A Beauty Cold and Austere

First, i want to apologize for my poor usage of the English language, i understand it pretty well, especially with a little help from the computer when needed ;) , but when i need to express myself, as you will see, i have some problems (and it's the least i could say). So, sorry if this render my review unreadable, at least i would have tried and with time and practice, i hope i'll become better and better and maybe, one day, i'll be able to write an IF work in English (let's hope -dream ?-)

Now to take on the subject matter, this piece of interactive fiction is sublime for anyone who love puzzles and mathematics and its history. The story part of the game is rather limited, and i'd say it's impossible to spoil it but to be perfectly honest (Spoiler - click to show)it's the evening, you haven't studied for your exam which is the next morning, and the only solution is a "study pill" that your roommate kindly left for you on your desk. This pill will take you to an oniric mathematical world where you will encounter various figures, mostly related to math history/mythology, which you will need to help by solving mathematical puzzles to gain points for your next morning exam's test score. Along the way you will also collect major books from math history on which you will be briefly briefed. Near the end of the game, when solving a puzzle you can be re-send to your dorm room at which time you can choose to stop here and be satisfied with the test score you'll have at the moment or return in the oniric mathematical world and solve every little puzzle to gain a perfect score of 100/100. To make a review without any spoiler, even if it is hard to spoil, i would say that it is a collection of mathematical puzzles that you solve to increase your score and learn about the history, philosophy and mythology of math along the way. There is not a lot of prerequisites to play this game, i will spoil the subject of the hardest puzzle of all (Spoiler - click to show)finding an Euleurian path with only text description of the grid. It was my first game of IF and i'm a math lover so i thunk that it will be a good starting point for me to enter this world, and even if some part was hard for a first timer (especially the mapping of the rooms (if you played it, you know what i mean)); i would say that i greatly enjoyed it. However i would not recommend it as an entry point in the IF World since even if it fitted for me, i think that it will discourage more people than amaze them (except if like me you're a math lover, in which case go !). However after having gained a bit of experience with interactive fiction : GO FOR IT ! It's a must ! You'll learn a lot if math is not your thing and if your a math person you'll love this "Easter Eggs" feeling when catching reference to mathematical culture (history, philosophy, jokes, thought experiments etc...).

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Finally, and this has nothing to do with the game, if you have the time and will, can you leave a little comment on how you found my English expression skills were. Thanks.

This game blew me out of the water. Every puzzle was engaging and educational. I must admit to the occasional use of hints, but I fully believe that if I hadn't been in such a rush to finish the game I could have solved it all with just a bit of brain power.

It's chock full of interesting historical elements as well, and the characters felt very alive (I felt genuine emotion for Descartes, that man was going through it).

Play this game. Its well tested, you won't get soft locked, every puzzle is perfect.

This game was the insipid edutainment experience that I had feared when I was preparing to play Junior Arithmancer.

When I first loaded this up and got through the short introductory segment, I thought that I was going to be treated to an extended version of the experience provided by the core mechanic seen in the author's other notable math-themed game. I was envisioning a game of "magical" powers rooted in mathematical operations that would phrase key breakthroughs in the history of mathematics as puzzles to be overcome, with an emphasis on the expansions of conception as opposed to the mechanical operations. Having enjoyed the optional puzzles and just playing around in the number space of Arithmancer, I thought I was looking at the fun and compelling core of that game turned up to 11.

The presentation and the setting were quite similar, and the first few segments (constructing and extending the set of numbers) seemed to support the title's implication that this game would be about learning to appreciate the "cold and austere" beauty of the vast and interconnected web of concepts and reason that is mathematics. Since Arithmancer was so unexpectedly fun, I was looking forward to the experience -- I even hoped that I might learn something.

Unfortunately, the game quickly devolves into something else entirely: an old-school-style puzzler with frivolous mathematical theming that seems almost totally at odds with the implicit premise. Although *A Beauty Cold and Austere* appears to be the author's sincere love letter to the beauty of mathematics, it singularly fails to communicate that beauty. Fundamental and important conceptual breakthroughs are handled at a remove of one or more degrees, via puzzles that for the most part pointedly avoid the crux of the mathematics themselves. The entire puzzle structure is crafted in the old school style, and at times the game almost seems a parody of it.

The actual reasoning required to make progress is typical for old-school puzzlers, and the game does little to explain or reinforce mathematical concepts. I frequently found myself imagining young players of this game huddled around an Apple ][ in a 1980s school computer lab, too interested in the novelty of a "talking" computer to notice that they weren't learning anything useful about math from overcoming the game's obstacles.

To be fair, it's hardly this work's fault that it wasn't what I had hoped it to be on the basis of a misunderstanding that it was written after Arithmancer. It was, in fact, written before, and the arrow of causation points the other way; Spivey quite admirably extracted one of the best ideas from this game and crafted a much better experience from it. Perhaps I was reading too much into the title and cover for a second time with one of Spivey's works. However, I was not particularly impressed with this work even when trying to take it on its own terms. The fairness level of many puzzles is debatable, and the only unifying structure is dream logic, i.e. non-logic. The most interesting aspect was (Spoiler - click to show)the roller coaster; with its multiple possible configurations, I had to admire its implementation as either very clever in its design or of impressively large scale in execution, if not both.

I think I would recommend this game to someone who really enjoys the old school puzzle sensibility of wanting to solve a puzzle "because it's there," and I imagine that there would be some appeal to mathematicians in the fact that many props and setting elements come from the history of their field. If the idea of Zork with math-themed puzzles appeals to you, then by all means proceed directly to playing. If what you want is fun with the math itself, then you may be better served by Junior Arithmancer from the same author.

A Beauty Cold and Austere is an elegant and ardent love letter to mathematics. The game progresses naturally along the historical development of mathematics, and the world expands along with our understanding of what a number actually is. Each puzzle is cleverly designed around a fundamental principle of mathematics, using the language and thought processes of at the time of discovery. I loved interacting with the historical figures and seeing them interact with each other! This game is a masterpiece, and I will being singing its praises to all of my math-y friends!