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Review
This review is for the comp version of the game. The thorny bits I saw feel like something that was just missed while implementing an ambitious project, and with the feedback of a comp/jam, the author can probably make some quick fixes that render my complaints obsolete.
Fixing Time works hard to gain your trust and approval, and overall, it gained mine. Though it's tough sledding at some points, and if you miss one detail you're in danger of getting stuck and unsure what to do next, not due to a technical glitch, but due to some inconsistency in the verbs accepted. This is borne out by the introductory tutorial, which is overall well-done: you have four rooms, called Navigation, Objects and Interactions. You learn how to move around, how to take items, and how to use them. The main puzzle is getting to the end room, and in the process, you learn a few basic verbs that will serve you well. Once there, you're a bit stuck, unless you RESTART. which is only cued once--and it hits the Adventuron default "Would you like to forfeit the game?" Given the gadget-based fun in the game proper, it'd be interesting to have, say, a trapdoor leading to the main makespace.
And what happens there? Well, there's no direct drama, but you find evidence a friend has gotten lost. As you explore the hackers' makespace, evidence accumulates that he likely used a time machine and got lost in time. But the time machine itself is broken!
So your object is to repair it, finding items around the makespace and using them properly on the various machines stationed around. Sometimes it's hard to figure what to do next, unless you apply reductionist logic: namely, what items haven't I used yet, and what items aren't useful because they're not really technological? This is a bit hard to do, because the game has a lot of florid passages about how everything is well-loved, and that gets in the way of learning what to put together, and there are a lot of non-technical items that give a small smile but ultimately are distracting, as red herrings. Perhaps an option to flag game quest-critical items could help here, as could one to give brief descriptions. I found it tough to focus, even the second time through before writing this review. But I did play through it, and it did go smoother the second time, once I was aware of what I Was doing and how things were organized. It just isn't brought to light clearly enough. And there is a struggle with the parser. It could be something as simple as making corkboard/board or newspaper/paper synonyms. Or it could force you to TAKE something to READ it, which is slightly annoying with inventory limits.
That said, FT does a whole lot right, and so my major caveat is with playing the original version, if the author chooses to update post-comp. And I hope they do. The issues above feel very fixable without too much effort, but they also feel nontrivial to uncover even with dedicated testers.
FT has, at its best moments, the feel of reading an interesting instruction manual and actually Getting It and wondering "why can't they all be like this?" There is a puzzle to get the time machine's circuit board working. Finding the spare parts requires you to examine a lot. Once you do, the REPAIR verb is highlighted in color, and you need to find the relevant machine in the hackspace. With fourteen rooms, this isn't bad at all.
You visit three time periods before finding your friend Andy, meeting three very different inventors who are famous throughout history. It's a neat contrast to the other time-journey games in the comp: Tempus Fugit had general globetrotting, and Time Crystals of Cythii brought you to just before big disasters. Each inventor needs the help of a much better machine than they have access to in their time period, maybe just to repair what they have or build something better. This really brought to life some machines that to me were just technology other people would use: a soldering iron, a 3-d printer, a laser cutter, an oscilloscope and even a classic sewing area with scissors. And the special verbs, like REPAIR, are highlighted, giving you a relatively clear set of things to do, along with things you need. In some cases you even get an ordered list.
There's some mixing of the time zones: a puzzle for area two builds on an item you find in area one, which seems valuable. (This is a bit odd, as it involves searching in someone's house -- but again the "search everywhere" principle may get you started.) And everything has one use, pretty much, except for (Spoiler - click to show)the slot on the time machine, which adds a new era to go to with each important item you find. The writing on the time machine suggests there will be ten eras in a future release, but you need only visit three before you are led to your friend Andy.
FT is very satisfying for all its rough edges and over-description that overcompensates for the game's technical nature (everything is lovingly made, etc., "as if/suggesting an air of...") and fights with the parser. I'd be interested in the future release with better cluing. Though right now, I'm glad I had a bit of walkthrough help so I could find the right verb to do what the game indicated. I felt very competent and technologically sophisticated indeed when I figured what to put together, and if there was some retro "fun" of fighting with the parser, I overall enjoyed the experience, which (though time travel is fictional) felt derived from what was likely the author's own time well spent creating odd gadgets with friends and dreaming of making even cooler ones.
