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The Island (Valand)

by Ann Hugo profile

Fantasy
2019

(based on 8 ratings)
2 reviews

About the Story

When you, a ten year old called Sam, fell into the ocean you expected to drown. Instead you find yourself on an island that's nothing like where you came from. The forests are vibrant, there's white sand beaches, and, well, there's magic.

You aren't the first child to be washed ashore on the island. Will you be the last?


Game Details

Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Current Version: 1.0
Development System: Twine
IFIDs:  ABXKHCI33ZSWEB2L
330E15FB-B99A-4AFB-BED8-5EE363A3BEB6
TUID: m8sgurfoyl1aidnn

Awards

61st Place - 25th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2019)

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Number of Reviews: 2
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A not-quite-there game about a magical girl on an island, October 9, 2019
by MathBrush
Related reviews: 15-30 minutes

This Twine game places you in the position of a young witch-girl that gets marooned on an island with an interesting cast of characters.

The beginning of this young fantasy game is pretty promising, but the conflicts begin and end fairly quickly. I found the ending abrupt. In my playthrough, I (Spoiler - click to show)openly defied a powerful wizard with a tiger pet and just found a boat, and the game was over.

I found a passage that was completely blank ((Spoiler - click to show)offering to let Corbin live with you).

I think all of the issues could be addressed by increasing the game length and a little bit more beta testing.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A good start, December 2, 2019

I think this game is called Valand? Now that I’ve checked again, the cover art calls it “The Island,” and I thought of it as “The Island” the whole time I played, so I’m very confused. It had a bit of the island from ABC’s Lost, and the host with questionable intentions recalled Thief of Always for me. It takes place in a world with witches, mermaids, tigers, and island inhabitants who all have their own motivations.

I had some trouble retaining the right perspective while reading through the story. The text makes some observations that frame the narrative from the perspective of a ten-year-old, but at other times, it draws conclusions that seem a more advanced.

This story has given itself an ambitious task. If you’re going to show an illusion that unravels, you need to effectively sell that illusion before poking holes in it. That’s twice as much work! I appreciated that the author kept things moving, but it meant that I never got invested in either the magical illusion or its unraveling.

Interactively, this game could have used more time in development. The intent was certainly there, allowing you to investigate different aspects of the environment and make different decisions. (Spoiler - click to show)If you choose the option to spend the day with Emily, you learn how to use magic. If you spend the day with Corbin, you don’t learn magic. If it’s time to build the raft and you spent your time with Corbin, you’re suddenly using your magical abilities to create an escape route like it’s no big deal. That was jarring. I found three different endings.

I liked this story, but it could have benefitted from more work.





This is version 7 of this page, edited by Ann Hugo on 30 December 2022 at 9:12pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item