As I Sat on a Sunny Bank

During Spring Thing '25, I wrote full reviews of several of the games in this anthology. I never made it to all of them, but I'm posting the ones I did write here, as I figure sharing some reviews is better than sharing none!

A Brand New World by Raiden

This is a fun story that starts with a relaxing walk on the beach but (possibly) goes somewhere very different! The opening descriptions drew me in, capturing the feeling of unwinding from your stress in nature: “It’s moments such as these that remind you that you are alive, that you can breathe and simply… be.” The descriptions are detailed and vivid, with some nice phrases like “the horizon painted in a hot pink colour as the last bits of sunlight embrace it.”

The main storyline is about visiting a fantasy world, but you can choose not to go, and in that case you get a completely unrelated story about encountering a lost child (with two possible endings). I think the game would be stronger if it eliminated that second possible storyline and focused on developing the fantasy world further and giving the player more choices about how to explore/interact with it (which I’ll elaborate on in the next two paragraphs!).

Remy was a good NPC; we get a strong sense of their personality, and I liked seeing their interactions with Mikhail. But I wanted to have more choices for how I interacted with them. For instance, at this part: “Should you say something? Should you keep quiet? Should you question why the dragon took to the skies the moment they showed up?”, I would have liked these to all be options I could pick from. I wanted to feel like I was shaping my relationship with Remy through my choices, instead of the game simply telling me how I responded to them.

I liked the choice of whether to approach the dragon or not—the text clearly signaled that doing so would be risky, and if you choose to do it anyway, you face the natural consequences! But the final choice of whether to stay or go was weaker; similar to entering the hole or not at the beginning, it felt like a “Do something interesting” or “Don’t do it” choice. I think it’s generally more fun when both choices are interesting; for example, at the end you could pick which trinket you want to buy, or which part of the market you want to explore before you have to leave.

Anyway, I had fun with this and I look forward to more IF by this author!

Fragments of the Nile by Storyteller

This story has a fun historical-investigation plotline and a twist! I especially liked the scene where I entered the memory. And this was a funny reference by one ending to another: “At least you died pain-free, unlike some poor guy who might have been cursed in a parallel reality.”

Some of the choices were “Do the interesting thing”/“Don’t do it” like I talked about above. I liked that at the beginning, even if you choose to stay home you can still get a full storyline related to the Egypt mystery, and I think it would be nice if the choices reflected this. Instead of simply go/don’t go, the choices could be “Travel to Egypt” and “Offer to help out with research from home.” That way, the player knows they’ll get an interesting story no matter which one they pick.

A few other small things!

-I was confused when I exploded like a tomato but wasn’t dead! Maybe the game could tell me I died, but give me the chance to go back and try again? Or make it clear that the explosion wasn’t life-threatening.
-I noticed only one ending has a link to go back to the beginning, but it would be nice if all of them did.
-There are a lot of small spelling errors (a frequent one is “trough” instead of “through”), so I’d suggest running the text through a spellchecker, or having someone proofread it.

Power Turtle by 3N

This game is very cute; I enjoyed playing through multiple times and exploring all the different outcomes for my new turtle friend.

I liked that the opening choices were not “investigate the interesting thing”/“ignore it”! But, when I replayed, I found that both choices just lead to the same result, finding the turtle. Because of this, I don’t think a choice is needed here; you could just give a “Look in the water” link, and then let the choices start once the turtle has been found.

It was fun how many different paths there were in this story. “The fish and the turtle became besties” was one of my favorites; that line made me smile. There were some paths where storylines I was interested in didn’t get resolved; in one, the turtle grows bigger than me, but after that happens it isn’t mentioned again. In another, the turtle refuses to eat, and I never got a chance to solve that. So my advice here would be to keep exploring those story threads once they’re introduced. When the turtle gets big, maybe I can ride it, or I need to find a medicine that’ll make it small again.

Overall, a cute story with many different endings to find!

Those voices are getting louder, captain by Mushroom

This is a very funny and clever work; I replayed a bunch to see all the different possibilities, and every one was delightful. I loved the voice of the narrator talking to me, giving commentary and advising on what I should or shouldn’t do. And when I discovered the in-story reason for it, it was even better! Some examples:

-Ask him if he´s okay -Simply ignore him. (I mean…this guy is always nervous, why would you bother him and yourself by asking stupid questions.)

This is the first choice in the game, and it’s kind of the “do the interesting thing”/“don’t do it” sort of choice—but it works here because we have that outside voice pushing us to pick the “don’t do it” option. To me, this makes both options equally intriguing. I want to find out what’s up with this guy, but I’m also curious what will happen if I listen to this mysterious voice.

(You´d better comfort him, I´m not giving you other options.)

I loved this moment, where the voice takes away my agency because this poor guy just needs comfort so badly.

(Don´t. You. Dare.)

Another great moment, where the voice does give me two options, but it really doesn’t want me to pick one of them! (Of course, this meant I had to pick it…)

One tiny note that should be an easy fix—when I start up the game, it goes straight to the story instead of the opening menu screen like the others in the anthology (but the opening menu screen does exist; the “Play Again” button takes you there).

Finally, two more very funny quotes that I copied into my notes:

´´Crow, Crow! Captain is a #### !´´the parrot says. You don´t argue. The captain truly is a #### . You´re just about to teach the parrot a new curse word when the captain walks in.
.
“AND STOP MAKING OUT!!!´´ Captain yells with his nerves on edge. (He hates when sailors are not doing their job, he hates not yelling at sailors and he hates love…

Basically… go play this game.

Adapted from a SpringThing25 Review

Played: 4/13/25
Playtime: 1hr total, 8 games, what a bargain!

The Senica student anthology has become an indispensable part of the Spring Thing in my head. Probably because it’s been here as long as I have, I’ve never seen a Thing WITHOUT one! I look forward to it every year. So much creativity in such small bundles, ripe for rapid consumption and enjoyment. The low-pressure uniting theme (this year is ‘found on a riverbank/seashore’) giving a form for the inspiration to follow. What a great part of this community, and what a great batch of games this year.

If I did the ‘blurb/learnings’ thing again, it would cast that in stone going forward, so instead I am going to break and do it more freeform. I will close with a ‘my favorite thing…’

A Brand New World /by Raiden/ (15m, 3 endings)
I would love to be coy and teasing with ‘what do you think is found on the beach..?’ but its right there in the title! Probably not what you expected, no? There was a really nice twist in this one, as some background text hinted that people were going missing, but it turned out (Spoiler - click to show)they just didn’t want to come back! That was a really clever twist on what we might expect to be a horror premise. Instead, the player gets an all-to-brief introduction to an imaginative and playful fantasy world.
My favorite thing: I really like the long paragraphs of deep description. The author took the time to paint a vivid picture of their fantastical setting, and really conveyed it well.

BOTTLE /by M.A.S./ (5m, 5 endings)
Ok, this one ALSO telegraphs the found object in its title! It’s a classic, but this one ups the tension a bit with a large branch of endings that jump on you quickly and impactfully. This is a very streamlined, interesting branching game, very replayable due to its tight depth.
My favorite thing: The IF version of jump scare is the text message that both the player and protagonist character read together. If there is a two-word phrase MORE charged than (Spoiler - click to show)You’re Next! I don’t know what it is.

Fragments of the Nile /by Storyteller/ (5m, 4 endings)
Here’s a story that hides its found object from the title! The player is an archeologist, interacting with a find that has some secrets. I am a horror fan (I mean the whole conceit of this year’s reviews attests to this), so this story was right up my alley. There are quite a few endings available, and interestingly some tie together building a fuller picture of the threat. This is a very good use of multiple ending IF!
My favorite thing: I think this one really went the extra mile to establish its Eqyptian archeology setting. There are a few screens worth of table setting that really bring the player into the story very effectively.

Nothing /by Gooseberry/ (5m, 6 endings)
Here we find a book on the shore, one that we are continually presented with opportunity to reject, neglect, or read and follow. As game players we are likely to want to engage, but the continual variations on ‘ignore it’ are kind of funny and present a low-key realistic picture of life. We might as easily forget things we stumble across as engage them! If we do engage, we are treated to a time travel scenario where we might learn a bit… and might suffer some unexpected consequences!
My favorite thing: This game rewarded investigation. Careful players can find clues down one branch to keep from dying in another. This kind of player driven setup-payoff is one of the stronger aspects of IF - letting the player have a fair chance at navigating its more dire outcomes!

POWER TURTLE /by 3N/ (5m, 5 endings)
What might we find at the shore, other than shore life? Here, the player rescues a.. well, you see it in the title. From there, you are treated to a VERY broad branching decision tree, leading a large array of outcomes. It is very ambitious and very well done. Every branch seems fully fleshed out with the consequences and subsequent choices to make. It was kind of thrilling how wide the space got, very quickly.
My favorite thing: I explored a lot of endings, and what was really cool was while they were all very different, depending on player choices, they were all pretty ‘good’! Just in very logical and satisfying ways! Conditioned to expect shock twists, or ‘good/bad’ endings, this was a delightful surprise.

Those voices are getting louder, captain. /by Mushroom/ (5m, 2 endings)
This is a quick dialogue tree game, where the protagonists is talking to a shipmate about something he may or may not have seen. The ‘found object’ of this game. The game does a good job of presenting varying responses you might take to the poor man’s ravings, culminating in a neat twist that fully reflects how seriously you have taken his ravings!
My favorite thing: I am torn. On the one hand, my favorite thing was the use of color cues to reinforce the endings. Default color/font schemes put all the emphasis on text to carry the load, but graphical flourishes are very much part of IF and should not be neglected! On the other hand, The author does something cheeky with their choice dialogue, where the main character’s thoughts are parenthesized and italicized. They form an often quite amusing inner dialogue that contrasts humorously to the spoken dialogue, and in some places soft-guides the player.

Untilted by BB-Anon (5m, 6 endings)
This particular found object leads the player on a mini-exploration of a section of the beach. I really liked the real sense of geography the game conveyed. I could picture the beach/cliff/road area I was wandering around in. Depending on choices I made, I might not get farther than the investigation, or I may get to some really funny-bananas endings. I don’t want to spoil it, but I had no idea that was ANYONE’S wish, let alone mine! :]
My favorite thing: As a wannabe game designer myself, I really liked how this author reconverged their choices where it made sense. If you go down one branch, you may find yourself on a different branch due to how those choices bring you to a similar state. This is very important tool in the IF author’s tool box, and I love seeing it here!

Wonder of the Woods… by Leontine (& Eudokimos) (15m)
Wow, this one blew me away. The graphical presentation, scripted font, the wonderful character and animal illustrations.. the enthusiasm and love in the project really came through. As a player, you get to explore a quartet (quintet?) of friends, each of which has an animal "familiar", as they try to engage their section of river and a difficult friend of theirs. It is both deep and broad, and really paints a full picture of friends cooperating in a very busy, very important afternoon.
My favorite thing: It would be easy to say that the graphical care was my favorite, but I actually think I liked the game setup even more. Being able to play as four different girls, each with their own animal friend was plain fun. All four were different, and their adventures varied. And they all came together at the end in a satisfying, choice-driven way. Yeah, I’m sticking with the game design as my favorite.

Viva la Senica Thing!

Horror Icon: Crypt Keeper. Ok, he’s not one of the icons I pre-selected, and I was VERY tempted to go “Children of the Corn” here, but no. I have pitched this year on year, so Crypt Keeper is reserved for Senica.
Vibe: Anthology
Polish: Textured
Gimme the Wheel! : No. Give MORE students the Wheel!

Polish scale: Gleaming, Smooth, Textured, Rough, Distressed
Gimme the Wheel: What I would do next, if it were my project.