ZIT, by Amanda Walker
I picked up Amanda’s game first because I figured it would be a pleasant, friendly parser romp. She’s really good at making that sort of thing! Given the time constraints of the category, I think including the walkthrough was really helpful, especially the portion that lists the commands you can do. I did try flubbing around with guessing the verb, and did an okay job of it, I think- but it was really nice being able to pull up the text file if I got hideously stuck.
It was a really smooth experience, especially for someone who still hasn’t gotten the hang of parsers- and playing it inside of the frame on itch.io was a lot nicer than the awkward sized, usually searing white webpages Inform games load on, on people’s personal websites(?). I liked the menu implementation with number choices- I remember something like that being used in Russo’s Sting and felt like it worked great for conversational stuff in Inform- very elegant way of dodging around the horrorshow of ‘TALK TO/ABOUT.’
Inform games still aren’t the prettiest, but I did like the touch of the title art being above the game window. That’s something I’m not so fond of on itch.io, that by default you can’t really see the coverart once you’re playing- so it was a nice way to get around that teeny bother.
Story wise: it’s pretty straightforward- you’re supposed to be helping the protagonist deal with this annoying little issue before her interview for a new job, of like, a monster zit. The real heart of the story lies in her interactions with people in her family and her friend: I felt really, really sorry for her. This poor woman!
It really captured the everyday despair that I’ve heard older people talk about- the way friends fall out of focus, your kids grow up and don’t have much need for you anymore, and with a crumbling marriage to a person you’re suddenly looking up at and realizing you hardly know after the gruelling slog of parenthood: it’s a nightmarish awakening from a life you thought you could coast on by comfortably in: maybe not as shiny and exciting as your early twenties, but that sort of thing’s behind you, anyway- and being content’s okay, right? And sure, you haven’t talked to your friends in forever- but that’s just like, part of growing up, man. And going back to work after the unhinged battle of trying to raise little kids can wait, because your family unit’s comfortable enough right now, and you’ll always have time to return to the idea, maybe when they’re a little older and a little more independent… Until there isn’t.
I’m still supposed to be in the sparkly-shiny bit of life, y’know, where you have your friends and all that, and pre-kids or marriage and a white picket fence: but God, if this isn’t a depressing future portent of how things could go, and have gone for lots of people. I just feel sad for her, really. I hope her interview goes well, but someone needs to introduce her to a writing club, or a gardening group- or something where she can speak to nice ladies her age over yummy snacks and commiserate over being a single parent. I want to take her to one myself! She’s a very sympathetic figure.
It really sets out what it tries to do, and establishes a character and her struggles really well in such a small span of time. I’d suggest picking it up if you have a few spare minutes.