Doug Egan IFComp 2024 Reviews (latest: Enchanted House)

“Dust” is a genre Western, written by IkeC, and according to the credits translated from German. The protagonist is trapped in an unfamiliar small town in the American old West, at a time just after the Civil War, who is forced to solve a missing persons case in order to clear his own name before he can leave town to move on with his own business. The tone straddles between serious crime drama and occaisional light humor (there is a joke about the red herrings in the general store which landed well, and a clever talking parrot). The puzzles are mostly a series of fetch quests involving frequent interactions with the townsfolk. The parser works, never challenging the player to guess at verbs. Conversations are handled by menus. The town is small, location descriptions succinct, yet it this environment feels very much alive and authentic to the period. The game package comes with several additional resources: maps, puzzle flow charts and walkthroughs, providing hints both in game and out of game, in multiple different forms.

I really enjoyed playing “Dust”, the first parser game I’ve completed this competition season.

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