Everybody Dies

In Everybody Dies, you play as three different people who've (Spoiler - click to show)died in some way, and the point of the game becomes the (Spoiler - click to show)prevention of their deaths. One of the best parts of Everybody Dies are the graphics, which in parts of the game serve as a visual metaphor to go along with the action. However, if that were the only thing to recommend about Everybody Dies the game would be stale indeed. The writing of the player characters is funny and vivid, and their differing perspectives give much flavor to the game. Well recommended.

Author Jim & Illustrator Michael have gone to great lengths to make Everybody Dies an enjoyable experience for anyone across the (wide) spectrum of IF players.

For the hardcore, there's at least a minimum amount of puzzling to be had, and deep enough implementation. For the IF newbie, puzzles are mostly simple, building in complexity to the end, and stopping short of hand-holding, it won't let you lose. There is a wonderful lack of the empty, static, unpopulated feelings so prevalent in many classic adventures; There are changing landscapes, interactions with other characters, humor, and occasionally a little emotion.

In terms of accessibility, it's Mac & Linux playable and if you're a Windows user and wondering what an interpreter even is then grab the .exe. It's ready to go!

Accessibility alone is no reason to play IF, but this one has interesting characters, engrossing story-telling, beautiful illustrations, and Canadian slang! I especially appreciate the game's ability to instill a sense of urgency and high stakes without rushing or punishing me at all!

Complaints? Some of the changes I made to my surroundings weren't noticed by the multitude of narrative voices. With the .exe player, you can't scroll up. So, really, negligible stuff.

Definitely play it!

This game won 3rd place in the IFComp the year it was entered, and is one of the shortest games to ever make the top 3. It has quite a few illustrations in it in a comics style.

As a content warning, this game has 3 parts, and the first part is full of large amounts of strong profanity and a general sort of vague nastiness. It made me put of this game for a long time, and I don't intend to play again.

Besides that, the game is very well written, with strong characterization and clever interaction. You play as 3 distinct PCs whose fates revolve around a small store called Cost Cutters. Each character gets 1 or 2 short scenarios where you are given strong guidance, until the final scenario where you have a tight time schedule (with infinite chances to retry) and a more difficult puzzle.