Stooping to Diplomacy

An ominous little game about giving a bunch of zoo animals what they want. To learn their desires, you have to solve a series of cryptic crossword-style clues, though the game also walks you through how to go about solving these. This wasn't so short that it felt insubstantial, but it also didn't overstay its welcome. I got stuck for a bit, but I asked the author for help, and he gave me a new clue or two which let me figure out what I'd been missing. That was a lot of fun, too.

I have to ask myself: "If I had so much fun, why didn't I give the game five stars?" This is all a bit subjective, but I've given shorter games higher scores before, so I do feel like it's a question that deserves an answer.

This is oversimplifying, but: our viewpoint character is a villain. She is a predator in a world of predation. However satisfying it may be to know that she eventually gets her comeuppance, for the duration of this game, our control of her enables her to make deals which will not be to the benefit of every party involved. It is implied that some parties (through no fault of their own) will end up getting the very, very short end of the stick. That's nature; that's life. (Or unlife, in this case.) But it still bums me out.

This is not a review, and had no rating associated. This is merely an informative note to clarify for whoever might be interested in playing that "Stooping to Diplomacy" is set in the general universe of the author's "The Little Match Girl" and is a sequel to "The Board of Regents". The latter makes no reference to that universe, so it's very likely these can be enjoyed perfectly stand-alone, but for any who would prefer to enjoy settings from the same universe in the same context, this note is here to clarify that.