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Well-written short piece with a sense of more, December 27, 2015The World Turned Upside Down is well-written and rather short; it seems to build on the worlds depicted in Cape & Mere Anarchy, but I didn't feel the connection.
The world-building is as spare as it is in Mere Anarchy, and it's effective at creating the sense of something deeper; however, this work seems to struggle to create a sense of character, which surprised me after the success of Anarchy & Cape in creating a very believable protagonist and side characters. The side characters are interesting and I want to know more about them, or see what they think about the main interaction between the protagonist and the visitor, but we don't get to, and I can't help but feel that we're missing an important chance to learn more about the story and the experience.
You are immediately informed that you can finish the game with only 3 commands; wait, interject, and examine. Examine gives slightly more context, and interjecting vs waiting changes the ending, but I couldn't really understand the motives or outcomes here. I played through Cape & Mere Anarchy thinking I was missing some crucial context, but I didn't find it. I may have missed something important, but I was left with the sense of an unfinished vignette that takes place somewhat related to the other two stories; I could see this story as a unifying episode establishing a link between the other two, or as simply a side story in the same world.
Ultimately, the story-telling is good, the writing is solid, and I recommend this short game; I'm looking forward to whatever comes next & hope that we can learn more about the characters and situations in this world.
