All right, @iaraya! Worlds Apart is a mountain worth climbing. Don’t feel bad about resorting to hints if you’re trying to complete it by the end of the marathon; they’re progressive and don’t completely spoil it.
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Finished up The Mary Jane of Tomorrow to at least a positive ending: *** This is the most successful Thing of Tomorrow to date! ***
Actual Jenny says Robot Jenny doesn’t look like her, and there are some differences. I’m guessing the game wants me to do a few more things to get a “perfect ending”. Probably clear out the unnecessary acting tags - since I don’t actually have a good handle on what Actual Jenny is like.
Well that was fun, as is expected from an Emily Short game. Unusually short, though.
My plan was to continue with Worlds Apart (which I’ve already played a bit of for the Free IF Playoffs) and finish off with The Owl Consults, but we’re one week away from the end of the marathon, and it’s unlikely I’ll finish two more games in that timeframe.
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OK, @Hellzon – I’ve moved you to The Mary Jane of Tomorrow, and if you want to be moved to Worlds Apart, let me know.
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have just discovered that splash is a verb in Worlds Apart, this is delightful
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I finished A Murder in Fairyland! Interesting game, with a mixture of simple word finder puzzles, spells and resources you can use and a full blown mystery. I did not reach the best ending - I did discover there were more things that should be done to uncover the killer, but since apparently that was not needed to reach an ending, and given the time left in the marathon, I decide to move on to my next and final game: The Plant!
Given the description and reviews, this game should really be up my alley. I’ll try to finish it without hints if I can…
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Go, @Harren! You’re almost at the finish line!
ALL RUNNERS: Don’t forget that the marathon is running on UTC time and finishes at the end of Fri Jul 31, so the end is only around 72 hours away.
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Autumn Chen is one of few authors to explore the possibility of using interactive media for educational purposes, but she’s done so very successfully. Social Democracy: Petrograd 1917 uses the format of a quality-based narrative to bring a chapter of history to life. Impeccably researched, with lots of variation based on players’ choices, it serves as an introduction to the history of the Russian Revolution, encourages players to do their own research about topics mentioned, and gives them an idea of why history turned out as it did.
The game is carefully balanced to make the most likely outcome match history. For instance, it seems nearly impossible to achieve peace in Russia: if you play as the Kadets, you have more power, but since they were a pro-war party, you can’t use it to end the war. If you play any of the other parties, you still can’t bring about peace, because the Kadets will still be in power, making sure the war continues.
Petrograd uses game mechanics layered over history to subvert tropes, most notably by not offering a clear winning ending. The Bolshevik’s ideals of improved labor conditions, no hunger, and world peace would benefit the majority of the population, but the reality of the revolution was that it was long and bloody, and, in the end, didn’t really improve the lives of average citizens. Petrograd highlights this: if you play as the Bolsheviks, it’s fairly easy to gain votes, but it’s still extremely difficult to actually fulfill their promise of “peace, land, and bread.” By the end of my playthrough, while I had tried to improve life for the peasants and workers, and had even managed to peacefully form a new government without a revolution, hunger had worsened to famine and the war continued unabated. To me, this moral ambiguity made Petrograd more interesting than the original Social Democracy: An Alternate History, which had a much clearer goal.
Petrograd is depressing, certainly, but it’s a reminder of what was once millions of people’s reality.
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I’ve finished Worlds Apart! Have a lot of disorganised dot point notes that I’ll arrange into a proper review after the marathon but that was incredible, an imaginative, vividly described world and fascinating story. It took me 7.5 hours, half the reported playtime on IFDB, so there’s definitely parts I haven’t cracked – one to replay for sure.
Next up is Starry Seeksorrow. Can I play 4 games in the next 70 hours? Do not know but I believe in myself.
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I was about to play The Plant yesterday when I ended up back in the migraine zone, where I remained for most of today (could the weather stop weathering for a little bit, please?). Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and will be able to cross that finish line!
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Way to go, @Melisande! That’s four runners who have completed short courses.
The crowd goes wild as @iaraya (#4) sets sights on a dramatic sprint to the finish!
We’re cheering for you, @EJoyce! You can make it!
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Tackled Starry Seeksorrow on my commute today, that was very fun and whimsical. As a plant nerd I loved all the descriptions of fantasy plants.
Next up is To Spring Open.
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This is impressive! I’ve spent about that long on it so far, and I don’t feel like I’m close to the ending… And if I can’t finish it tonight it just isn’t going to happen before the Marathon is up. Looking forward to reading your review, anyway.
I reached the end of my long run! I finished The Plant. I did twice have to look for hints, but managed to solve most puzzles myself. As I guessed, I really enjoyed this game, and it resembles a bit the type of game I would want to make myself. Parser game, puzzles, not too complex, but also not too easy; with humor, a mystery and tension rising in the latter part of the game.
It’s the oldest game of the 12 I played if I’m correct (from 1998) and its author is Michael Roberts, the developer of TADS.
I really enjoyed the Marathon! It introduced me to a lot of games I never played before, and some of which I think I’d never would have played otherwise. It gave me inspiration for my own future game in different ways. And it got me playing a lot more interactive fiction in the past few months than I’ve played in a long time. Thanks @otistdog for organizing this event - I hope it will continue next year as well!
I did start my separate thread of reviews, but alas did not get very far due to other priorities - I might finish it later, but probably not before the deadline.
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Congratulations to @Harren (#13), who is now officially Rapidest Runner (Long Courses)! (And also seems likely to win the Imbued with Iron award.)
I’ll probably be organizing another play event for next year, but it wouldn’t be another Great Play Marathon – there are still plenty of new ideas to try (IF Olympics, Demolition Derby, plus a new one I’ve been mulling). If anyone out there feels like making a regular thing out of this every year, though, then you are 100% welcome to “steal” the idea and run with it, and I’d be happy to answer any questions about how it’s been run.
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Which part are you up to? tbh part of why I finished rather fast is I took otistdog’s advice and was extremely willing to use the hints. There will be time for thorough exploration and investigating side quests when there isn’t a deadline!
I just got to the start of part 2 last night. How many parts are there?
I have dipped into the hints a couple of times but (even though the hints are really good) I try not to, I just think I won’t enjoy the experience as much. (It’s probably something I have to get over, I have so many unfinished games, and giving up is much less enjoyable than using hints!)
I’ve finished The Plant! Generally I haven’t been posting about finishing a game here until I’ve finished my review, but as it’s my last square and things are down to the wire, I thought I might as well report it right away.
In a nutshell: It’s a solidly implemented old-school puzzler, but I was really bothered by the disconnect between Teeterwaller being the only one driving the plot while the PC has basically no motivation of their own to do anything and Teeterwaller being mechanically useless and just doing everything that you do. Narratively, it’s all about Teeterwaller and the PC is just along for the ride, while mechanically, it’s all about the PC and Teeterwaller is just along for the ride, you know?
The author’s notes at the end were very interesting and I actually thought the deleted scene from the pre-Teeterwaller version that gave the PC their own reason to infiltrate the plant would have been a stronger choice.
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Congratulations, @EJoyce! You are now officially Rapidest Runner (Medium Courses), and at least one person has finished every course type!
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I had time for one more game before the end of the marathon: Cat Petting Simulator 2014. It was very cute, and the cat’s reactions were very realistic, but I wasn’t sure about the score at the end, since it made me feel like I failed at petting a cat!
I don’t have much else to say about this one, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s an illustration of Cassie:
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Got my review of The Plant up! The Plant - Details
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