Ade's game reviews

Competitions IFComp
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21

The Dragon of Silverton Mine - Vukasin Davic

So! I had a particular gripe about this game. That gripe was the scrolling text. I was going to moan about it for a good paragraph or so. But I’ve just gone back and re-loaded the game just to remind myself about it, and, wait! The scrolling text has all gone away now. I look at the update notes. Author! You’re killing me. What am I going to gripe about now?

Mainly because, this is a good game. It’s a fun, lightly written, pleasant dungeon crawler implemented in choice, but with puzzly elements. It’s very well done for the type of game it is. It’s just…well… a good game. This isn’t damning with faint praise at all. Sometime it’s ok for a game just to be there to be played and enjoyed. And I did. I enjoyed my hour with it.

As a novice mage, we’ve got the unenviable job or sorting out a cave-in at the local mine. A cave-in which, as per the title, may have been caused by a dragon.

The interface works nicely. All the bits you’d expect of a modern choice UI are there. The text is pleasantly written. The plot tilts along nicely. The puzzles seem fair and well implemented. I didn’t come across any bugs in particular - a couple of typos maybe. I did get stuck at one point with a spyhole, but then I peeked at the walkthru and grudgingly, I admit, the solution does make sense.

The endgame itself is fun and funny. I particularly liked the final reveal of the causes of the disaster. Kudos. I play for a bit without the timed text…yeah…it’s just better.

7 Likes
22

This was helpful; I believe I’ve fixed the issue now. Thanks for calling it out! I’ve also changed the link hover color so they don’t disappear - poor stylistic choice on my part. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
23

198BREW - DWaM

The start of this game is compelling. We experience a fantastical, surreal, dreamlike opening sequence where questions are posed about the nature of eternity, time and memory. Then we hit the word Nespresso and are slammed into the mundane so hard our eyes rattle. Now that’s a hook.

At this point, I don’t have a goal, or any real direction. I am placed in the kitchen of my apartment. I begin to uncover things. Things that are only hinted at by the text and never explained outright. Opening the fridge raises more questions. Gradually it begins to dawn on me what may be going down. But then I talk to someone in a coffee shop and my assumptions are shaken once more.

After a while, I think I’m getting the gist of what’s really going down. Unfortunately at this point I am completely stuck. I simply can’t think of anything else to do. So I turn to the walkthrough. It turns out I needed to “ask cameraman about queen” to progress the game - I wouldn’t have got this in a million years. I have a quick scout around the other reviews of this game and no-one else is mentioning that they got stuck here. What did I miss? There must have been a prompt somewhere, surely. Of course, there’s always the chance that I did miss something. It’s late at night. I’ve been travelling all day. My plane was delayed. This hotel room is too warm.

The text is really well written - everything is just off - just slightly strange and alien and evocative. Unfortunately, there are issues with under-implementation. Stuff in the room isn’t recognised - even to the point where I can’t interact with people in the room with me. Common actions aren’t implemented. Conversation responses limited to a single ‘guess the subject’. I don’t want to bang on about this, but this is such a good narrative that it’s a shame when issues like this take me out of the text.

I reach a couple of different endings and finish the game. It’s a game of really interesting and imaginative ideas, but, for me, they never fully come together. There are so many thematic and interesting mysteries in this world that are hinted at by the text - some are brought to the surface and partially explained - others are left as narrative dead-ends. In a way, I applaud the author for this - I’m still thinking about them, but it’s still a little frustrating. Even at the end, I am prompted with a possible action, but the crows have gone away now and I’m left wondering.

6 Likes
24

Totally agree about the contrast between the mysterious and the everyday.

Feel free to disregard this if your question was rhetorical, but at the end of his rant, the barista says “I don’t want you repeating my mistakes. But if you want a starting point, maybe asking around about the queen will help. That’s all I’m gonna say on that.” Which is the only reason I went around asking everyone about that, otherwise it would not have occurred to me.

1 Like
25

The desk opens??? I did not realize that at all (I did realize I could talk to the bust but only because I know what a Brazen Head was so once I saw that mentioned it clicked).

1 Like
26

I did not know what a brazen head was. I just thought it would be funny to see the response…

1 Like
27

A Warm Reception - Josh Hetzel

There’s a maze in this game. It’s not a difficult maze, but a maze nevertheless. The blurb states “An old school style text adventure without the old school cruelty”. This is kind of in my wheelhouse. I like old skool. There have been a few games over the years in IFcomp I’ve really enjoyed that have been decidedly oldey timey. But the ‘without the cruelty’ part? I’ll be the judge of that! I find loads of puzzles cruel. Mainly the ones that require me to think hard, or read the text with any form of diligence. Or take notes. I’ve mentioned before - I’m just bad at text adventures.

But I digress. I enjoyed this game. There is, to be honest, nothing new here. This is a well worn trope. We are a reporter sent in to report on the wedding of the princess. Unfortunately, we arrive at the castle and it’s been taken over by a dragon. Cue a straightforward, puzzly, castle crawl where we try and find stuff that’ll enable us to defeat the big-bad. In other words: a treasure hunt.

Within the constraints of the genre, the puzzles all make sense. They’re not too hard, I don’t flounder around guessing verbs. The map isn’t too big or confusing. I solve the maze relatively quickly and don’t really get stuck on anything (which, for me, is unusual). It is rather lightly written to be honest - there’s not much in the way of ‘scenery’ here. It also could do with a few touches here and there around implementation. A few too many ‘That’s hardly portable’ moments.

I did like the little narrative that’s embedded in the game. We slowly, through finding the odd note, begin to understand what went down in this little melodrama. The ending fills us in completely. It’s a sweet touch: unexpected and nicely done.

The ending, though. Come on! I’ve just killed a dragon. At least give me a paragraph about my valorous deed!

All minor gripes! I enjoyed my time with this game. Look forward to seeing more from the author.

7 Likes
28

Hear, hear!

2 Likes
29

Turn Right - Dee Cooke

Driving in the UK is a pain sometimes. I used to live in the US for a while, and I work and drive there a lot, and things are, mostly, so much easier. Mainly because the road system is designed rather than built up haphazardly around a main street that more or less follows the path the cows would take down to the river a few hundred years ago. US denizens would disagree with me probably, but, as this game amply demonstrates - try getting out of a supermarket car park in the UK at 5pm and turning right onto a dual carriageway in rush hour. You either have to be a bully, lack any form of self-preservation, or lucky. US folk might say, yeah, but it’s pretty hard to turn left here. Yeah, that’s true, but go round the block, or you can quite often pull into a centre turn-lane. Similar scenario in UK might see you driving for 30 minutes or so till you can come back on yourself.

And if anyone disagrees with any or all of the above, first try driving through the UK city of Leeds during rush hour and then we can talk.

What I’m expecting and what I get in this game are two different things entirely. What I’m expecting is some sort of puzzly game, using the parser to wrangle complicated driving manoeuvres. What I get is absolute paralysis wherein a single command moves the narrative onwards.

And it works. It shouldn’t. But it does.

We are, as my introductory paragraph indicated, trying to turn right out of a supermarket car park during rush hour. We sit there in our car, waiting for a gap in the traffic. We try a bunch of stuff. Turning left. Going straight across to the pub. Going back. But of course, we need to turn right.

Repeating the same command over and over gets old real quick sometimes. But because the author has such a light touch when writing, because the text is so well written, because we can relate to what’s happening, because things are constantly going on around us, because the game is so deeply implemented, it doesn’t. It’s also funny. The game does a great job of wrapping the text up in a kind of dry ‘keep calm and carry on’ humor that I, at least, was completely engaged with from beginning to end - even though (and please don’t judge me) - even though I, personally, am more akin to the ‘van driver’ in the game (I’ve said too much!).

I reach the ending and realise that the game could only have worked in the way it was delivered. I’m still not quite getting the clown though.

11 Likes
30

[laughs in Boston]

6 Likes
31

Ok. Fair point. Boston is a special case.

4 Likes
32

Thanks so much for your great review!

2 Likes
33

Breakfast in the Dolomites - Roberto Ceccarelli

Why, game why! Why do I have a tiny inventory limit in a light-hearted romantic romp through the Dolomites? Why do I have six pockets so I have to search through each one just to find my wallet? Monica! Why are you so cruel? Apparently, or so I’ve been told, you’re a ‘peppy girl’ - I’m not sure what that means, but even though, “she won’t forgive him for anything he does that she doesn’t like, but deep down her heart beats for him.” - how could Francesco not fall in love with her?

Anyway. I’m making breakfast now and I’m trying to go back to my table to drink my coffee but “Don’t you take anything to drink?” — Monica asks - no thanks. I don’t want juice. I’m happy with my coffee. Why do Monica’s questions and suggestions sound more like orders that must be obeyed? Even when I have my juice, I can’t go back to the table because apparently Monica won’t be left alone while she waits for her crepe. I stand there balancing a plate of rapidly cooling fried eggs, another of various cheeses and meats, and a glass of juice while the cook makes Monica’s crepe and, back at the table, my coffee goes cold. Is it just me, or is there an element of toxicity in this relationship? “Drink your coffeecup of espresso coffee before it gets cold.” — Monica suggests you (sic), cruelly, maliciously, while you’re stood waiting for her to get her crepe. Ouch. Way to turn the knife, Monica.

Oh, yes.

“There was a juice extractor at the buffet, I would love to try one of those juices.” — Monica says looking at you with sweet love eyes — “Would you be so kind as to bring me one?”

Just you dare trying to say no. She’s not above a bit of emotional blackmail isn’t Monica. She knows how to manipulate Francesco into doing her bidding. Game! Give Francesco a bit of backbone, please!

I am, I must say, not having a good time so far in the Dolomites. The game is so pernickety that it ruins any kind of fun there may be in the act of experiencing these two people’s holiday. It is not a fun parser experience. Just making a glass of juice took me about fifteen minutes.

put carrots in juicer

Which do you mean, the juicer machine, the juicer bowl, the juicer recess or the juicer switch?

There’s over-engineered and then there’s this game. The level of granularity of each thing you need to do is both astonishing and frustrating. I think I get what the author was going for - these involved, atomic, sequences of actions are the primary gameplay element. It’s just, unfortunately, not much fun. (for me) It’s also obvious that English isn’t the author’s first language, so I’m not going to say anything about the writing, which does, to be honest, have issues.

I’m trying to come up with a positive. This does feel like someone’s first game. There’s obvious skills here in wrangling complicated stuff in the arcanaties of Inform. I hope the author builds on this.

6 Likes
34

Thank you for playing my game and leaving your review.

Yes, this is my first try. I read the transcript before seeing the review, and after seeing the first command I realised that the player would not like the game.
In fact, the game was not designed for a certain type of player.