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Review
...except we have no choice...
You are on a road trip to start a new life. The plan is to move in with a friend and see where life takes you! Who knows, maybe you'll stop having those weird dreams. Then your car breaks down.
At night. In the middle of nowhere.
A man appears. A mechanic. He was just passing by. He wants to help.
Sparks Fly embraces a staple of the horror genre: Car breaks down, a stranger offers help. Main character has no other choice but to accept. We find ourselves in that exact position.
No choice left. You have to get out of the car.
The stranger is Andrew. A homely yet muscular man who informs us that he’s a mechanic with a shop at his house. He proposes that we come with him and, given how late it is, spend the night and figure things out in the morning. (Spoiler - click to show)It doesn’t take long for us to realize that this was a really, really, really bad idea.
I’m just going to rip off the band-aid.
(Spoiler - click to show)Andrew takes you to his home where he lives with his grandmother, Lydia. The bedroom they give you is oddly tailored to your personal tastes… but you’re tired and fall asleep. You have one of your recurring dreams.
…and wake up with Andrew laying on your chest. His skin is alarmingly hot, and as he continues to invade your personal space, you cannot help but notice that he has no pulse. He’s some sort of “automaton” of flesh and machinery, as is Lydia.
And their dog, Leo.
And a deer, resurrected after being killed by Andrew’s car.
All of this was accomplished through a twisted surgical procedure. Andrew reveals that he anticipated your road trip and prepared the bedroom because you’re going to be joining the family! Which means you only have a short amount of time left before Andrew puts you under the knife to make you one of them.
Now that you know what you’re in for, I’m going to deviate from how I usually structure my reviews.
Strengths
Opening scene
Sparks Fly makes a strong first impression with its opening scene by capturing our vulnerability and isolation of being stranded from human civilization. We can stall for time, but inevitably we must follow Andrew to his car.
My stranger danger alarm was running at full power. Has anyone experienced the sudden, quiet realization where a voice in the back of your mind says, hey, do you realize that you’re in a stranger’s car, they’re the one driving, and no knows where you are? This scene went and dug all of that up. He also asks to see your license, and this sharing of personal information only makes it more nerve-wracking.
Or maybe we’re assuming the worst because of our less-than-ideal circumstances. Jumping to conclusions, perhaps?
(Spoiler - click to show)However, any consideration that he might be genuine quickly evaporates when his car hits a deer, injuring it. He “consoles” us in manner that indicates his lack of regard for personal boundaries.
"Between you and anything that could pop up on the road," his hand, large and rough from years of work, rests on yours, thumb moving to rest on your inner wrist as gold brown eyes burn into yours, "I'll pick you."
(Is it too late to run?)
And then he runs over the deer to put it out of its misery. He’s oddly nonchalant about it.
You're left to sit with this for the rest of the drive.
Talk about an opening scene. (Spoiler - click to show)No one is fooled by Andrew. And yet, we don’t know what his intentions are. What’s going to happen to us? Nicely done.
Writing
The author has a talent for writing horror. The story’s premise is good, but it’s the writing that pulls it off. I would describe the writing as quiet, dawning horror.
This is because there’s a strong dissonance between your situation and how Andrew and Lydia act. If you lash out, they respond as if you are a child throwing a tantrum. The fact that their plan involves surgically altering you…
"Come on back inside now, dear. You have a long procedure ahead of you." She walks to towards you, unthreatened.
…only makes it worse.
My favorite is this scene:
(Spoiler - click to show)Grabbing a blood covered tool, you call, "fetch," and throw it as far as you can.
With a bark, Leo flies across the grass for it. Realizing it's coated in deer's blood, he sits with it, licking the treat.
"That's nice, it's been a while since he's had deer."
This scene deserves an award. I just burst out laughing. I love its casual morbidity.
Characters
Animals aside, the only NPCs are Andrew and (Spoiler - click to show)Lydia.
Lydia is unsettling, but Andrew? You don’t even want to be in the same room as him. His characterization makes every scene uncomfortable. He’s decided that you’re his soulmate and has no concept of personal space. You’re all his! In fact, the player can get kind of anxious just thinking about it. But for a horror game, this works well.
I think many players will be rattled by the scene where you wake up to find Leo sleeping on top of you. You go to stroke his fur only to realize it’s human hair.
This is hair, not dog fur.
Andrew, not Leo.
The player starts to panic. Are we really going to be trapped here? (Spoiler: There are four endings. Thankfully, one of them involves escaping all of this.)
As for the protagonist, we know little about them. However, their portrayal is heavily rooted in the notion of starting over and forging a life of your own choosing. This is partly what makes (Spoiler - click to show)Andrew and Lydia so infuriating: They want to choose your life for you by making you “part of the family” and surgically altering your body against your will. Ending 2 “Freedom” puts an emphasis on you regaining control over your life.
Visuals
The author also did a nice job with the game’s visual design. Set in the middle of the screen is the game’s text box. It’s stylized with rounded edges, a semi see-through black background, and casts a slight shadow on the screen. Text is white. Behind the box is a backdrop that changes with the scene. Half of the box’s border is light grey while the other half is darker, the latter of which disappears when the backdrop has little contrast, creating an off-kilter look.
This aesthetic reminds me of the earlier horror Twine games I’ve played. It has a similar vibe as the uncle who works for nintendo. Polished, but not too polished. There’s a slight roughness that reminds the player that there is something twisted going on underneath.
Sparks Fly demonstrates how simple design changes can elevate the player’s experience. Consider the scene where (Spoiler - click to show)you wake up to find Andrew pinning you down: black backdrop… until a closer look reveals two eyes staring back! Now, imagine this with Twine’s default appearance of a black screen, white text, and blue links. It wouldn’t be the same.
Weaknesses
Pacing
After the opening scene and the big reveal, the game begins to branch out and becomes less linear. Unfortunately, the gameplay snowballs and ends soon after.
Confident that we can’t escape, Lydia and Andrew allow us some freedom before our surgery. We can choose to go with Andrew or stay with Lydia.
You'll stay here.
Go to the shed.
This serves as a branching point for the gameplay. Between the two, Lydia offers slightly more content and flexibility. Either way, the player will find themselves at the end of the game after a few moves. Up until now, the narrative gradually unfolded. Ending it like this makes it all feel rushed.
Plus, we’re left with some loose ends. Notably, what is Andrew’s connection to our dreams? Is he causing them? Or are the dreams merely warning you?
You've been having that dream for months. How has he been sneaking into your room every night for a year?
“Sneaking into your room every night.” Is this still referring to dreams?
There are also moments where Andrew appears to read your mind. When you notice that your bedroom is suspiciously personalized, Andrew says, "'Really? Hope you feel at home then,'" even though we never said anything out loud. What’s going on?
Further clarification would be helpful.
Implementation
My main criticism. There were at least two instances in the gameplay where I ran into Twine’s red “Error: <<if>>: bad conditional expression in <<elseif>>” messages that spill across the screen. And while the game is generally well-formatted, there are still some spelling and formatting errors.
There is a rough patch that puts a dent into the game’s quality.
(Spoiler - click to show)It occurs when we choose to either wait with Lydia or go with Andrew to the shed. If you choose Lydia, Andrew leaves. The game then says,
The smell of oil and hot metal linger on you as he disappears behind the building.
However, this passage repeats itself anytime you make a dead-end choice while with Lydia. For example, if you immediately walk to the scrap pile, Leo pulls you back, leaving you at square one. And each time, you get the same message of Andrew walking away even though he already left.
Final thoughts
Sparks Fly is an Ectocomp 2025 submission for the Le Grand Guignol category. It was a game that I couldn’t put down before finding every ending. It’s an intriguing work of horror with excellent writing that builds atmosphere and places the player in some seriously terrifying situations. This is further enhanced by the visuals.
However, this is hindered by patchy implementation as well as how quickly the game ends just as it becomes less linear. If the author slowed down after (Spoiler - click to show)the scene where we receive our “welcome gift,” the game would be much stronger. The red error messages certainly don’t help either. All of this was factored into my rating.
Nonetheless, Sparks Fly is a memorable work of horror that is difficult to forget. I don’t know if it is the author’s first work, but if it is, this is a fantastic start.
