Your Little Haunting

I was interested upon seeing that Christina Nordlander wrote this; when I started IF in 2015, I felt like I saw her name everywhere, so it's fun seeing someone who I consider 'famous' come back.

This is a Playfic game that has a large scope for a Petite Mort entry (completed in 4 hours or less). You are walking in the middle of the night and approach a house, looking for a light source.

The game is fairly complex, with multiple objects that can be turned on and off and a bit of branching in the middle. I found one way to do something very dangerous, which produced a shocking result, but looking at the code later, I realized I had missed another, more liquid event.

Of course with a Petite Mort game there are some coding issues here and there. I didn't encounter bugs but I had huge trouble finding a way type the name of a certain glowing thing because it had a two-name word in the code and I kept trying either the first name by itself or the second, but never both together.

Overall, I liked the vibes of this game; it reminded me of a couple of old Twilight Zone Episodes, somehow.

A bit underimplemented, as all parser SpeedIF tends to be, but charming in its own right. That last message is chilling. I'd like to complain about the stove and sink being a red herring, since I spent a while flicking them on and off fruitlessly while wondering if I was supposed to set things on fire or put them out. I did figure it out eventually, though.

Hm... on second thought, I do wonder if the (Spoiler - click to show)flashlight was real at all, or some kind of hallucination? It seemed real enough while I had it, but, well.

Anyway, haunted house stories are a favorite of mine. I liked this one. The atmosphere is great and the abandoned house is well-described. I've never been one for exploring abandoned buildings, but this game makes me want to do that (ideally without the fate that befalls this main character in particular!). A good game for rainy autumn afternoons.

Walkthrough in case someone needs it: (Spoiler - click to show)Go all the way up to the attic, turn on the fusebox, and touch the wires. Then take the flashlight to the east and try to leave the house.