I finished Turandot, which, as it turned out, I have played before. I’ll add my review about it later.
I’ll head now to Messages From the Universe Graveyard, since its description really intrigues me and I’ve definitely never played this before.
Review added: Harren's 'Great Play Marathon' reviews
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Oh, I didn’t realize this was on the map! I just played it a couple days ago: what an unusual piece. I’ll be curious to hear what you make of it.
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Anachronist or Servo? My review for Servo is up on IFDB and on this forum, and I’ll start playing Anachronist tonight.
Oh, sorry, The Anachronist.
[!example]
The Great Play Marathon
You play Draculaland.>
e
Again? There are several other fine directions, you know.A3. Raising the Flag on Mount Yo Momma. Exits: east southeast south southwest
You can see an Inform 7 game by Juhana Leinonen here.>
play raising the flag on mount yo momma
You play Raising the Flag on Mount Yo Momma.>
e
Seriously? Don’t know why I even bother listing the legitimate moves. But, sure, you go east.A4. Miss Gosling’s Last Case. Exits: east southeast south southwest
You can see a Dialog game by Danlel Stelzer here.>
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Continued South to B2, “His Majesty’s Royal Space Navy Service Handbook” by Austin Auclair. Reviewed here. This has been a busy week for me; glad I found some time to play this one.
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Turandot is complete! Here are my reflections, without plot spoilers (beyond the basic premise).
Next up… Messages From the Universe Graveyard.
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Done with Cyberqueen, moving to Ravine, E8.
Done with Ravine. It was SO good. I’m not gonna say anything else for now, but I should have a review on IFDB up later.
Guys, whatever you do, you gotta play Ravine, whether it’s in your course or not. (just one more thing: I’d recommend not reading any reviews, tags or anything at all except the blurb before immediately hitting play. I did exactly this and it made the experience so satisfying. You’ll get what I mean when you play it. Please, go in completely blind)
Aight, now moving to Filaments, F8. No clue how I’m gonna play this without knowing French or Italian but here goes nothing.
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Followed your advice regarding ravine. Now I have to carve a path over to E8 so I can include it on my tally.
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I’ve completed my first game and accompanying review: Cat Petting Simulator 2014 - Details
I’ll be heading next to His Majesty’s Royal Space Navy Service Handbook, which is one of the games on the field that I’ve been meaning to play for a while.
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I’m planning on getting to it on my way back up the grid. All the more reason to push on!
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Today marks a personal milestone as I have completed my first IF game in over 35 years! I was hoping that the Great Play Marathon would provide the motivation I needed to finish a game and it has. So, my first game, Miss Gosling’s Last Case by Daniel Stelzer, is complete and now off to square B3 and Reflections by Tristin Grizel Dean with a spring in my step.
EDIT: I’ve now posted a review here: Miss Gosling’s Last Case
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Messages From The Universe Graveyard (C7) has been played. Very much recommend it. Play it while the server is still running, I say.
Next up, at D6, is Starry Seeksorrow.
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I’m back from a long weekend of travel and diving into this headfirst! I’ve finished my first pick The Kidnapping of a Tokyo Game Developer (E1), which I never managed to get around to judging during IFComp 2025 despite it being on my shortlist. I’m glad I finally got the chance to play it.
A more in-depth review will follow, but for now: this was a nice appetizer for the marathon ahead. It was surreal, lightly puzzly, and surprisingly heartfelt, with some nice payoff for its early foreshadowing. I now know both more and less about the real person at the heart of its chaos, somehow.
Next up will be Dragon Fate at F2. I’m trying to make good time in the early part of my course, because I have a thorny middle stretch (The Anachronist and Worlds Apart back-to-back) and I’m hoping to have enough time to tackle Moondrop Isle at the end.
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Today I reviewed “Future Threads” (C3) and“The Mary Jane of Tomorrow”(D4), looking forward to playing “The Anachronist” next.
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[!example]
The Great Play Marathon
>play miss gosling's last case
You play Miss Gosling’s Last Case.>
e
Shocker. You could have just said you were doing a medium course.A5. Social Democracy: Petrograd 1917. Exits: east southeast south southwest
You see a DendryNexus game by Autumn Chen here.>
(comments on Miss Gosling’s Last Case forthcoming…)
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OK, so second game complete (of a, perhaps optimistically, planned twelve), Reflections by Tristin Grizel Dean, but it’s clear that I am not the intended audience so I’m going to hold off on a review until I can share the game with my youngest child and then get his feedback. But, for now, a win is a win and it’s off to square C4 and The Bones of Rosalinda by Agnieszka Trzaska.
EDIT: I’ve now added a review here: Reflections
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I kind of stalled out on Worlds Apart at the half-hour mark again… which, I’m pleased to discover, is about two minutes before it starts to get interesting. It took me several tries to get past the opening of Anchorhead, too, so hopefully this initial fumbling will soon be forgotten as the real plot kicks in.
The attention to detail in the implementation is pretty impressive. I was particularly struck by some context-specific responses in the first scene featuring real NPC interaction; it seemed like those replies must have at least half a dozen alternatives given the possible timing of events. You don’t often see that kind of work put into handling such minor aspects of the scene, but there’s no better way to make it feel like you’re in a story instead of a game.
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Third game, The Bones of Rosalinda by Agnieszka Trzaska, now complete. I found this game magical in all senses of the word and ended up completing it in a single sitting as I just had to see how it would end. I’ll add the link to a review once I’ve got my superlatives in check… For now, I’ll be scurrying off to square D5 and Emily Short’s Pytho’s Mask.
2 Likes