3.) Mooncrash! by @Silverthorn
Normally I start reviews by saying something good about a game and then move into criticism. I’m going to reverse that tendency for this one. This is an Inform game, which is my wheelhouse both as an author and as a player. I’m sympathetic to the difficulties of writing an Inform game, especially the first one. But I like Inform games to be well-made. There are many of the standard new-author problems with Mooncrash. You are as good-looking as ever. Almost nothing in the descriptions is implemented. There are some hiccups. There’s a laundry list of things new Inform authors do wonkily, and this game checks a lot of items on that list.
But.
None of that really mattered here, because the game was so. Much. Fun. It was really just delightful. A fantasy game with dramatic writing that needs to be purple and is suitably lilac, Mooncrash touches on all the fantasy tropes: dragons, battles with HP, mage-god-type guys with names like “The Fateweaver”, etc. It’s the end of the world! What are you going to do? Make fantasy machines, fight grinning imps, navigate mazes, and find out whether or not you can reach Mount Doom and throw the ring in the fire! Well, not that last part.
There are 4 different sections to this. You’ll start out taking a little personality quiz that tells you where to start. I ended up starting at what I think is the easiest section: The Watcher. I’d hate to think of ending up with The Shroud first. After your first win or lose, you can choose your path and rack up some expertise with weapons.
I didn’t finish in 2 hours-- I didn’t beat To Cheat Destiny with that mfing Shroud. But I’m gonna get that done.
I do recommend that the author smooth this game out to be in line with the standard IF player’s expectations once the Comp is over. Get some testers here and it will be pretty easy to get it sparkling. But even with its newbie flaws, this game is just a rollicking way to spend some time. Great job, Laura.