Secret Agent Cinder

Secret Agent Cinder recasts the classic heroine as a spy infiltrating the ball in a stealth mission. Accompanying are nicely drawn comics that take the place of elaborate descriptions. Some text is provided, but is spare and utilitarian. This game has a lot of neat tricks and does more with the images to supply necessary information than normal illustrated stories do. The map and occasional orientation can be a tad confusing, but otherwise this is a unique and novel Twine with loads of personality that would have been a great IFComp entry.

This short choice game has lavish and beautiful drawings for each room/scenario, but the navigation system is classic CYOA style, plus a compass rose.

The story is a version of Cinderella as a secret spy. Cinderella is an action-hungry operative who clashes with the advice of the more level-headed Godmother, providing for some of the best moments in the game.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It felt like an interactive webcomic. Because classic comic strips were some of my favorite reading material as a kid, I enjoy the idea of interactive web-comic as a form of IF, and would like to see more of this in the future.

[Time to completion: 15-20 minutes]

You are Cinderella, and you must infiltrate the ball to steal the King's secret military plans - and fret not, it's all in aid of the revolution!

The visual novel-style illustrations define the tone of the story and, in parts, deliver information relevant to the story. You, intrepid reader, will need to pay attention to detail, and, like me, you may get imprisoned a few times before figuring out how to escape in one piece.

The directions were my main stumbling block; I had trouble correlating compass directions, map and directional arrows. Otherwise, though, this is a fun one.

Taking about fifteen minutes' playtime for a runthrough, Secret Agent Cinder would make a great lunchtime game - mischievous, well-executed and often surprising.