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Review
Mike Russo's entry in to 2024's Really Bad IF jam is truly impressive. It is a very short, very stereotypical fantasy game in the sense that it provides the player an objective reachable with a few minutes of exploration, and it pays off appropriately in amusement delivered.
At first, the major complaint is that it's too short. Though overcoming the minor obstacles presented is too perfunctory an exercise to constitute a real challenge, it is a perfectly serviceable micro-entertainment -- so much so that it was summarily disqualified as not being bad enough to qualify for the jam. It's not enough that the player feels a bit cheated by the game's failure to continue the scenario past the point where it stops.
"Cheated" is a pointed word. Russo only makes an implicit promise here, and one could argue that the apparent promise is just an unintended side effect of the author's naturally engaging style. However, I believe that dangling that promise is intentional -- leaving the player wanting more certainly provides the impetus to take the game up on its offer when it ends with an invitation to examine the source code.
At this point, the work transforms entirely, moving from the style of classic fantasy RPG to pure horror.
The underpinnings of this work are just... horrendous from a coding perspective. Russo assiduously avoids using any of the tools in Inform 7's toolbox for its correct purpose. With a certain malevolent genius, he implements a consistent (if consistently awful) collection of misuses, assembled into a structure that, like Frankenstein's monster, invokes a deep repulsion (if also a dread fascination) simply by functioning at all.
I've often seen it said that one doesn't have to be a good coder to create a good game; this work is a very extreme form of proof for that argument. I don't know how much the code's uncanny framework could be extended before collapsing under its own weight, and there is no reason at all to emulate the coding style in one's own work, but many a new author can probably benefit from experiencing this work both as scenario and source. The effect might be similar to watching that infamous driver's ed film of yesteryear: "Red Asphalt".
To keep the meaning of my ratings consistent, I'm sticking to 3 stars for this one in consideration of it solely as a miniature game. However, in terms of higher levels of craft, I salute this work as a standout example of a well-executed genre twist.
