NEVER GO TO WORK

Boing Boing
Avoid your job in this pleasantly oddball game
"The objective of NEVER GO TO WORK is in its title: Your alarm goes off just after 6 AM, and it's time to get to the office. Except arriving there ends the game, and you don't really want to go to work, anyway. "
"I enjoy the tension between needing to keep moving and not wanting to arrive at work, but while the collage of unpredictable moments feels creative and cool, at times I wish there were a little more for me to do."
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Average Rating:

Slice-of-life Twine adventure with a retro vibe. There is a lack of clear victory conditions and a shiftyness to the layout which may be a pro or a con depending on the player. More glitches than I would prefer, but I'm glad I played it and was introduced to this character's universe.

This review uses the P.I.A.N.O. system for reviewing and rating interactive fiction.

Plot compellance = 1.0
At the outset, the game establishes investment in the protagonist's fate.
Then it proceeds to construct a succession of interesting scenes at a quick pace. Replaying to try different paths is quick and moderately rewarding.

Implementation maturity = 0.5
It makes good use of Twine's graphical, audio and layout potential. The styling of the text and the inconsistent placement of interactive icons were sometimes a barrier to comprehending and proceeding with the game. (Spoiler - click to show)Example: in my browser at least, when highlighting a link to select an choice, sometimes the font and size would change, causing the text to move and making most of the text unclickable

Artfulness in use of the medium = 0.5
I found the style of the music and the graphics to be distinctive and charming. I couldn't tell when the "glitches" were intentional (Spoiler - click to show)Example: sometimes the clock runs backwards It felt just a little too buggy for me.

Net reward = 0.5
I replayed quite a few times, the "best" outcome I could achieve was 80/100 points. The lack of clarity as to how to "win" eventually burdened my enjoyment of the game.

Oh, that certain "je ne sais quoi" = 0.5
The author managed to communicate futility and frustration through a mostly enjoyable diversion.

Total: 3.0 (represented as 3 stars)

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