Limerick Heist

After I had fun with Nord and Bert,
I thought, more word games couldn't hurt!
I had high expectations,
and with little hesitation,
went in receptive and alert.

The comedy rhyming is consistently a joy,
and depending on who you employ,
the story will take different a turn.
You can always undo, so no cause for concern.
(A good move, as the inverse would annoy.)

To the heist's challenge, my squad arose,
all written in the game's unique style of prose.
Not once did it feel bland or uninspired,
it stays quite fresh, so you won't get tired.
Lots of work was put in, and it shows!

The premise enticed,
review scores sufficed,
so allow me to conclude this review
with a statement that's honest and true:
I'm glad I played Limerick Heist!

Limerick Heist, a simple game
Of filching jeweled Fabergé
Rhymes are this one's claim to fame
And ease of play

Puzzles are a bit obtuse
Replays you will be contending
In hopes that you can right deduce
A many ending

Charm, for sure, is ever present
A smirk did find me several times
But like reviews that are unpleasant
Too many rhymes

Limerick Heist does impress,
its story impresses no less.
I thought I was smart
but then must restart,
finding myself in a mess.

"What it says on the tin" games often can run into trouble. They're limiting by the end. The risk is double with poetry. It can get sing-song or repetitive. But in this case, I enjoyed the presentation, and the size is just about right. Limericks do seem to have just the right amount of flexibility: not too short, and not too long, and they never feel too pretentious or too low-class. I like writing them. I've written a ton. You can say what you want, move on from them and not worry if they're any good.

But stringing even two together--well, I found this tricky indeed.

You've probably seen the tropes before, and the blurbs fully admit to this: the leader of a heist gets people together, there are conflicts, things go wrong and ... well, because this is a choice-based game, you do have endings. And the bad ones are indeed rewarding. I certainly enjoyed them more than costly special effects at a movie, ones that are meant to draw out the drama but just overload me. A limerick's five lines, though, feel just right to me.

With rhymezone.com and various programs to track the meter, I suppose we can be picky and say, ok, that's something the game SHOULD get right. But the more subjective stuff, like plot, pacing and throwing out rhymes that are clever but not overdone, obviously require care on the author's part. And that's evident here.

I think the most telling testament I can give to the game's quality was that, on getting a bad death, I expected a good limerick for the "undo/restart/restore" option--and I got one! So it's very detailed. It has the usual technical stuff like letting you track all the different endings, but perhaps my favorite bit was how (Spoiler - click to show)one successful ending laid out the possibility of a sequel. And since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I'll leave you with this...

How quickly a game like this could
Grate awfully, it's understood,
Or stop feeling new
About halfway through
But don't worry. This one makes good.

I had an idea to write
A game like this but did not quite
Or really at all
Find ways to enthrall
With plot, humor, fun or insight.

The game's title thus brought to light
Ny shelved plans. So, quickly, despite
A wish I'd have spun
A tale half as fun
I'm thrilled THIS work got things so right.

(Oh, hey, look, this game helped me finally string a few limericks together!)

This is obviously an immensely fun game, and it’s clear that it’s been a great success as this. English being my second language, I’m not the best to fully appreciate all the wordplay, but I had lots of fun nonetheless.

I really liked the game’s structure, and that was unexpected. If I had read an explanation of the structure before, I would have expected it to fail. The idea of (Spoiler - click to show)taking the wrong decision > losing instantly > going back one turn and choosing something else looks quite wrong to me on paper. But it works beautifully in practice.

Perhaps it works because of the humour. (Spoiler - click to show)Losing means getting some hilarious verses, so of course everyone wants to lose and try again.

This is an excellent game and its great position in IFcomp was both expected and deserved!

This is a standard heist plot with a soupcon of goofiness, told entirely in limericks. The limericks all scan (thank goodness, because there is nothing worse than something in verse from someone who thinks meter is optional) and there are some thoughtful touches such as coloring each heist member’s name and dialogue in a different color to make it easier to tell who’s saying what, which, as a nice bonus, gives the project a distinctive palette. And while there aren’t exactly puzzles, per se, there’s a couple of spots where you need to make a correct observation to reach a successful ending. This one is witty, fun, and doesn't take much of a time investment - give it a try!

This game is a crime game where you assemble a team to pull off a heist. Absolutely everything is in limerick form, even the choices, which are all first lines of limericks.

I give stars in 5 criteria: polish, interactivity, emotion, descriptiveness, and if I would play again.

This game is both very polished and very descriptive. The limericks are clever, and the game uses color very effectively.

It's funny, I'll admit, but the sheer number of limericks was wearying by the end. I often feel this way with poetry (I've never finished Paradise Lost), so I didn't feel very emotionally invested.

The interactivity was a sort of gauntlet style where you could lose at any point in the story making the wrong choice. It makes for less writing (which makes sense with so many constraints!), but I wasn't really into the overall structure. There are some paths that do branch and recombine, though.

And overall, I would play again, and I would recommend it to people looking for something quirky.