Number of Reviews: 4
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Transparent: holds its integrity, September 12, 2023I think that the difficulty found by other players lies solely in their expectations. If they are to take a game by its own words, then they could have really enjoyed their time in the world created by the author. Sadly it appears most players brought their own preconceived notions and were unable to lose themselves in the process of either winning or losing the game.
The depth and magnitude of the game are nothing to write home about. It is not an entirely long game. But the satisfaction brought from winning should be experienced by anyone who comes across this classic. The humor, the brevity, the transparency of the name, it all worked together to bring me enjoyment while I worked out the strategy for winning (sometimes losing) this game.
It is short. The replayability is technically rather high, due to the game's length. One could certainly have multiple play-throughs in one sitting. But only having two endings does not encourage players to interact with it very frequently. There is a sequel that I haven't played yet, but I'm hoping the author will have written more than one ending.
Nonetheless, The Minimalist Game is a short but honest game, getting to the heart of the player's desires - encouraging some self-assessment and meditation on values - and is a game that every IF player should experience at least once.