Noah's IF Powerfest 2024- Evaluations

Competitions Spring Thing
21

Ink and Intrigue (Leia Talon)

What it is about: You’re of royal blood, and the king has sent you on a mission to better diplomatic relations with a tribe of warrior-mages. There are plenty of secrets to discover, plenty of people to hang out with, and plenty of trials to overcome. The way of the master begins here…

The good: The author has also written Their Majesties’ Pleasure, and this one maintains the high standards set by the latter. There are also references to the latter, which is sweet. Overall, a really solid entry. As with most CoG stuff, the worldbuilding is well fleshed-out. The dialogue and romance scenes are, the glue that holds this story together. And hold it it does! We also have a dragon/phoenix/whatever as our companion- time to pet it. There is, of course, plenty of things for us to do- it’s action-packed. Every character has something to bring to the table- temple guardian, rune artist, fighter-in-training, etc. The table also has a big lore iceberg just waiting to be dug out. The pacing between action and dialogue is just about right.

The bad: Not a major grouse, but that dungeon stat keeper mode that I found in A Crown of Sorcery and Steel and Honor Bound isn’t here. And from the first three chapters, the structure is often as follows: first the mission, then the dialogue and romance with [insert character here] cutscenes. This could get predictable if not handled carefully- I remember someone on the other forum saying that the CoG formula is safe, but “we’re getting too much of the same, and not enough innovation”. So far, that has not yet happened for me. Character customization is something that CoG does really well, and this is one of the most used Choicescript tool, but having been exposed to parser more often than previously, this one feels like we’re going through the motions this time. There is so much for us to do, but where are we heading? I would also like more humor and more romantic cutscenes though. No achievements, huh?

The Huh: This was one of the games I playtested. The CoG community has two representatives (I am not counting myself) for this year’s Spring Thing, and while they often have mixed results in various events like Spring Thing and IF Comp, last year’s IF Comp and this year’s Spring Thing have shown that Choicescript, if done right, can end up performing very well. I hope there is more discourse on the link, I mean portals, between worlds. And do we get to choose our specialization? This isn’t for everyone, but it’s still something worth playing. I’m really intrigued to see where this one goes, of course.

Grade: 80.2%

3 Likes
22

Voyage of the Marigold (Andrew Stephens)

What it is about: You’re the captain of the Starship Marigold, and you are tasked by the federal government to deliver supplies and aid to a war-torn planet, and explore uncharted areas in a galaxy far, far away, on the side. Can you avoid being galactic mincemeat? What secrets will you discover?

The good: To increase replayability, there is a new adventure each time you play. This is reminiscent of 4x4 Galaxy and 4x4 Archipelago, both by the author of The Bones of Rosalinda (see below). All three have procedurally-generated content, only that in Marigold we have a 5x5 grid. Procedurally-generated content, while a little controversial with its methods, nevertheless keeps the story engaging and leaves you wanting more. It’s quite open world- we have treasures to discover, enemy starships to shoot down- Autumn Chen’s Infinite Space Battle Simulator comes to mind, and wormholes and other unforeseen stuff to boot! And of course, the emphasis is high on exploration. There are some references to that popular science-fiction TV show, Star Trek that is. The ship log UI is near perfect. The black-and-white graphics are, too. Yes, those standard science-fiction tropes- I’m looking at you, magnetic monopole- are on display here. Such games require a map, and we obviously have one.

The bad: We have a stats page, but no stats descriptions (hull strength, fuel, crew strength). Also, needs more humor, considering what this is based of. The dialogue can feel forced and unnatural sometimes, but it could be a deliberate decision to make it that way. Since exploration is the main focus of the game, it’s easy to lose track of our overarching objective. Let’s just say that since we get something new every time, it’s harder to remember what the ‘wrong’ choice is. And let’s just say that there’s no (or little) way to refuel. There’s only one major mission, so it could feel a little dull sometimes. There are occasional low-level spelling errors, but I’m not fussy.

The Huh: I never got to fully explore everything, or even make it out to our destination alive. Until after nearly ten attempts, with no treasures. The slogan “where you are the hero” is rather cheesy, as it reminds me too much of those Fighting Fantasy gamebooks which the author wanted to pay homage to. As it stands, it’s a nice, not too long, celestial romp, nice for an afternoon siesta, but not very beginner-friendly. Still, it’s nice, and for a first-time Spring Thing participant, an ambitious, yet well-executed, debut.

Grade: 75.1%

3 Likes
23

Bydlo, or the Ox-Cart (P B Parjeter)

What it is about: The journey of an oxcart. No NESW needed. Or is it your journey? Or both? Or neither?

The good: It’s short. It’s a simple maze. That gets more complicated the further one plays. And ends with you riding the notes to the concert hall. For starters, navigation was fun. This would be a good one for the IF Art Show in the Music category if there was one. The title of the music piece served as the basis for the content of this piece- even better, the music is " a depiction of a tour of an exhibition of artworks", of which the author tried to recreate one of them. This explains why the art and music, rather than the text, takes central stage. Much like A Simple Happening, this aims to reinterpret in IF terms a typically non-interactive work.

The bad: I’m not sure if the central theme of ‘the triumph of art over drudgery’ is well fleshed out here. There are no words, which is a double-edged sword. On one hand, there’s the minimalist and simplistic approach of watching the oxcart pass you by (while you chase it?) on a late summer afternoon, but on the other, I had no idea what this one was about. In particular, the endgame. We have gone from the farm to the concert hall, but what have we gained?

The Huh: I have no idea what this is, to admit. This was done in Bitsy, but as I’m not familiar with the software, I’m not in a position to discuss much about it. I’m not sure if this is even IF…, since this one feels like a puzzle without an obvious clear narrative. I would probably lump this one in the same category as Sojourn by 30x30 for the Revival Jam. The question it asks is: how active are we, as players, in shaping the world around us?

Grade: 56.1%

2 Likes
24

Thank you for your thoughtful review. I have a full post-mortem written which I will post once the festival is over but you hit the nail on the head on the good and bad parts of my game.

1 Like
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Thanks for the review!

We have gone from the farm to the concert hall, but what have we gained?

I was kind of hoping that the repetitiveness of the maze would portray the “drudgery” and that escaping to the concert would serve as a kind of reward.

I guess I made the maze a little too engaging — or at least hit the wrong balance between engaging and banal.

I have no idea what this is, to admit. This was done in Bitsy

Bydlo is far more open-ended than the things I usually make. Partly because Bitsy is incredibly limited, and partly because the music is necessarily abstract. So I think there are other interpretations that anyone could apply to it and have a point.

The question it asks is: how active are we, as players, in shaping the world around us?

I’m not sure if you meant that in regard to Sojourn or my entry, but I’ll have to check that one out.

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Thanks for playing my game and giving your feedback! I greatly appreciate your efforts.

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Loose Ends (Daniel Stelzer, Anais Sommerfeld)

What it is about: A Vampire: the Masquerade fangame. You’re a vampire, and the council has asked that you investigate a murder- it’s another murder mystery, but not your typical one. Until you realize that you have more involvement in the entire incident that you think. Pick a side, the stakes are high- will you survive?

The good: CoG has had several crossovers with the Vampire the Masquerade franchise, and most have been pretty well-received. This one is full of dialogue and action, and not to mention the complex web of Reploid, er I mean vampire politics. As mentioned in Ink and Intrigue, there are features that most Choicescript games have, and this one has most of them (well, except for the stat page- see below). And XYZZY actually does something (I’m not saying exactly what). You start out by choosing a faction, but the author is kind enough to tell you what each factions’ strengths are without resorting to the stat sheet. The First Law of Vampires at the start provides a really good first impression- right from the start, we are dragged somewhat unwillingly into trouble. There are plenty of areas, things to do, people and vampires to talk to. Oh yes, no turn limits, so revisiting areas is allowed. Political intrigue? Hell yeah! New information is also marked so you won’t lose track of what you need to do. It’s dark, and the challenges of vampire-human relations will really test you- much like the morality scale between humans and Reploids as seen in Mega Man X (behind the scenes, that is).

The bad: I wished for a stat chart, with descriptions. And an inventory list- in parser, it is as simple as typing I. I got- well, pictures. I’m not totally against it, but it could be because I had been on the CoG side for a considerable period of time, and the stats page had always been a characteristic feature of every Choicescript game. The author mentioned that it ended up being in Ink as the medium had some features in which the author wanted to utilize that Choicescript lacked. I didn’t get the good ending in my first attempt, since I wasn’t clear of what gimmick was needed. Instead of guess-the-verb in parser, it’s now guess-what-item-you-need-to-show-to-the-correct-person. Which is somewhat alleviated by the fact that brute forcing is possible here. That Raspberry Pi in the Anarchists’ Headquarters feels out of place- for goodness’ sake, I was expecting a hammer and sickle! It’s also a little difficult to keep track of how much time has elapsed. On the whole, this one was a little on the difficult side- with certain areas to be visited in a certain order. Still have little clue about the endgame as well.

The Huh: This was one of the games I playtested. It’s not your typical murder mystery- you can’t ACCUSE anyone at the end, but you can play the sides off each other. This is the crux of the whole thing- the people and factional relationships are tracked, and the challenge is to make as many allies as possible. The author wrote another murder mystery for last year’s IF Comp (Death on the Stormrider), and I think they have both the skills of writing a good parser game and writing a good Choicescript- adjacent game. Such people are rare (I know Mathbrush and Emily Short tick nearly all the boxes, not sure who else does). This takes VtM to the next level. (Still trying how to take Street Fighter and Mega Man to the level on par with this one.)

Grade: 80.4%

4 Likes
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One King To Loot Them All V2 (Twine version) (Onno Brouwer)

What it is about: You are Conan the barbarian king. An ancient evil has returned and is roaming the land, having already killed one of your advisors. You’ll have to take them down, all while looting as much as you can along the way!

The good: Most of what was good in the original release, like the humor, detailed description of characters, items, surroundings etc, are still well-implemented here. In fact, the major advantage this one has over the parser one is now a new achievements bar- something that the CoG community has held sacred for a long time, even if parser games had a scoring system (though not all parser games implement said system). CoG fans would also appreciate that dialogue, action and most stuff you would find in a CoG game, including romance (come on, there is one with Lydia, right?) are all here. I mentioned in my original review that this is not too easy, not too hard. The point-and-click UI in Twine makes it even easier. No need to take stock of inventory or >EXAMINE anything now. Yes, guess-the-direction returns.

The bad: With the UNDO button now an option in the menu, the central gimmick that had to be guessed in the original parser release is now displayed in the open. This ends up reducing the suspense from someone who hasn’t played the parser version. In fact, all the barbaric commands in the parser version like LOOT, REGARD, SEIZE, SMITE are all gone, which kind of reduces the intrinsic humor a bit. The maze also provides the obvious directions once you click/examine the marker, which can be a little redundant.

The Huh: Since this was originally entered as a parser game in last year’s IF Comp, most of what applied in my earlier review also applies here. I’d like to see a Twine version of Beat Witch someday, since the author also admitted it could have been in Twine instead. Someone once mentioned that parser games are only enjoyed by old British and American mathematicians. I’m sort of offended by that, since I have Singaporean mathematical roots and I currently lean towards the parser side, despite having started out on the CoG forum- I still feel the Twine version is slightly weaker than the parser version. What’s more David Welbourne has provided a walkthrough now, which makes the Twine version feel like a budget option. I liked Pinkunz’s proposal though, since The Ascot, which was a past IF Comp entry in ADRIFT, ended up converted by the author to a Choicescript game and is now on CoG’s website. Parser to choice conversions tend to lose some features, but the backbone is still well-maintained, albeit with some loss of action hinting. In fact, both this and Pass a Bill could stand to benefit from being done in Gruescript, with a point-and-click option available. If you’re parser-shy or averse, you should give this one a try.

Grade: 76.3%

2 Likes
29

Hi and thank you for your thoughful review!

I wholeheartedly agree. Agnieszka suggested to use the standard navigational “previous” / “next” buttons instead (I disabled these for my game since there is no real navigation happening to a “previous” or “next” passage) to make this UNDO trick less obvious, but I could not get it to work the way I wanted it to. The next best thing would be to create fake versions of these buttons and use these instead. Maybe in an updated release, my CSS skills are not up to par yet.

And of course I had to add the XYZZY functionality as well… I hope that one worked out better.

My prime motivation was to bring my One King game to mobile, I feel choice is a more suitable experience for that (and I could not ignore the suggestion by Pinkunz to give it a try and convert my game to choice format). Also, learning Twine definitely helps in expanding my horizons and gives me more tools in my toolbox to play with :smiley: .

1 Like
30

Dragon of Steelthorne (Vance Chance)

What it is about: You’re the feudal lord/lady/whatever of the Principality of Steelthorne. Rule the city, fight battles- there are plenty of secrets to discover. Again.

The good: If anything, everything that is present and has to be in a CoG game is here. Some stuff also remind me of Ink and Intrigue (the setting) and Starship Marigold (the combat scenes). The author is really ambitious (they also have an isekai WIP coming up). Especially with how much worldbuilding and lore this one has. It’s trying to be a fusion of Ink and Intrigue, Prince Quisborne, Starship Marigold and whatever else I can think of right now. There’s so much on the agenda. City management, romance, battles, the like. The standard tropes are on full display here. Steampunk fantasy is quite hard to pull off, and Flight (Felicity Banks) is one that does it reasonably well, as with this one. We have a difficult mode. And a “return to last saved checkpoint” button. Being a martial pacifist is, surprisingly, possible.

The bad: Can we have chapter headings? The Chinese/Thai vibe of Jhou and Khiang is off-putting at times, when compared to Alenia which has a more German (?) vibe. In fact, I’m not sure if there is even a French/German vibe here. The pacing between action and dialogue is alright, but when there’s so much on the agenda, the cycle can, again, feel repetitive at times. And this could make the plot feel less focused, compared to, say some of Hannah Powell-Smith’s stuff. No food to choose from? There is a typical laundry list of questions, something that feels really more at home parser style, despite Choicescript compatibility. I’m surprised there is a lot less political shenanigans going on, when compared to Loose Ends, where you could choose a faction- I hope there is more. The Dragon Gem, much like the post office bill in Pass a Bill, is akin to the One Ring, but things are more obvious than what inspired it. And we have no way to destroy this game’s One Ring to boot. Finally, this one lacks the balance and consistency between details and big picture, something that Ink and Intrigue also has but to a lesser extant. Since my relationship levels were somewhat evenly spread across all major allied players, the romance factor, as it’s called, is not as strong here. This also affected the endgame, which feels more like Vampire’s Kiss with what happened to every major player.

The Huh: Last year’s IF Comp had two newcomers- One Knight Stand and I Can’t Find My Glasses- in addition to the already-published CoG veterans. This year, we have a veteran (Leia) and a newcomer. As IF Comp stats goes, CoG newcomers who suddenly throw up one new WIP are a dime a dozen, and these tend to do not so well, and I am pretty cautious about the influx of so many new WIPs in recent months. My feelings are sort of validated, since the completion rate across all WIPs is not as high as one may think. Nevertheless, it’s a good effort for a newcomer, and this one isn’t as bad as I envisioned. The only issue is that this game, like every other Choicescript game displayed here, isn’t for everybody. I did rate some Choicescript ga.mes too high last time, but not this time. The author’s ambitions probably snakebit them a little. Alas, the fantasy genre seems to be the most popular among Choicescript authors, and ambitious scope creep is one of the issues bedeviling us. Not so much here, but it’s there. But at the same time, this needs to get out of the box more. It’s hibernating, for goodness’ sake! (The full version would hopefully be better in any case.)

Grade: 72.7%

5 Likes
31

@RockmanX thanks for the review!

After all the times we’ve bumped into each other on the CoG forums, I was wondering what you’d actually think of my work. :innocent:

The most popular genres in CoG-town are fantasy, supernatural and superheroes. :innocent:

1 Like
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To Beseech Old Sins (Nic June)

What it is about: To avoid further loss of life, an admiral calls upon the sins of the past to deliver her a swift victory against some colonial empire. You are a robot/golem/demon of some kind, and you are tasked to… make peace with said empire. What can you expect?

The good: It’s told from the ordinary soldier’s point of view, a good change of pace. Despite this being military-focused, there is little gore, and according to the author, it is “without the looming threat of body horror or being crushed under an oppressive system”. It also feels more of a Japanese anime-styled atmosphere, rather than the traditional Western science-fiction or fantasy (or even hybrid, as seen in Steelthorne) that we normally get. This is further suggested that these robo-golem-demons were once “fallen humans”. It at least tries to be heartwarming, with the robo-golem’s queasiness. And it can do humor. And out-of-this-world drugs. And from “Her heart is in the right place. Whether it comprehends us is another matter altogether.” suggests that even these creatures have some good in them- that’s good and nuaced characterization for sure.

The bad: The science fiction/fantasy/horror hybrid genre isn’t a strength. Since this is part three of a series, I honestly had little clue as to what was going on at times. The author intended it to be something fun, but that didn’t come across to me. Yes, there still needs to be more and fleshed-out romance. The opening sets us on a misleading foot- we think it’s an escape the dungeon game, but it turns out to not be the case- this however, isn’t done that solidly. This is mostly quite linear and short, which makes it all the more a letdown, since some things aren’t fully fleshed-out. There are no flashbacks unlike in Xanthippe and Socrates. And no battle scenes, something I expected in the blurb.

The Huh: I was expecting this to be a religiously-sensitive piece from the title, but it isn’t, which is a relief. This can work as a standalone, but is better as part of a series, since insufficient background information is provided. The dialogue is heavy, so the author may wish to color-code dialogue for different characters like in Tabitha’s Collegial Conversation. There is some attempt at worldbuilding, but there’s not much to gel everything together. I guess “it’s only too late when you decide that it is” is the moral of the story. People with an interest in yuri Japanese anime/manga will catch on though.

Grade: 69.3%

2 Likes
33

Thanks for the review! We’re glad you enjoyed it!

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Alltarach (Katie Canning, Josef Olsson)

What it is about: Your brother has gone missing. What is a simple task of finding your brother spirals into a… religious debate? Find out what life was like in medieval 6th century Ireland from the perspective of a fisherman’s daughter, and find out what really happened to your parents.

The good: The off-grey, yet cartoonish, graphics, reminiscent of the author’s zeitgeist- children’s fairy tale books. The many references to Irish culture and mythology, complete with Irish phases and modern translation, for those who, like me, have no experience with Irish culture or who have never visited Ireland before. It’s not very common for Irish fantasy to show up here. It’s long, but makes for an engaging read. The author is not afraid to throw in vulgar language here and there, surprisingly. The slice-of-life elements are well blended and mixed with the fantasy ones, giving readers a seamless experience. The central tenet of this piece revolves around the struggles of people in 6th century Ireland after the initial spread of Christianity, when they also are undergoing a process of incorporating their folk myths and legends (and some degree of pagan tradition and religion) as a method of adapting to this new situation. There is a lot of stuff to uncover. Everyone has a story to tell and a role to play here. The UI probably has a good mix of what a parser and choice game have to offer- an inventory list, a character list (with cartoony graphics!) and the like. The authors clearly did their homework. Ailbhe is probably the best non-RO in the Spring Thing games so far. The mainland feels as foreign as ‘the world over the hedge’. This one also has a nice balance between action and dialogue, where historical information and folk stories are interspersed throughout the narrative, with varied settings (pub, boat, monastery etc). Unlike in the Choicescript games, we can play the field here. And you can pet your sheep! There are just enough flashbacks to make it not feel overpowered. And yes, this does takes place around Easter, thus putting the Spring in Spring Thing. Overall, a really solid piece.

The bad: So we have some gods and goddesses showing up all of a sudden? And no otherworld to explore? Is this Journey to the West 2.0? Probably should have delved deeper into that whole magical curse subplot. I’m not familiar with Irish culture, so it took me some time to get used to where we were going. I’m not quite making sense of that mirror puzzle. And the dream sequence can be confusing sometimes. This could do with more humor. And someone’s behaviour reminds me of my behavior in Sunday school when I was younger, and that’s a thumbs-down for me. And the horror endgame is hard to swallow. I must admit, this game was quite hard to review, not because of its length, but its underlying messages. The many fears of the protagonist- there must be something going on, more than nostalgia for the past and a religious conflict, and I can’t decipher exactly what totally.

The Huh: This is probably the Spring Thing 2024 version of IF Comp 2023’s Detective Osiris. The religious struggle is probably done about just right, well, except for the player character, who probably needs it the most. This is trying too much to be the historical Irish version of Keeper of the Sun and Moon, but it’s a good take on Irish culture and mythology. And oh yes, where’s that actual Brigid (no, not the abbess, the Sheng Long of this game) when you want her? And can we have one on Nordic/Scandinavian myths next? By the way, I’m a Ryu and Morrigan main.

Grade: 74.6%

3 Likes
35

Thanks so much for your thoughtful review! I honestly think there’s an overabundance of stories centred around Norse mythology in the zeitgeist, though maybe not so much in the IF space. @Trollkonst hails from that part of the world so we may get around to it at some point!

1 Like
36

Doctor Jeangille’s Letters (Manonamora)

What it is about: A series of letters between Dr Jeangille and his/her/their lover, Olympia. It’s clearly not what you expect, and I’m leaving that part to the reader…

The good: The style is very much like First Draft of the Revolution (Emily Short), and the format takes after that one Lemony Snicket book. Come on, could Isabelle be that heroine of Meaux that everybody was waiting for? The main gimmick is simple- change a few words or a sentence, and the entire letter is altered. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast! This will affect your relationship with Olympia and that mysterious newcomer (though it’s not directly tracked). It’s rather simple, but puts its message across effortlessly. Isabelle has that Wreck-it-Ralph kind of attitude- her passion and feelings volatilely bubbles very near the surface, always hungry for more action. And as you know, this all makes her a rather likeable character a la Sonic the Hedgehog sans the edginess. It’s full of heart-pumping mystery and soothing romance, all at the same time. We have German (Social Democracy), Irish (Alltarach), Japanese (Simple Happening), American (Pass A Bill), Chinese (Steelthorne- vaguely) and now, French references, and I like it. The humor is really over the top- in this case, it makes perfect sense. The strange and gossipy happenings are also fun to read. And when you find out who the culprit is, it’s very much in the same vein as Lunium! Entirely, well, unexpected.

The bad: It’s a little on the short side. The handwriting is hard to read, but good thing we can change the font to something more readable. The UI is sweet though. I wish more time could be spent on the meat and potatoes- uncovering that mystery and defeating that vampire. And other side stories like the betrayal. If we have a Wreck-it-Ralph, why don’t we have a Fix-it-Felix? Also, it’s rather one-sided. It could be better if we got to modify Olympia’s letters too. Options are not listed as separate bullet points, making it harder to navigate- it’s possible in Ink. The buildup to the climax should be more subtle- saying that a certain somebody is not involved, only makes that someone look rather sus (yes, I’m using an Among Us joke).

The Huh: This has a French version available on the author’s website. That is off limits (you know how bad my French is). What do we make of these mysterious disappearances? Is there going to be a Bureau of Strange Happenings kind of sequel? It’s kind of a mix between Xanthippe and Socrates, Scandal Notes, Castlevania (?), Metroid (??), Among Us (???) and Lunium. I can’t remember if there is a way to ‘win’ this one. But still, that Manon style is clearly shown here, no doubt. Even if it’s in an unfamiliar format, which is all the more commendable. (And how to get the 4th ending?)

Grade: 75.4%

3 Likes
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The source code of the game is on my GitHub. You just need to check which conditions you haven’t met to get it.

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Nonverbal Communication (Allyson Gray)

What it is about: You’re a wizard, but somebody-or something- placed a curse on you that prevents you from using any verbs to do stuff! Can you hunt down that person/thing and save your hide?

The good: It’s a parser with very few commands, but unlike in, say Arthur DiBianca’s stuff, the main gimmick is that any essential verbs are banned, but nouns can be used in place of them. Really impressive. Not surprisingly, puzzles is the name of the game. The beginning puzzle was difficult right off the bat. And yes, it’s a good thing, to show just how difficult our predicament is. There were three automata, and no verbs allowed. We’ll abbreviate them as A, D. G. I tried the powerset combination approach, being the mathematician I was. So A → D → G → AA → AD → AG → DA (assume noncommutativity) → DD → DG → GA → GD → GG → … all to no avail. Fortunately, workshop and me (but not X ME) also work, so I tried experimenting with it and creating combos, when all of a sudden, one particular combo unlocked the bedroom. Now we’re getting somewhere! Until I have no idea how to get there at first. Only then did I attempt to solve this like a robo-computer, with the different programs standing in for various typical parser commands: G being the equivalent of LOOK, C being the equivalent of TAKE, E the equivalent of OPEN and so on. I gradually unlocked the other rooms, until here came the dragon. It’s hard, but fun. The meta is strong with this one. If anything, this is kind of a robot-simulation. And since this is a simulation, I was fortunate to avoid a major walkthrough use. I also like the spider cover art! I got the reconciliatory ending the first time, and hey, there are multiple endings, so that’s a plus. I got the other two later. The title is a pun!

The bad: After entering the yard, we trigger the endgame and poof, what just happened? That’s it? Didn’t we need to get rid of it or something? It could well be longer. We need not have a fantasy setting for this one. Where’s my humor? This game is very unfortunately not beginner and tutorial friendly. It also breaks down if we need more varied and more complex commands like UNLOCK RED DOOR WITH SILVER KEY, THEN OPEN IT AND GO WEST with multiple doors and multiple keys present, since we need an unlocker automaton for this one. This is a simulation, but the author didn’t admit it to being so. This really could use a little more polish.

The Huh: The author, besides doing some other similar-themed pieces, also did Dysfluent for last year’s IF Comp, and while both pieces address similar issues- indeed, in both cases you lack sufficient words to express stuff- in the former, it had more emphasis on slice-of-life elements, while the latter was more a traditional parser puzzlefest. The experimental vein was done in such a way that was really interesting. Probably better than Dysfluent for sure. In a way, it is an approximation to Aaron Reed’s Whom The Telling Changed and the inverse of Mathbrush’s 77 Verbs for Spring Thing 2020, where in that case, you had to use as many verbs as possible. A fusion of both would be possible, but it’s going to take way longer than you think… Could David Welbourne cover this in a future walkthrough? (Also, can you get both the gold locket and dragonsbane in one playthrough?) Nonverbal Communication is more than just a puzzle- it’s a window into the world of the mute.

Grade: 77.0% (come on, it’s an obvious reference)

2 Likes
39

Thank you for the review!

It seems that perhaps a few elements I tried to put in didn’t quite come across, or I accidentally conveyed a few things I didn’t mean to, but it was cool to read your thoughts on the gameplay and mechanics, and I’m really glad to hear that you had fun playing!
(By the way, it is indeed possible to collect both the dragonsbane and the locket! The result is similar to ending 1, but with a few deviations.)

You’re the second person to comment on the length of the game and I’m considering creating a longer piece with a similar concept someday.
I had originally planned for a few more puzzles and scenes in this one but the code quickly ballooned up and I didn’t want to risk getting any more overwhelmed than I already was, haha.

I love the fusion idea :joy: I hadn’t heard of 77 Verbs but I have to check it out now, it sounds great. Maybe next time I can make use of the entire alphabet with 26 automatons (or even more if we allow 1337speak…)

P.S.: I ended up opting for “automatons” in-game, but “automata” has a special place in my heart so I was happy to see you use the term!

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The Trials of Rosalinda (Agnieszka Trzaska)

What it is about: You are Rosalinda, and you have defeated the evil necromancer. But trouble still lies ahead, and you are awaiting trial. You’re on the wanted list of a cult of an evil wizard seeking revenge from his previous defeat, and it’s going to take all your strength, wits and help from your allies to make it out alive, or more accurately, undead.

The good: This is the long-awaited sequel to the Bones of Rosalinda, which was entered for Spring Thing 2022. I didn’t play that, but playing as a skeleton was shocking. Unlike the former, the difficulty has been lowered- I was able to make it through as far as mapping out the forest in my first playthrough. Before ending up to use the hints (thank goodness no ROT13 this time!) for the rest of the way. The author is ambitious- this one is in the ‘more than 2 hours category’. The ambition and style, however, are unlike that of the two Choicescript authors, Vance Chance, Leia Talon, Daniel Stelzer, (no offense to the CoG side), but more like Mathbrush’s Faery:Swapped, albeit larger, and Ryan Veeder’s Little Match Girl 4, and Paintball Wizard. What this means is that we have one major goal, and very few distractions. Despite this being in Twine, it’s a non-generic puzzlefest. Unlike typical puzzlefests, you can detach Rosalinda’s body parts (skull, hands) and treat them like individual objects! The hands can pick up items and move around, as well as being items themselves- take that, parser fans, since I have no idea how one can do this in, say Inform 7! Yes, this one also showed up in Bones. If Alibhe was the ‘best non-RO’, then Piecrust (?) the mouse is probably the best buddy to Rosalinda and best super fighting mouse- technically he was a wizard that got turned into a mouse by some colleague who betrayed him- in Spring Thing this year. He can do all sorts of things- in the hints thread I mentioned shooting Water Gun on the road to drive away the guards as “Mega Man-esque”. And someone’s (you know who) been acting a lot like Dr Wily lately. Later in the game, there are many more areas to visit as the map opens up- thankfully there is a GO TO LOCATION command that some parsers (!) don’t have implemented. The allies are a really solid bunch- Tekla the ogre, the actor formerly known as Siegfried and more. Also, even some who were initially wanting Rosalinda exiled ending up in need of rescue since somebody betrayed them (guess who). Handling of the multiple characters is well-done, as you do get to see the same room from Rosalinda and Piecrust’s eyes. At least one puzzle has more than one solution. There’s enough humor to make it fun to read and enough seriousness to emphasize just how precarious Rosalinda is from being permanently dead.

The bad: In parser we have the guess the verb problem. This is perhaps still a problem. Here, instead of a guess the verb problem, it’s a guess what item to use problem. This gets more prominent in the endgame where you have a lot of items at your disposal- the good news is there’s no inventory limit. Alas, the USE command is really problematic- I hope I don’t make this same mistake- that had this been a fully parser game, it would have commands like UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY, SHOOT RUST AT CAGE (as Piecrust), THROW SHOVEL AT GUARD, GIVE SWORD TO OSMUND etc. Then we need to describe conditions under which things can or cannot be thrown, and edge cases like “This will not achieve anything, as it is waterproof” or something like that. The author avoided many of these pitfalls, but the USE command feels like a catch-all term. And I also would have wanted to see more usage of the combining items mechanic. Indeed, it is not clear at times what items are compatible. There is no TAKE ALL, but I’m not sure if that command is even essential. Why does it always have to be illusion magic at some point? Someone else suggested making use of the wooden planks and rocks, but I think the author wanted them to be static scenery.

The Huh: How about getting Rosalinda back to normal (that is, alive again) in the third game? And maybe do it in a hub-and-spoke style not unlike Milliways for instance? And maybe more worldbuilding? There’s a reason why Bones of Rosalinda did so well that year, and it mostly applies to this one as well. I think Piecrust’s fate and escape sequence was tackled on as a last-minute addition (I’m not sure). If anything, this being Mega Man-esque (Capcom, are you listening?) is enough for me to rank it pretty high. If this was a parser we would have stuff like DETACH HAND, COMBINE X WITH Y, SWITCH CHARACTER, and have a response to TAKE PIECRUST (seriously, why is this option absent?).

Grade: 82.1%

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