Return to the game's main page

All Member Ratings

5 star:
(1)
4 star:
(0)
3 star:
(3)
2 star:
(1)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating: based on 5 ratings
Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2
1–5 of 5


- Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), November 17, 2017

- Karl Ove Hufthammer (Bergen, Norway), November 17, 2017

- E.K., October 25, 2017

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
An expansive time travel quest game, October 20, 2017*
Related reviews: about 2 hours

This game is by Luke Jones, who also wrote the interesting Bony King of Nowhere for Spring Thing in 2017.

This game is a treasure hunt puzzle fest type game, but it's kind of spare and with some hard-to-guess puzzles. The puzzles mostly revolve around finding the item or items that will induce NPCs to do things for you.

The game has a large cast of characters, many of which have multiple versions of themselves over 3 time periods. It has also has many rooms over the same time period. But much of it is under implemented. A porter is present in each time period, but has very little description or conversation in any, except for one short paragraph once. However, the author was explicitly inspired by Robin Johnson's minimalist games, so it is likely intentional.

The game has good bones, though, with a pleasant run through campus history and future. If the author switched to Inform 7, like Steph Cherrywell did, and budgeted more time for beta testing and polishing, they could build on the success they already have.

* This review was last edited on November 16, 2017
You can log in to rate this review, mute this user, or add a comment.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A pun-filled romp through time, October 11, 2017

"What Once Was..."

(Oh, just you wait until you get to that line during play! It's so GOOD!)

---

What Once Was is what INFOCOM games would have been, if they weren't too busy frustrating the player.

It is pun-filled Sci-Fi/Comedy at its finest!

So, grab your ID, make sure you've got your requisition form at the ready, and don't forget to bring some cheese!

You can log in to rate this review, mute this user, or add a comment.


1–5 of 5 | Return to game's main page