Down

by Kent Tessman

1997
Slice of life
Hugo

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All Member Ratings

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Average Rating: based on 5 ratings
Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2
1–5 of 5


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Incomplete , December 31, 2022
by Cena (Minneapolis, MN)
Related reviews: hugo, 1997

'm very conflicted about Down. On the one hand, this is my second KT game (not counting Tetris) and I really like his writing. I like the ideas of his games, the way he has of evoking a particular setting, a mood, a genre convention.

But. Beyond the first puzzle, this was terribly clued. Lots of verb-guessing, reading the author's mind, and general not-sure-what-to-do-isms. On the one hand, I could also complain about the relative barrenness of the map; very little is implemented. And yet, as in Spur, KT manages to convey a lot with a little. So I can picture myself (YOU) in the tiny map, the black smoke rising in the late afternoon air, the people huddled in their little groups of misery.

What I can't do is interact with all of that very much. This is a static piece, regardless of the finale. Having sat with it for a week, it feels like an outline, almost, rather than a complete game.

There's a disjointedness in Down's puzzles and set scenes - both in terms of logic and implementation - which hasn't resolved over time. There's a hole in the center of it al, an emptiness; I almost feel like I'm watching ghosts relive the scene of their demise.

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- Edo, July 21, 2021

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
An early hugo game about survival after a catastrophe, June 26, 2017*
Related reviews: 15-30 minutes

This is a short, loosely timed game about waking up after some sort of accident and then trying to help yourself and others before time runs out.

The writing is interesting, and the game feels fairly polished. However, it really suffers from 'guess what the author is thinking' syndrome. Some of the actions are completely unmotivated. However, playing around on my own was fairly fun.

* This review was last edited on July 1, 2017
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- DJ (Olalla, Washington), May 9, 2013

- Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), May 30, 2012


1–5 of 5 | Return to game's main page