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Last-Minute Magic

by Ryan Veeder profile

(based on 3 ratings)
Estimated play time: 3 hours (based on 1 vote)
Members voted for the following times for this game:
1 review9 members have played this game. It's on 5 wishlists.

About the Story

An optimization tale from Leah Naidu's world of Visit Skuga Lake, featuring the same magic system.

Awards

Entrant, Le Grand Guignol - English - ECTOCOMP 2024

Ratings and Reviews

5 star:
(2)
4 star:
(1)
3 star:
(0)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating: based on 3 ratings
Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 1
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Optimization with a combinatorial explosion of tools, November 19, 2024
Related reviews: 2-10 hours

I like this game, and I've played it more than any other Ectocomp game, but it's designed in a way that fully exploring it is very difficult.

It's a timed game, where you have to get 30 different trinkets in a constrained amount of moves. You can still end the game without all 30, 30 is just the max. While playing, you discover a large number of amulets and eyestones. Each combination of amulets and eyestones results in different powers, ranging from faster movement to power over plants to time travel.

The map is large, as well. Without the time constraint, it would be a substantially hard game; with the time constraint, it throws optimization into the mix, especially since some amulets affect the time it takes to perform actions.

So, this game seems to me to be in the vein of Ryan Veeder's Fly Fishing, a game where you chip away at it over a long period of time rather than rushing to a conclusion. I never wrote a review for Fly Fishing because I never finished it (because I have difficulty sustaining focus if I move to other hobbies between play sessions), and I almost did the same thing for this game. But I think I've seen enough of it to say that it's enjoyable and well-written. I know at least one person has gotten 28/30 trinkets in a single go, which is very impressive.

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Game Details

Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: October 31, 2024
Current Version: 1
License: Freeware
Development System: Inform 7
IFID: 9FE943E1-6C47-4821-BE34-25B9000DAC8E
TUID: lhbix1jyidsjpxuo

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This is version 5 of this page, edited by EJ on 6 November 2024 at 9:31pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page