Starborn

Note: this review is for the Undum/Vorple version. It does not appear to work on Google Chrome (44.0.2403) or Safari (8.0.8).

You were born on the Magellan, kilometres and kilometres away from Earth. You were born and raised in space, and the ship Magellan has been the only home you've ever known.

You want to get home.

Starborn is a melancholic exploration game. Originally a Z-machine game, it has since been adapted for Undum/Vorple, which is a natural fit for this format. The writing is clean, though unremarkable; the most memorable feature about this game would probably be the close attention paid to the playing experience. Keywords are both hyperlinked and given a special column. Navigation can be done either through the hyperlinked keywords or through the panel on the left.

In terms of story, the author gives hints as to what's going on, but the writing has some emotional depth: a sense of alienation (ahem) and loneliness pervades the descriptions of Earth, and of yourself.