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Review
If this game was actually playable, I have no doubt that it would be excellent, if the uneasy and atmospheric writing in the first two rooms was characteristic. Unfortunately, the first two rooms are all you will ever see in this game. You can never return to the chapel once you leave it. "Exit" works, but "enter" does not. No directions lead anywhere. You cannot affect the door; you cannot take the path, and there is nowhere else to go. It's not a matter of time, either, as waiting produces no results. Purple prose is everywhere, so there's nothing you can do with the world around you. I'm surprised by this, more than anything. Was Room 206 even finished?
Comments on this review
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AmberShards,
Thanks for the honest review. I do have to point out that the game IS playable in its current state; if you're having trouble navigating (it's nontraditional navigation), typing "help" should sort things out. I encourage you to revisit the game, as I'm certain your score will change.
I'm working on a huge update to the game which will A) make it playable on z-machine and B) implement a full Aaron Reed style keyword system for navigation, which is what I was going for here. I have other things on my plate, so I can't promise when it'll be ready for testing, but if you'd like to be a part of that I'd love to get your input.
If you do decide to revisit it, you can navigate beyond those two rooms by typing in the name of the location you wish to visit (again, I did my best job at this from scratch: if one name isn't working, try another variation) instead of typing the traditional "north" "south" etc, which I abhor. e.g. to get back to the chapel just type "chapel" or "church".
Keep in mind that I'm a writer before I'm a programmer. However, if you stick past the minor frustrations, there's a pretty decent story at the core, if I do say so myself.
-The Author
Including a line or two in the opening text about non-traditional navigation should be sufficient to clue people in (you could also trap all compass directions with a canned response). It never occurred to me to check help because everything seemed to work as usual, up to a point. Lesson learned.
I'll have to pass on further testing, because the single-word thing just doesn't appeal to me.
Not sure if this will help, but you may want to include an ABOUT file that instructs the player of this. Or use cardinal directions AND your quick movement, as this is what most players are used to.
There's no ABOUT file, but there IS a "help" file that tells you everything you need to know.
