Counterfeit Monkey

There's really not that much I can say about this ridiculously superb game which hasn't been said already (and more eloquently) by previous reviewers.

So I will limit myself to offering a little advice to anyone who is eyeing this cryptically titled game and wondering "...shall I?"

I would implore you to:

(1) Just download it already. You're more likely to meet a sunbathing Grue than to regret playing this game.

(2) Don't be put off by the fact that the story blurb doesn't make a blind bit of sense. It's not supposed to (until you've played some of the game). Just take a leap of faith into unknown waters.

(3) Make an effort to get the latest version of this game, which may require visiting the Author's web site. The IFDB-hosted gblorb may be out-of-date, and save-game files may not be compatible between releases, so you should get the latest version before you start playing. (I got burned by this).

(4) Avoid playing it on iOS Frotz. Much as I love that app, this game will be intolerably slow, and may even be impossible to complete, due to hanging.

Much as I would love to wax lyrical about the game's mind-boggling breadth and depth, smile-inducing humour, ground-breaking game mechanics, masterful prose, or just the astonishing fact that we live in a universe where you can play this game for free, I will steadfastly resist the temptation. So that you can get on with enjoying the journey ahead.

This was an amazing game. Professional in all respects, fascinating mechanics, gentle, well-described world hiding unexpectedly sharp teeth. I wanted to fall in love with it, and I did, for what turned out to be the first half or so.

The issue, for me, is that the characters were as gently and obliquely described as the world. I could sense there was a lot more to them bubbling under the surface, but I couldn't seem to unlock much of it. So I was left with a sense that the game would really be happier if we just stayed good friends and I didn't pry too much, and this left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied.

I may have rushed through too quickly; I'm used to IF that takes a few hours to complete, and this probably should have been enjoyed over a week. And maybe I'm spoiled by the easy narrative rewards of less demanding pieces. And maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy exploring all of the nuances of the system and fiddling with everything in pursuit of success.

Minor spoiler (general feelings on ending): (Spoiler - click to show)I found the ending to be disappointing, enough so that I assumed I'd gotten a mediocre ending until I checked the source and discovered I'd gotten the best one (and some of the reasons why the author made this choice). I wasn't entirely shocked that the ending left me with mixed feelings, since I've played a few other games by this author and have come to the conclusion that our definitions of "happy" are considerably different!

Major spoiler: (Spoiler - click to show)I wanted Alexandra to be separated and to see them interact with each other face to face after spending so much time so intimately connected and going through so much. Leaving them joined just felt incomplete.

I would definitely suggest using Gargoyle if possible, since on WinGluxe, "go to" and "find" became incredibly sluggish as the game progressed.

This may be my favorite IF game currently, the only game able to even stand up to try and compete with it being Make it Good.

The entire game is full of linguistic puzzles, and like most of Short's work, creates a brilliant sense of place without extraneous descriptive text. The setting is fantastic and unreal--something most writers would communicate through byzantine tomes you can read through ad nauseum--but Short makes it compelling and real with the perfect amount of detail.

I haven't finished it, but I've put 2 hours into it, and haven't felt lost or confused. Puzzles that could be game-breaking have multiple solutions, and discovering those extra solutions--while not seemingly necessary and not contributing to my score yet--make me feel like the king of puzzles, twirling about in front of my throne and doffing my crown to my adoring peasentry.

Speaking of being "The King of Puzzles", I demand that my knights Make it Good and Counterfeit Monkey present themselves on my tourney field tomorrow to battle. I want to see blood, you knaves!

Ahem, sorry, got carried away there. Nothing more to see here, moving on!

The setting, the technical implementation, the plot, the writing, and the actual puzzles--the way they are solved and the mechanisms involved--are fascinating and novel. This is one of the best works of IF available.