Lowell's Paradise

This is one of the games from Bouchercomp, a SpeedIF running in 2008. The premise involves a prison escape, and the interpretation here is quite unconventional: you are trapped in a miniature pocket universe by Professor Shecky Lowell, consisting of a park, a few people doing repetitive actions, and a shed. The only escape is through a giant void, where certain conditions must be completed before you are allowed through.

The game's main puzzle is strange, in that the only hint I could find (the text on the flagpole) seemed to be a red herring. Still, the map is so small and there are so few interactable objects that you are bound to find it through trial and error. In the end, you don't even escape the paradise: you just find kitten powder that lets kittens frolic through the park, like Lowell told you they used to until they were scared away (or eaten) by a giant.

In the end, the main puzzle just isn't that satisfying to solve. Still, I do like that Lowell's Paradise was able to fit in so much backstory and such a unique setting for a game developed in a short time.