I was expecting a creepy story where the destroyed disc creates a game that becomes … TOO REAL.
The graphics are amusingly accurate for the period and the game box is a good touch. (EDIT: the graphics are edited from a 1980s game. I feel a little let down as I thought this was original work by the author.)
This is nastier than I would expect from a typical game of this era – a pumpkin is described as: “Glint of hot metal amid the sputtering wax and vegetable rot.” I hoped this was a sign of strange and grotesque things to come, and really liked the random capitalised brown Hs in the text.
“The hot reek of a killfeast in full swing. The revellers emit patchwork shrieks of expletives and blasphemy.” Crikey Moses this is strange in a good way.
The game then gets more odd and hideous, until it ends abruptly.
I expected a bit more. As it is, it’s just unsettling with a smidgen of commentary on games.
I do notice that the labrys and the icon and the maze all reference the legend of the minotaur, but to what end I know not.
The game is extremely linear with no puzzles to speak of. It’s more of an atmosphere game. It does create a mildly creepy feeling. The writing is evocative and I noticed no bugs or typos. That said, I’m not sure what the point was and why it needed to be presented as an old glitched PC game. I wish the author had made a bit more of the themes. My overall feeling is ‘slick, fun but … why?’.