dollar sign? If you don't ask such questions amd are prepared to take in your stride features such as wisecracking skeletons of the dead, the utter uselessness of NPC Larry the (talking) Lizard, or the presence of a supersoaker full of radioactive piss, you may be in the right mood for MANIFESTO's brand of regular adventuring, which takes the player on a satisfying, if somewhat strange, romp through a post-disaster lab.

The game does suffer from a lot of first IF implementation oversights: interesting-looking stuff that's not there, plurals vs singular vs synonym oversights, and an undersized catalogue of responses. The game mentions the TELL / ASK system (me personally: ARGH!) for communication in its HELP, but I don't think these commands are required to complete the game. The main NPC, Larry the Lizard, had nothing to say about anything which might have helped me win. Regarding the one topic I got him to respond to, I must admit to having pulled it from a disassembly of the game after I became completely stuck. I feel okay about my stuckness and can give readers of this review a non-spoilering hint which will prevent them from hitting the same problem: Know that READ and X are not the same in this game, and that the most important props in this game won't do their tricks if they aren't READ.

I got a few ad-hoc laughs from MANIFE$TO. It hails from the school of random-leaning wack which can miss as often as hit when things aren't all sewn together somehow. Some of it hit for me, some didn't, and some of it made me raise an eyebrow and ask, 'Why?'. The game does, however, have a meta tilt to it regarding creativity and rules, which has a payoff if you get to the end. One thing's for sure – nobody's going to be able to say this game heeded a bunch of rules. It's more of a Why Not game.