Arthur's Day Out

Arthur's Day Out
by Jason Oakley

Slice of life
2021

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A respectable first effort, May 24, 2021

by Andrew Schultz (Chicago)
Related reviews: PunyJam 2021

Arthur's Day Out isn't the first game to give a tip of the cap to Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's got a bit more humor than average, which is nice, because sometimes it makes a few beginner mistakes. Mistakes worth fixing in a post-comp touch-up, for sure.

You play as Arthur, and quickly you find a dressing gown with analgesic. There's a computer password to unlock, a safe to open and a weird cave at the end. None of the puzzles are too hard, but you do have to remember to (Spoiler - click to show)search instead of look and also TAKE items that appear. That's a bit of busy work, but fortunately the game is only 15 rooms. It still feels a bit sparse for all that, but it's small enough I could keep the map in my head.

It's possible to short-circuit a lot of the puzzles with saving and restoring in the final room, and on replay, you can probably ignore the notes that give you clues. And if the puzzles are a bit random, they require no great unfair leaps. And the homages to H2G2 are nice.

The puzzles are the sort where you saw exactly what people meant to do once they're solved, but on the other hand, there's still a bit of needless fighting with the parser. While it placed 7th of 8 in PunyJam 1, it doesn't really feel like a bottom-feeder. That probably speaks to some talent on the developer's part as well as perhaps the PunyInform community (especially on discord) helping each other out. to do their best.

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WauloK, January 12, 2022 - Reply
Thanks for your kind words. I was learning and this was my first game. I had planned on making a bunch of adventure games but did not get much encouragement for my first attempt.

Andrew Schultz, January 13, 2022 - Reply
Hey, glad I could give a boost! I know it's frustrating when bugs slip through my own efforts, and I want to recognize interesting stuff like ADO when it is there.

I think we all go through that learning curve, and I think once we get over the "hey this is my first game" feeling and seeing what works and what doesn't, in our game or others, it helps us focus. That certainly was the case for me.

I hope you find time to imagine, etc., and find something you feel confident sharing in the near future. I know a lot of people who've placed low in IFComp come back with experience and make a huge jump the next year.

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