Popcorn, Soda ... Murder?

This game was the first title to be released on Hosted Games. (well... not really since even the hosted titles were released under the Choice of Games label at the time.) I still remember the author telling Dan and co. on that old Google group forum about the complete and ready-to-submit game. Anyways, well over a decade later, here we are.

Still, it's hard to recommend this game even as a free product. Completing this game requires you to exhaust every lead in the first section, then answer all questions correctly in the next section. If you fail the second section, you get to try again. However, the final section is where the game gets Nintendo Hard. Get one choice wrong, the killer is allowed to go free, and it's game over. Unfortunately, there wasn't a save system at that time, so say hello to another tedious round of play if you want to try again. (Wait, hold on. It's 2025 and we still don't have a save system, besides using third-party tools.)

The writing is technically sound, but could use some more color. The text alternates between prose and script. The whole murder method of (Spoiler - click to show)shoving glass shards down someone's throat with gloves on would require some serious ninja fighting skills to perform. Also, if you accuse the wrong person, the police officer is happy to go along with your decision, but if you accuse the right person, the police officer will defend him and try to set him free unless you can complete a gauntlet of choices with perfect accuracy. (Otherwise, prepare to do the entire thing again.)

That said, the writer completed this game in high-school, and was the first person to submit a game to HG. I think these are still pretty cool achievements, and it definitely takes a lot of courage to be the one to take the first step. For that, I'm giving a higher rating than I normally would.