This is a game I threw together in a fit of semi-inspired insanity. I have a feeling there are some things wrong with it, but my few beta-testers so far have been too enamored with the idea that I was capable of doing this (my friends are easily impressed by minor technological feats) to discover bugs, outside of some unusable chairs which have since been rectified.
I posted the game online, for easy access, at http://www.houseofcrisis.co.nr.
Anything would be appreciated. 
Minor update. The address of the game has changed to houseofcrisis.herobo.com, because I was sick of dealing with fly-by-night Nauruan domain names.
Played and sent PM.
As of 2012-06-16, when I go to houseofcrisis.herobo.com/game/play.html, all I get is the line
and then I guess Parchment crashes? I never even get the rest of the quote. This is on Safari 5.1.5, Mac OS X 10.7.3.
It’s not obvious, but it wants you to hit the space bar a few times.
Ah, thanks, zarf.
Well, I took a short look at “House of Crisis”. It seems to go way overboard in presenting backstory(*) via readable objects: in the first room you find a “note” and a “newspaper”, the next room contains a “book”, the following room contains a “magazine”, the next room contains a “paper”, west from there you find a “flyer”… This feels more than a bit silly.
(* - And way underboard in presenting backstory. I still don’t have any idea what the story is about, or why I should care. What’s this Nationet IPO that none of the characters know anything about? Who’s Samantha? Who’s Braxton? Who the heck is “Grosvenor”? Who am I?)
It also feels silly to have so many chairs, especially when the verb “sit in chair” doesn’t quite work right. (I think you end up standing on the chair.) But at least there’s no bathroom in the first few rooms.
Implementation bug: You score a point every time you pick up the book, and lose a point every time you try to pick up the flyer. By repeating these commands over and over, you can adjust your score arbitrarily high or low. You want your rule to look something like “After taking the book for the first time: …” or alternatively “After taking the book when the book is not handled: …” or alternatively code up something more complicated, if you want the player to lose the points again when he drops the book.
I was momentarily amused by the description of the crystals in the foyer, until I realized that I had somehow misread “goodness” as “goddamn”.
Grosvenor is rather underimplemented:[spoiler][code]
x grosvenor
A pudgy old man who happens to be the new Environment Secretary. If there’s one thing you’ve learned about Environment Secretaries, Francis, it’s that they’ll do anything they’re told. .
grosvenor, go east
Grosvenor has better things to do.
grosvenor, bite me
There is no reply.
[/code][/spoiler]
The narrator’s fourth-wall-breaking and off-color in-jokes are either good or bad, depending on your taste. I found them juvenile. If the backstory were clearer right from the start: who am I? what’s my job? where am I? what’s going on? — if I understood the plot from the beginning — then you could get away with irrelevant badinage about back massagers, porn starlets, and paper-kleptomaniac protagonists. But as it is, the narrator’s tone just makes me think that the game doesn’t think it’s interesting enough, either. Besides, the narrator’s suggestions are never implemented:[spoiler][code]Records Room
Filled with stacks and stacks of books of information, the Records Room is a treasure trove of data, about all sorts of strange stuff. Here, you can find information about ever political mover and shaker since, well, ever. Here’s a novel idea: SNOOP. Go west to exit.
You can see a cabinet (closed) and a chair here.
snoop
That’s not a verb I recognise.
read leaflet
A leaflet with some introductory information about the Capitol. The words FIND SAMANTHA are scrawled on the inside, for some odd reason. It is as though someone knew about your idiosyncratic habit for collecting printed media.
find samantha
That’s not a verb I recognise.[/code][/spoiler]
I strongly suspect that parser bugs prevent the game from being winnable. At any rate, there are parser bugs in the final room, and I gave up before defeating them. (Samantha never showed up.)
[spoiler][code]Garden Study
You stand in the Garden Study, which Braxton has asked you to visit. And, of course, you are in expected company. Southwest and southeast are exits, but do you really want to abandon the game on the last screen?
You can see Braxton here.
x braxton
(the Braxton Dossier)
Reads "BRAXTON, CHARLES J.P… MP for Wainsborough. Served since 2036. Disciplinary Actions: 4 removals from House for unparliamentary language, 1 censure, related to parliamentary insider trading.
(se. drop braxton. nw. x braxton.)
A lanky, hunchbacked man in a bowtie with curly hair, Braxton was once your right-hand man. He’s seemed to stray a bit, however, and needs a good swift kick up the backside. Ask him about the dossier, then deliver a coup de grace with the photograph. He’ll HAVE to resign.
(se. get braxton. nw.)
ask braxton about dossier
(Braxton about that)
There is no reply.[/code][/spoiler]