Just Listen Up, Kid!

This is a Twine game in the Single Choice Jam.

It's based around a single gimmick, where an adult is lecturing you but (full spoilers) (Spoiler - click to show)he gets mad if you click too fast, because you're just rushing, and mad if you click to slow, because you're not paying attention.

To me it feels like a real conversation with an abusive or at least just grumpy/self-involved person, always looking for something to nitpick and always trying to leave you with the feeling that you did something wrong.

The main mechanic did leave me scrambling, and I had to do several retries, so I'm still on the fence on how I feel about it.

There’s always an age when kids will start pushing boundaries with their parents, objecting to their decision or sneakily do what they are not supposed to. And there are often other nosey adults who will lecture those kids, even if they are not related…

From this generic setting, you must suffer through the dispensed morals of said adult who caught you speed-reading (reading without buying) a magazine. But the ordeal can pass through quickly and without much yelling… if your timing is just right.

See, the old man lecturing you has a lot to say to you, about what’s morally correct, and how should kids behave, shaming you for not behaving properly (you seemed to be just a regular kid). Click too early on the response, and you will be berated for cutting him off; too late*, and the scolding will be about not paying attention. If your timing is just right (there is a visual indicator) and let the man finish his moralistic monologue, he will let you move on with your day.

While this is a fun gameplay, my issue was with the timer. It is way too fast to be able to read anything. Even being able to read pretty fast usually, it was even hard to scan through the text before the timer runs out, and worse still with the latter longer morals. Your eyes just focus on the right moment to click the response, missing the rest. I had to open the source code for this part…

I guess it makes sense, context-wise, to have such short timer. You’re a child, and moralistic monologues are a drag - the preachiness of things, ugh… - you’d rather just uh-huh the adult until they leave. But as a player, it’s not very satisfying…