Open That Vein

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Limited verb lists illustrate shining vignettes, January 23, 2016
It's simple: you have to open that vein. But the vein is just the start of your troubles: you're chasing... something.

Open That Vein worked impressively within its self-imposed constraints, since the PC could only interact with any noun in very limited ways. Even more impressive knowing that all this was coded in three hours.

The game is linear, with extensive use of cutscenes at important points, and this is what lets Groover's descriptive, evocative writing shine. The details he gives home in on the visceral. He gives glimpses of images, gorgeous vignettes, though they didn't immediately make sense to me. There's a lot of mention about things 'feeling right', which I'm still trying to parse.

As with Midnight. Swordfight, this work also makes use of a limited verb list, but the game also supplies suggested verbs without prompting, so a player new to parser IF should not have a problem playing it. This design decision adds an example to the ongoing discussion of how to make parser IF more accessible to new players. Groover solves this by telling the player what to type, and by moulding the game environment around the constraints of the limited verb list. A limited simulation like this works well for short works, but one wonders if this couldn't be extended to more open-format/sandboxy works - maybe with a gradually expanding verb list? Commands you can 'discover'?

Originally published here: https://verityvirtue.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/open-that-vein/

A surreal Halloween SpeedIF about nesting and reality, February 4, 2016
This game was entered in EctoComp 2015, the annual Halloween Speed IF, where it took first place.

The game is class Chandler Groover; a constrained set of interactions, non-standard parser directions, and a style that is rich like Devil's food cake.

The story is fairly gory, but in a surreal way. It is surreal and allegorical; Groover likes readers to develop their own interpretations, and their are many you can make here. The game is linear, running from start to end, with many surprises.

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