|
Have you played this game?You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in. |
Playlists and Wishlists |
RSS Feeds![]() ![]() ![]() |
About the StoryBrowse the Endling Archive to uncover the purpose of its creation. Game Details
Language: English (en-US)
First Publication Date: February 17, 2009 Current Version: Unknown License: Freeware Development System: Inform 6 Forgiveness Rating: Merciful IFID: GLULX-0-090217-71027D4A TUID: ms15e48egclycv3 |
I hesitate to call this interactive fiction. It has a much lower level of interaction than "mainstream" IF.
| Average Rating: ![]() Number of Reviews: 6 Write a review |
If you're anything like me, I'm sure you've enjoyed finding books and computers in IF games that let you wander through a menu of backstory. The Endling Archive is essentially the same thing, only without the containing game. So, yes, it is pretty much just reading static text from a menu that expands after you've select a couple of options.
The Endling Archive strikes me as a good germ of an idea. I'm surprised that I've never played an IF game before that exclusively treated the parser as a fictional computer system, and it seems to me that there should be a wealth of retro-futuristic (or just pretend unix console) hacking games. There aren't however, so for now we'll just have to enjoy this strange and haunting encyclopaedia of things that the future and present have lost.
I was confused at first: "Load configuration file?" Well, okay, once I figured out how to start a game, it seemed like a database of little factoids, seemingly unrelated to each other. Then there were the personal notes, which made the unseen narrator an NPC in its own right. Endling tugs on your heartstrings because the triviality of some of the 'files' contrasts starkly with the gravity of the disaster the narrator alludes to.
Even though there is no story in the traditional sense of the word, even though it basically is a bunch of factoids, it is elegantly written, carefully constructed and moved me to tears.
The Endling Archive manipulates Inform 7 in a truly interesting way.
The game treats the player as someone using a database written in the traditional Inform menu system (using N, P, Enter, and Q to navigate). As you read more of the database, more and more becomes unlocked.
The game uses interesting pictures. The story is based on the idea of survivors, the last of their kind. The database starts out with different real-life examples of endlings, and then transitions to different material.
I really enjoyed it, although the ending fell a bit flat. It took 10 or 15 minutes to play.
The Xylophoniad, by Robin Johnson Average member rating: ![]() The King of Anachronopolis has ordered you to end the Trojan War, slay the dreaded Bicyclops, and rescue a couple of inmates from Hades. A comic adventure set in Greek mythology. |
Choice of Magics, by Kevin Gold Average member rating: ![]() Your magic can change the world, but at what cost? Battle dragons, skyships, and evil Inquisitors, as you protect your homeland, conquer it, or destroy it forever. Choice of Magics is a 550,000-word interactive, post-apocalyptic fantasy... |
Into The Sun, by Dark Star Average member rating: ![]() Sitting on the cold side of Mercury, you've waited two months for space debris to drift through the system, caught in the sun's gravity well. Satellites make for great salvage, and you've earned enough before to scrape by, keeping the... |
Programming/command-line games? by autumnc
What are some games that either include computer programming as a game mechanic, elements that simulate computer programming, or include some sort of command-line or terminal interface? This could include parser games, choice-based...
Emotional IF by Sorrel
I'm looking for IF that inspires one or more strong emotions in the player – an IF that pulls on your heartstrings a little.
More than it appears to be... by dacharya64
I'm looking for games that aren't exactly what they seem. Perhaps they come across as simple or romantic or anything really, the point is that things take a turn for the worse (or perhaps the better) and everything begins to change....