Shade

Shade. A good intro to IF. Parsers work (obviously). Very polished, short though. Somewhat surreal- definitely comes under its category. You kinda have a linear experience, but then again, everything’s kinda turning to shit as you progress.

Atmosphere was… conductive, I’d say, is the best way to describe it. For the length of this game, I’d say it’s quality was just enough that it filled the short experience with only content that a short game could have.

Somewhat horror? But overall, an incredible introduction to interactive fiction and parsers. Doesn’t need a map, or hints, because you basically just go around this like. Small house thing. No spoilers ;]

Hmmm… what else? It wasn’t really clear on wtf was going on, but I guess that comes under surrealism. Mechanics, again, straightforward and puzzles nonexistent… worldbuilding comes under plot and surrealism. For a game of its length and genre, I’d say it gets a 4/5. For an IF introduction, though, it gets a 3/5.

But it’s a staple of interactive fiction and an effective way of teaching it to people, so… what can ya do?

Also, the longer I play IF, the more I'm convinced everyone is Andrew Plotkin in a trenchcoat.