|
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 New member reviews
Updates to downloadable files
All updates to this page
|
|
Game Details
Language: English (en)
Current Version: release 3 License: Freeware Development System: Inform 6 Baf's Guide ID: 434
|
Awards
Best of Landscape, Landscape - 2000 IF Art Show
Editorial Reviews
Baf's Guide
While The Cove does contain specific puzzles and a list of tasks to accomplish, it's not precisely a text adventure; rather, you live through a pivotal moment in the protagonist's life. The goal of the game is to experience the environment as thoroughly as possible.
The text is expansive and rather poignant. The game's one or two puzzles are for the most part self-evident in their solution, and most of the points are scored by simply looking at the right bits of scenery to trigger your character's memories.
The Cove isn't meant to be a game, and it shows, but it is an excellent example of how a story that would be hopelessly banal in a standard format can be compelling and emotional in IF.
-- R. Serena Wakefield
SPAG
The Cove won Best Landscape in Marnie Parker's Art Show in the spring of 2000, and the landscape really does take center stage: there are only a few locations, but all of them are packed with things to experience. In fact, your score increases not with problems solved, but with things seen (or heard, or smelled, or felt), though exactly which ones give you a point and which don't feels rather arbitrary. Interestingly, much of the interaction is purely sensory--there aren't many objects to manipulate, and you can't really affect your surroundings much, though you can certainly be affected by them. The scene itself--a seaside cliff, a beach, a cave--is familiar, but there are enough unexpected elements--a sea lion, an otter, tidal pools--to make it feel fresh, and the game oozes attention to detail. [...]
Unfortunately, the landscape isn't the only thing here; there's a plot of sorts involving a dead lover and a pressured marriage and such that owes much to cliché and adds very little to the game.
-- Duncan Stevens
See the full review
Tags
Member Reviews
| Average Rating: Number of Reviews: 1 Write a review |
A beautiful contemplation piece set in an 1860's beach, June 27, 2016This game was the winner of the 'Landscape' portion of the 2000 IF art show, the same art show where Galatea won the 'Portrait' segment.
You play as a woman who has second thoughts about her engagement, visiting a cove to be alone with her memories. Points are given based on memories remembered and animals examined, as well as for exploration.
The writing is peaceful and beautiful.
The game has a very small puzzle aspect that didn't really work for me.
Overall, I recommend this for fans of the IF art show. If you haven't tried any IF art show games, you should.
If you enjoyed The Cove...
Related Games
People who like The Cove also gave high ratings to these games:| The ORPHEUS Ruse, by Paul Gresty Average member rating: (3 ratings)Infiltrate the enemy as a psychic spy, leaping from body to body by touch! But when your own body is stolen, you’ll race against time to find it before your mind disintegrates. “The ORPHEUS Ruse” is a thrilling interactive spy novel... |
| "Adventures in the Tomb of Ilfane" by Willershin Rill, by Richard Goodness writing as The Water Supply writing as Willershin Rill Average member rating: (10 ratings)Millennia ago, the Autarch Ilfane used a magical artifact called The Knot to bring the Teresten people to an era of prosperity. Now, the Nazi archaeologist Doktor Chirlu seeks its power. Get ready, Professor Adventure -- solving the... |
| Harmonic Time-Bind Ritual Symphony, by Ben Kidwell and Maevele Straw Average member rating: (11 ratings)A musician's manic episode binds fiction and reality into a joyful union. |
Recommended Lists
The Cove appears in the following Recommended Lists:Great games in a mostly realistic setting by MathBrush
These are games that for the most part don't contain magical elements or futuristic technology. This includes games where there might be magic or futuristic technology, but you don't know until the end. So several of these games do...
IF Romances by Emily Short
IF in the romance genre is rare; here are a few I thought worked well.
Polls
The following polls include votes for The Cove:Parser games (any system, any age) with English rural setting/atmosphere by Marco Innocenti
I'm looking for any parser game (modern or vintage) that is set in an English, rural, Victorian overall ambient, both indoor and outdoor. As an example, something in the mood of The Hound of the Baskervilles, with moors, villages,...
Historical adventures. by Rovarsson
I love historical novels, no matter what time period they're set in. They do have to be accurate though. Can you suggest IF-games that are also like that? (In short: no magic.)
Games with accurate (present or historical) settings by Emily Short
I'm looking for works in the general spirit of The Fire Tower or 1893: they can be puzzly or not, have a story or not, but they should attempt to represent a real-world setting as accurately as possible, and in some detail.
This is version 5 of this page, edited by David Welbourn on 20 June 2015 at 1:51am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item