Slappy Squirrel Gets The Girl

For starters- this is a surprisingly grounded, traditionally structured puzzler that should be beatable in around two hours by someone with general IF familiarity - less if they've got some genre knowledge.

And I honestly think that's the furthest most prospective players should read, just keep in mind what you're getting into and fire the interpreter up. There are no unreasonable puzzles here, and nothing that reading this review will improve.

The structure is traditional in that the player will find themselves confronted by a succession of discrete puzzles, approachable in many different orders, each solvable by the application of the correct item and a little lateral thinking, some of which unlock others. There is one unwinnable situation I found - (Spoiler - click to show)don't eat the fruitcake unless you're ready to speak to the barker - but it's foreseeable. I'm sure if I pressed harder there'd be missable items.

At times the progression through these puzzles can seem a little arbitrary. But in every case the player can illuminate things by embracing a bit of the absurd logic with which they were designed. Cheerfully viewed through ACNE Cartoon Logic Glasses, everything comes into focus immediately. I think that's the greatest win here- there is plenty of entertaining description but the player creates most of their own humor.