Cheeseshop

I had no idea interactive fiction could possibly be like this. It Was puzzelless (unless you consider rattling off all the types of cheese you've ever heard of), basically one room, but hilarious as ever. I was laughing so hard during the story, for the writing was fabulously done and I could just see John cleese in that role. The game has no bugs that I'm aware of, and was really smoothly run and designed. Hints were provided (and used by me) when you absolutely could not think of any more kinds of cheese. I especially enjoyed the AMUSE at the end of the game, adding classic python ideas

If you are a Monty Python fan to any degree, play this game

Play it if: like me, you have a passionate appreciation for the work of Monty Python and would enjoy seeing an effective adaptation of one of their better-known sketches.

Don't play it if: you're one of those people who never really understood the appeal of Monty Python, or are feeling a bit short on patience - because you may spend a couple of minutes sharing Mr. Mousebender's psychosis-inducing frustration.

Cheeseshop is an IF rendition of the Monty Python sketch of the same name. As a result, it's fun and not too ambitious: puzzleless, at most five minutes in length, and chock-full of reliable Pythonic humor.

Something about the scenario - a man wanting to buy cheese from a shop which appears not to stock any - works bizarrely well for IF. In the original sketch, Mousebender's failure to acquire the cheese he wants is a source of humor for the audience; here, the player is additionally asked to share in his frustration. It's a nice, subtle twist. Maybe it works a little too well - the process of mechanistically typing cheese varieties can wear on you a little, though the game's responses to your attempts do add a sense of progression - but it's effective.

There's not much to say about a game of this length, but it succeeds in terms of what it's trying to be: a well-executed interactive adaptation of a Python sketch.

Cheeseshop progresses from funny, to tedious, to funny again when you finally get through the insane list of cheeses. Recommended if you are A) a fast typist (typing all those cheeses takes ages) and B) a Monty Python fan. I'm both, fortunately, so I enjoyed it. Three stars.