Never Gives Up Her Dead

Never Gives Up Her Dead captures the feeling of playing through massive adventures like Curses and Mulldoon Legacy while also skipping some of the potential frustrations that can come with revisiting classics now over twenty years old. In Never Gives Up, the parser was transparent and tightly implemented; and nearly every puzzle provided doses of triumph.

The scale of the game is vastly impressive yet remains completely unbloated. The author seized my trust within the first two worlds; and many hours later, the challenges continued to be fair and satisfying to overcome, with the multiple-world layout providing refreshing changes to scenery, difficulty, and mechanics.

Hours simply dissolved as I explored floating islands of historic architecture; unraveled yarns of tightly spun murder; and slung Enchanter-like spells in the bowels of the earth. Set pieces such as a circling Spanish Armada and a larger-than-life escape room brimmed with creativity. But more impressive was how Mathbrush wove together these different areas with a hub world that gradually became more and more connected, not just to the story, but piercing through in gameplay as well. The narrative threads culminated in an endgame that left me fulfilled in such a way that I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

I admit: I did ask for a hint during my time with the game. Just one hint. But as I stretched my legs with a brisk walk, so too did my mind stretch; and the request was no longer necessary.

Thank you for the grand time.

Edit: for typo fixes and clarity