Heaven Alive by Grim Baccaris
As with Naarel, the Wheel o’ Reviews has dished up two Baccaris games in a row. I guess it’s not THAT statistically improbable for the most prolific submitter in a fairly small RAT pack, but a running gag is born anyway.
This is a tiny game from last year’s Neo-Twiny, and my review will be similarly tiny, both to match the source material and because it’s late and I’m tired after the last one.
It’s not easy to fit three substantially different endings, each with its own emotional impact, into a game of this size. The fact that Heaven Alive achieves it while also managing to establish the dynamic between its two characters in just a few conversational strokes is impressive. Add to that a stylish execution that adds to the sense of setting and genre, and this is a really strong example of what tiny IF can be.
I do wonder what a narrower and longer choice tree would look like or if it could even be accomplished within the wordcount, but that’s rooted in curiosity about the game’s context and the interactions between the characters, not criticism.