Spike's IFComp 2020 Reviews

And we played Brian Rushton’s The Magpie Takes the Train; I’ve reviewed it as well.

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Thanks for the review; I thought you might be interested in J. J.'s original prompt he gave me:

It would be a one-room game taking place over a very limited number of moves, which would require multiple replays to win. The idea would be that the train would go through tunnels on the way, plunging the compartment into darkness, during which time the Magpie would have the opportunity to switch disguises, switch bags with the victim, etc. On subsequent play throughs, the player would be able to plan, learning exactly what to do when, although the train’s ‘schedule’ would be available from the start (perhaps as a feelie).

The timing/replay aspect got written out as time goes on, but the costume part was there from the beginning!

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It was a game I originally planned to write myself, but which got pushed to the back of my schedule. When I saw Brian’s prize on the list I couldn’t resist seeing what he would do with the idea. He has done a fantastic job and I couldn’t be happier with the result! The Magpie Takes the Train is hilarious and introduces some memorable characters into the Magpie universe. A third Magpie game is in the early planning stages and there might be a couple of cameos!

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Thanks so much, Brian and Jason, for chiming in with additional background on The Magpie Takes the Train.

I look forward to playing the third Magpie game!

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:heart_eyes:

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Back to reviews of games that didn’t yet have a public review… Here’s Saint Simon’s Saw.

As a reminder, the reviews spreadsheet keeps track of reviews. As of right now there are just three games out of the hundred and four in the competition that don’t have public reviews!

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I didn’t finish this one, but I wrote a review based on the two-and-a-half hours I spent on it: Return to Castle Coris.

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I just posted my review of Just Another Fairy Tale.

I believe all the games in this year’s IFComp now have at least one public review.

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Thanks for your work, this is great!

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Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. This was my first text adventure, and I’ll take your suggestions to heart.

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No problem. With three years as an IFComp author myself, I know how much feedback matters to authors! And, of course, I wasn’t the only one helping to give every game at least one public review. :slight_smile:

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I did it: I reviewed You Couldn’t Have Done That.

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Having played Ferryman’s Gate, I’ve now written a review of it.

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My new IF wish for next year is a collaboration between Limerick Quest’s Pace Smith and Daniel Maycock, author of Ferryman’s Gate. In this game you’d solve puzzles by finding grammar errors in limericks.

Plus I’d like to see how many things Pace can rhyme with “comma splice.” :wink: :grinning:

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I just finished it too. It was interesting to read how much you appreciated it!

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Consider a small diorama slice
in which we start rolling the drama dice.
Releasing the trauma mice,
wearing pajamas twice,
Then, 'cause she is, call your momma nice.

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Here we go with the next one, with a homonym switch from ferries to fairies: a review of A Murder in Fairyland.

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Oh yeah, and then there’s the one that was about furries, and then that biographical game about June Foray, it’s been an a weird competition year.

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Not an unpleasant experience at all: The Eleusinian Miseries.

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Wow, thanks so much for the review, and glad you enjoyed the game!

It’s funny, I’ve been in and out of the IF community for almost 20 years now, so I was definitely aware that comedy parser games do well, but I really stumbled into some of the closer parallels – I started writing the game a bit before last year’s IFComp, including using the word “sozzled” in the opening poem, and then smacked my forehead upon seeing Zozzled deservedly do so well. And I also only went back to the 2018 comp and learned of the existence of Alias the Magpie in like March or so of this year, which prompted another bout of anxiety to be doing another Wodehouse pastiche so soon after that won. I’ve never played Violet, but that’ll be on my list now!

Anyway, thanks once again!

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