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The Depths of Madness

by Jacic profile

2024
Horror
ChoiceScript

(based on 4 ratings)
Estimated play time: 8 minutes (based on 4 votes)
Members voted for the following times for this game:
2 reviews8 members have played this game.

About the Story

What lies hidden in the deep? Do you really want to find out...

Awards

14th Place, La Petite Mort - English - ECTOCOMP 2024

Entrant - Short Games Showcase 2024

Ratings and Reviews

5 star:
(0)
4 star:
(0)
3 star:
(3)
2 star:
(1)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating: based on 4 ratings
Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Sink and sink some more, January 5, 2025
Related reviews: ectocomp

The Depths of Madness is a short horror piece made in ChoiceScript inspired by “The Call of Cthulhu” from Lovecraft. After receiving in a hurry the research of a now-passed coworker, you delve into one of the tome just before going to sleep. The research deals with the occult, particularly the myth of Cthulhu. It is, obviously, unwise to fall asleep with that kind of reading on your lap (unless you like thrills… or nightmares!).

So you fall (or more like sink) into the depths of a dark body of water, of which you do not see the end. The decent towards the bottom, where shadows still catch you unaware, is pretty oppressing - there’s no way but down. Only madness accompanying you. Here, the inspiration from Lovecraft is clear, and the writing does a good job at conveying this otherwordly horror.

Since the game provides you with choice at multiple point during the story, I got curious to what other paths would bring me (as I played essentially a rational chicken the first time around). It was a bit disappointing to find that few of the choices really did something, only there to provide and illusion of choice (which, is fair, you can’t really refuse the call of Cthulhu). It is most obvious with the final choice, bringing the abrupt ending.

On the other hand, the choice of palette and imagery for the interface was well done. The dark theme and ocean greens add some depth to the atmosphere.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A short horror choicescript game with beautiful styling, November 11, 2024*
Related reviews: less than 15 minutes

This petite morte game surprised me with how polished and nice it looked, with a dark color scheme combined with eery accents and cephalopod-based art.

It's a choicescript game about forbidden knowledge that comes from unholy texts. Again, I was surprised at how much text the game has.

But, it ends abruptly, which makes sense, as this is a Petite Morte speed-IF game. And it relies very heavily on a famous work of horror fiction, so some of its best parts were parts I had seen many times before. So the things that stick with me the most are its own innovations, like the abrupt change in setting.

Overall, a neat concept, and fun to play.

* This review was last edited on December 1, 2024
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Game Details

The Depths of Madness on IFDB

Polls

The following polls include votes for The Depths of Madness:

Outstanding Choicescript Game of 2024 by MathBrush
This poll is part of the 2024 IFDB Awards. The rules for the competition can be found here, and a list of all categories can be found here. This award is for the best Choicescript game of 2024. Voting is open to all IFDB members....

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This is version 3 of this page, edited by EJ on 13 November 2024 at 11:09pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page