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Game Details
Language: English (en)
Current Version: 1 License: Freeware Development System: Inform 6 Baf's Guide ID: 1923 IFID: ZCODE-1-020904-FE7B TUID: 42qwzijsxp3yjjhg |
35th Place - 8th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2002)
A one-concept puzzle with minimal implementation of rooms and objects. There's nothing to play with, no story, and not much to do: either you get it, or you don't get it. Points for austerity, I suppose, but not many for entertainment value.
-- Emily Short
>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction
In 1998, there was In the Spotlight, a tiny but enjoyable game whose entire purpose was to embody one clever puzzle. Then, last year, there was Schroedinger's Cat, a less enjoyable (though competently produced) game whose sole reason for existence was to embody a completely baffling puzzle. Now we have Koan, a fairly irritating and badly programmed game that embodies one more-or-less nonsensical puzzle. Clearly, we're on a downward slope here.
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| Average Rating: ![]() Number of Reviews: 2 Write a review |
This game is not terrible. You are in a 3x3 grid of rooms with various objects. Your goal is to break a stone slab.
This is the whole puzzle of the game. There is helpful writing in the four corners.
As David notes in his walkthrough (which gives away the solution up front), he notes that the game is a bit underimplemented, and many responses are misleading.
A koan is a question that beckons you transcend your preconceptions of reality and it's laws.
Considering the game's premise, I deem room exploration a time wasting design error. As for the puzzle on offer, the question and answer are linked, but arriving at the solution is an arbitrary process, mainly because of the lack of interaction with the solution's elements.
The game starts with a great idea that, in irony of it's zen roots, can only bloom under a more focused design.
Coloratura, by Lynnea Glasser Average member rating: ![]() Stolen away by apathetic Blind Ones, your only desire is to return to your Cellarium and the Song of the Universe. They should understand. You shall make them to understand. |
9:05, by Adam Cadre Average member rating: ![]() The phone rings. Oh, no — how long have you been asleep? Sure, it was a tough night, but... This is bad. This is very bad. The phone rings. |
Photopia, by Adam Cadre Average member rating: ![]() "Will you read me a story?" "Read you a story? What fun would that be? I've got a better idea: let's tell a story together." |