Counterfeit Monkey

If you have any doubt, stop reading these reviews and play the game.

There is so much to do in Counterfeit Monkey. I've played it three times and I'm still finding new stuff. Everything you do is rewarding and fun. The writing is consistent and the style is really original. The letter-remover is one of the most creative and well-implemented concepts I've ever gotten to use in a game, and the new tools that open up as you play just kept amazing me.

this was my first ever IF, and tbh nothing has matched it since. Incredibly creative, amazing gameplay, I don't know if I would've continued playing IF if this one wasn't so dang amazing!

According to the version notes, this quirk was fixed in version 10, but I played online and discovered that it was very much not fixed. I failed to solve a puzzle at the final boss and the game allowed me to undo only one turn, which wasn't enough turns to win. I finally gave up and watched an ending on YouTube. Be sure you SAVE right when you solve the portcullis puzzle!!!!! I think the correct command to restore your saved version is "restore".

That said, I loved practically everything else about this game, so I'm giving it five stars anyway. The worldbuilding and puzzles and social commentary are fascinating. I could not stop playing.