A Bitterly Indifferent thread of reviews, writeups, and thoughts articulated with varying degrees of quality

Competitions IFComp
42

(S)wordsmyth is a choice-based entry from Tristan Jacobs.

I loved the concept behind this entry, but I was baffled by its design choices.

5 Likes
43

Yeah, the visual-novel-with-no-visuals presentation on this one seemed decidedly odd…

44

This year, I’ve been paying more attention to the engines that authors are using to share their stories. It’s a more important decision than I had realized!

3 Likes
45

Ferryman’s Gate is a parser-based entry by Daniel Maycock.

Its obsession with comma use risks a catastrophic invocation of Muphry’s law.

2 Likes
46

Creatures is a choice-based work by Andreas Hagelin.

This entry deserves credit for re-creating a nostalgic experience, but it has a simple play loop and story elements that never form a cohesive narrative.

4 Likes
47

Little Girl in Monsterland is a choice-based entry from Mike Stallone.

It’s full of wild ideas, but in some places, its comic tone made it difficult for me to follow the plot.

4 Likes
48

hi peter,

thank you for playing “quintessence” last month and for offering such a thoughtful review. this is my first game, and i’m amazed at how kind and helpful these reviews (including yours!) have been. i feel like you “got” what i was trying to do, and that’s lovely! in that context, please know that the coding for those cursors after i designed them was the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE FOR OVER A WEEK. it was the kind of thing where i nearly gave up numerous times when they just…wouldn’t…work…out! each time i was about to quit trying to get them to render properly, i would review the list of possible css cursors, and they were all unacceptable in the context of the story. so i pressed on…

what i mean is – i feel your cursor pain, if for a different reason.

thanks again for the review!

2 Likes