baby tree

by Lester Galin profile

Horror
2012

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Number of Reviews: 11
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
tiny origami model, August 21, 2015
by verityvirtue (London)

This game’s main gimmick is its extremely sparse prose, as if it had a strict word limit (300 words, anyone?). This extends to the parser responses (to things such as unrecognised verbs and so on), helping to set the mood.

However, the scarcity of prose also means there’s barely any feedback on the player’s actions (i.e. was I doing the right thing? Can I examine this thing?) grew frustrating after a while. I wouldn’t call it getting *stuck*, per se, since there’s so little to do that it’s pretty obvious how to get to the end of the story. But again it’s like those simple origami foxes or cats or whatever: it’s so stylised that it gives the *idea* of the thing,though it lacks many of the features that make the fox or cat or whatever it is.

Is it horror? Because of the prose, a lot of the content which would be considered horror is implicit, and depends on how you respond to certain situations.

As another reviewer has mentioned, the ‘epilogue’ feels rather rushed. The attempt to smoosh in some semblance of ‘story’ was a letdown, precisely because it felt so out of place. Still, it’s interesting for a one-time playthrough, as a writing experiment or a little piece of art.

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