54 | BAD BEER
54 | BAD BEER
by: Vivienne Dunstan
Progress:
- After 13 minutes of play, the game abruptly ended with what seemed like a good ending, so I believe that I did what needed to be done here.
Things I Appreciated:
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One of the things I enjoyed was the casual and friendly conversation with the NPCs in the game. Often parser game dialogue makes me nervous because in past games, I’ve gotten mean-spirited error messages when I’m trying in good faith to figure out what to ask the characters about. But it wasn’t like that here—the game established a tone that it was more welcoming and that the characters appreciated that I was trying to help, which was a lot more calming than some of the other experiences I’ve had.
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The main puzzles of the game felt very intuitive to me. The NPCs gently guide you to explore the cellar, and then after the first failed time loop, I guessed that I needed to just carry the plant to intervene in Will’s fate. There was never a point in this game where I felt like I had exhausted my options and got frustrated.
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I liked the atmosphere of the warm pub setting that is gradually infiltrated by more and more spooky elements until the twist happens. Though it was a short experience, it felt well-paced.
Feedback/Recommendations/Questions:
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So far in these responses, playing 52 of the IF Comp games prior to this one, this is the most shocked that I’ve been that a game ended when it did. When “The End” popped up on screen (before I had read the text of the ending) I panicked that the vicar had unexpectedly murdered me or something, which was a wild response to have to what is actually a sweet and warm conclusion. This was entirely based on the front matter: when I see that a parser game is given an estimated play time of an hour, I assume I’ll be at or well past that given my lack of experience. I interpreted everything that was happening through that lens. When I discovered the ghost time loop mechanic, I was really excited, because I thought there was going to be a sequence of different puzzles involving finding objects associated with different ghosts and I was going to be visiting the pub in a bunch of different historical eras to learn more about the setting. The front matter led me to a disruptive expectation, when if it had more closely matched the play time I would have understood the scope of the game better and felt like it was a more complete experience as it was happening. All this is to say: I thought this was a well-crafted experience regardless of this mishap, and I would love to see the game expanded if the author is so moved to do more with the scenario they crafted.
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I feel like the time loop puzzle just needed one more step to feel more substantial. I had a sense that when I took the plant, something else would go wrong, and I would have to time or sequence something more elaborate to stop Will’s death. So while the puzzle was intuitive to solve, I find myself craving a bit more to it. The game didn’t really ask me to learn much about Will’s character or relationship with the landlord or the bar to intervene in his fate, when it seemed like the first half of the game (where you get important information from talking to people) is leading toward a more social puzzle gameplay.
What I learned about IF writing/game design:
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I mean, the number one thing I learned is the absolute power of front matter. There have been games where I was faster or slower at reading than indicated by the front matter, but this is the most extreme case of this happening. And I feel like it caused me to view the game a bit unfairly—as lacking something, because its scope was much smaller than I anticipated. I imagine it can be difficult to nail down exactly what to put for an expected play time since people solve puzzles at different rates, so this is a good reminder for myself to think critically about how to frame my own work to make sure players’ expectations of scope are less likely to get out of hand.
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A writing detail that I enjoyed was the dual dialogue with June and Sally. I liked that when talking to one, the other would also chime in with more details, which felt realistic. Coworkers in the same room as you aren’t going just to stand silently while you are having a conversation. I thought this was a thoughtful implementation that gave June and Sally a fair amount of characterization in a very short time, and made the kitchen feel like a lived-in space.
Quote:
- “‘Oh that gives me the creeps!’ Sally says, handing it back to you. She shakes her hands, as if trying to get rid of the strange feeling.”
Lasting Memorable Moment:
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When I went outside and saw a ghost in the window—this was a significant escalation of the supernatural element of the narrative.
DemonApologist_BadBeer.txt (26.0 KB)