The Last Dark Day

This is a tiny game that puts the PC in a situation we have not often seen in interactive fiction. Saying anything more would spoil all.

I suspect the game would have been more interesting if it had taken me more than two turns to understand what was happening. Or, rather, I think the game should have allowed me to express that understanding and should then have skipped to the ending immediately. As it was, my third or fourth command was (Spoiler - click to show)"be born", but that didn't do anything; and that meant I just had to wait it out. Which is realistic, I guess, but not necessarily fun.

Let me finish by saying that the title of the piece is perhaps a tad optimistic. But that, I suppose, will be the subject of Painless Little Stupid Game 9.

Despite the Romantic sensibilities of the title, The Last Dark Day is anything but a Romantic, Gothic tour-de-force. It is a small, linear experience (not much of a game) that ends right about the time you've figured things out. You can't do much and waiting will effectively win the game the same as if you did anything. If the author wanted to convey a sense of helplessness or resignedness to fate, there must be better ways to convey it. On the plus side, this could have ended not as happily, so two stars for the implicit message.