I set myself the challenge of playing a swathe of the other entries in this IFComp, and while I was at it, I posted my thoughts in the private authors forum. I am now exposing those thoughts to the harsh light of the outside world, where they will flourish or wilt depending on how well they were thunked. Thoughted. Thinkerized. Whatever.
My self-imposed rules were that I could only review games where I reached at least one conclusion, I had to focus on what I liked, and I should be as brief as possible.
198BREW by DWaM
My thoughts:
I was uncertain until I got to the first mention of Blood-with-a-capital-B and then I was hooked. This is a rich cocktail of imaginative concepts that artfully mixes evocative and specific detail with elegaic and tantalising implication. This game’s failings, outside a few unclued actions at the end, are less the author’s and more those of the Inform default library, which leers through the (probably intentional) gaps in the worldbuilding, interrupting it with non-sequiturs, quips and assumptions. Ignore those gaps, though, and this is engaging and unique.
Bad Beer by Vivienne Dunstan
My thoughts:
So this one is solidly implemented and easy to interact with, but I was actually surprised that there was only a single puzzle! Somehow I was expecting to be doing a bit more detective work. But it’s hardly the worst thing if your reaction to a game is: “No, I want more!”
The Bat by Chandler Groover
My thoughts:
So an author who typically eschews the compass entered a game into IFComp where a working class PC with a limited inventory must negotiate a N-E-S-W map while being assailed by awful capitalists. And then another one did it!
This is a sublime farce that builds up to a perfect ending. For a game that relies on movement and two verbs (EXAMINE and ATTEND TO), there’s also surprising mechanical complexity here. But the interactions are perfectly smooth, even as the situations spiral gloriously out of control. (Human Bryce made me feel an unexpected and bitter fondness for Bat Bryce. 
)
Big Fish by Binggang Zhuo
My thoughts:
I liked the crocodile and fish people. More crocodile and fish people in IFComp 2025, please.
Birding in Pope Lick Park by Eric Lathrop
My thoughts:
Just a really nice game with a strong sense of place. Made me think about the interesting birds I’ve seen in my own life.
Bureau of Strange Happenings by Phil Riley
My thoughts:
Sprawling, complicated and full of moving parts. I would never have been able to finish this without the hints AND the walkthrough, but it was a fun ride. I love the way it welds the bizarre to the mundane.
Deliquescence by Not-Only But-Also Riley
My thoughts:
Well implemented, evocative and melancholy. For its surreal premise, there is something painfully real to this one.
The Deserter by MemoryCanyon
My thoughts:
This one sees us dropped straight into an urgent situation - and the pilot seat of a mech. The kind of choice piece that sucks you in and makes you want to go back and try the other branches. Do you take risks, help others, get out of your mech? Solid and absorbing.
Doctor Who and the Dalek Super-Brain by jkj yuio
My thoughts:
I think the real strength of this game is that I got the best ending (I assume) by asking: “What would the Doctor do?” Sacrifice his companion? Send someone else to their doom? Hell, no! I’m not really much into fanfiction, but I feel like capturing the essence of a character like this must be what you’re shooting for.
First Contact by dott. Piergiorgio
My thoughts:
The very linear story of an elf going to university, making friends with a demon and angel, breastfeeding them, fucking them, and becoming really famous.
I have very much embraced the idea of making things for yourself first of all, and I feel like this author made exactly the work they wanted to. Hopefully, like-minded souls will find it in this comp as well.
Focal Shift by Fred Snyder
My thoughts:
It’s Deus Ex by way of wordle and sudoku. Really smooth and satisfying to play. Very much a game that does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it perfectly.
Forbidden Lore by Alex Crossley
My thoughts:
I’d group this one with BOSH as a game where I love the premise and storytelling but could not get the first thing done without the hints. But those hints are complete and perfect, so it works out, I think.
The Garbage of the Future by AM Ruf
My thoughts:
A satisfyingly clunky parser/choice hybrid. I got quite a few different endings and a lot of ominous, late-night vibes. Doing your job perfectly is harder than you might think, but then that’s life.
House of Wolves by Shruti Deo
My thoughts:
A short and deliberately uncomfortable experience. Glimmers of hope, but mostly a portrait of someone in a bad situation. Interesting to play when you’re vegetarian…
KING OF XANADU by MACHINES UNDERNEATH
My thoughts:
In the grand tradition of games with moral choices, I set out intending to be a gonzo tyrant and then immediately balked and tried picking the least awful options for the first half of the game. But power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so I got into the swing of things in the end. Still waiting for my cannons to improve to the point that they can reach my nemesis. I assume it’s still being worked on, since I didn’t tell any of those disloyal wretches to stop!
Metallic Red by Riaz Moola
My thoughts:
Intriguing. I love the blend of science fiction and esotericism. There’s no dramatic life or death situations here, but instead something that is deeply and personally important to the player character.
Miss Gosling’s Last Case by Daniel M. Stelzer
My thoughts:
A detective game in the “solve puzzles and the mystery solves itself” vein. Not normally my preference, on account of being constitutionally incapable of solving puzzles. But! The presentation and implementation of this game are absolutely top tier - this is the smoothest hyperlink/parser hybrid I’ve played. And I solved the final puzzle without hints, which left me buzzing with satisfaction and sorry to part from the late protagonist.
Quest for the Teacup of Minor Sentimental Value by Damon L. Wakes
My thoughts:
At first I wasn’t convinced by the way this game doesn’t let you move your little character around. And then there’s the fourth wall breaking humour which isn’t normally to my taste. But it just kept making me laugh! And the combination of branching narrative and automatic movement ended up winning me over. An enormously charming game.
Turn Right by Dee Cooke
My thoughts:
Really well written. You only need one command, but plenty of other obvious ones provide responses that help flesh out the situation. (Also, I don’t drive and it’s because I imagine that driving is like this all the time…)
Under the Cognomen of Edgar Allan Poe by Jim Nelson
My thoughts:
If getting stuck a couple of times in this supernatural mystery and bouncing off its incomplete hints was especially frustrating, it was only because there was nothing more electrifying than making progress, gathering clues, figuring things out. Rock solid implementation too. A Good Game with two capital Gs. (A better-written version of this review was being worked on by my double, before his untimely demise.)
Where Nothing Is Ever Named by Viktor Sobol
My thoughts:
A clever little game that also made me feel clever for solving it. Bonus points for including a… something.
Winter-Over by Emery Joyce and N. Cormier
My thoughts:
I was impressed with how quickly I got sucked into the mechanics of investigating the murder - both the mode of interaction and the writing flowed really well. I was even more impressed that the game managed to both lead me to correctly conclude who the murderer was and still hit me with a twist I didn’t see coming! That feels like managing to satisfy two completely contradictory desires on the part of the player, which has got to be some real murder mystery black magic.
Unfortunately, at one point I did end up at a blank screen, but as there are auto-saves at the start of each day it didn’t feel that painful.
You Can’t Save Her by Sarah Mak
My thoughts:
Now this is my jam. The afterword credits inspiration, a scene and text taken from the works of Porpentine. The first I completely understand, the second I’m fine with, the third I’m not so sure about. I love the imagination, setting and characterisation on display (desert moon! antlers! friends fighting to the death!) but I wish I knew with more certainty which parts actually came from this author. But, the hell with it, let’s leave the nuns to worry about that. I just loved this one.
(UPDATE: after I posted this, the author did update the game with additional credits. Who knows if the nuns are satisfied with that, but I am.)