Olivia's Orphanorium

Might just be that I'm a sim addict (I am), but I wish there were more IF games like this. Not that ALL IF games were like this, just that there were a few more.

It's amazing how easily a few bits of information (name, gender, four stats) and a little responsibility can be converted to genuine (if very mild) affection. I genuinely wanted my charges to be attractive and well-disciplined so that they could get out of my orphanage before despair killed them. And to get paid in the process.

I found the interface simple to use and not overly tedious even in the tail end of the game once I discovered I could "x all" and "assign all". I enjoyed the random story events, and liked that I could dismiss ones that were unfulfillable. I wish there were more of them, or that they were more frequent ((Spoiler - click to show)and that the sewage one came up a lot less frequently, or not at all unless you have wards in every room. I had it happen on two different plays when I had no wards in two of the rooms and it took forever to clean up).

At some points (like when a ward I'd gotten almost perfect bolted) I found myself wishing for a bit more agency. And I would have liked a subplot that required spending money (maybe enriching myself or improving my station) to make the choice of where to spend my money more interesting than just "what order do I buy stuff" or "buy whatever will help solve my current issue".

After several play-throughs, I only found one bug; one of my wards met an untimely end yet was still active and present the next day.

Definitely a game worth playing as both an interesting experiment and a fun game, as long as you don't dwell too long on what the game is actually requiring you to do (or find it amusing).

So, it turns out I somehow downloaded both versions and played the wrong one! The updated version seems to have increased the number of random events and decreased the morale hits. Very nice.