Suggested Games?

Competitions
1

Years ago, I would try to play all the games. I’ve missed out the last few years entirely. This year, I’d like to at least play a handful of games.

To start, I’m interested in suggestions for games that might be particularly interesting to discuss on my podcast. If anybody comes across one or two that might fit the bill by Friday night, please let me know. Maybe a couple that would be appropriate for kids (Addie is 9), and maybe one that wouldn’t (but could still be discussed on a kid-friendly podcast). “Interesting” could mean really good, or really bad in a strange way, or really unique, or just something that could lead to a fun discussion.

Comp authors are welcome to recommend their own games (please let me know if it is or isn’t for kids), but assuming you’re still not allowed to publicly discuss, you might want to PM me instead. If more than a couple are recommended, I’ll probably go for the ones that sound most interesting or get recommended the most. This is by no means a promise to hype up a game or speak positively about it. So if you recommend your own game and we end up not liking it, well, that’ll get discussed too.

Thanks.

2

I was playing some that caught my eye, and the ones that I kept playing for more than a couple of minutes (in alphabetical order):

AlethiCorp
Creatures Such As We
Enigma
Hunger Daemon
Missive
One Night Stand
Ugly Oafs
Unform

All of these have some meat on their bones, IMHO, although I definitely liked some more than others.

As far as kid-friendly? None of these, in my opinion. Most of them have elements that many people would consider kid-unfriendly, like violence, the occult, zombies, ghosts, or sex. AlethiCorp maybe, but it is very adult and I think a kid would get bored. Ugly Oafs maybe, but it is very abstract and difficult.

edited to add: I forgot about Eidolon. That one might be kid-friendly (the PC is actually a child or teenager). I got stuck and never reached an ending, so I don’t know if it gets darker later on.

3

Thanks. I can always try reading ahead a little bit if I’m playing one with Addie. Plus we’ll probably get more than one chance over the next few weeks.

4

From what I saw, Tea Ceremony seemed pretty kid-friendly except for some language at the beginning.

5

HHH.exe is the one for the kid!

6

It does seem pretty kid-friendly. And she’d like the graphics. But wasn’t Hugo’s House of Horrors an actual game? Are the graphics lifted from that game? I just played a few turns, so maybe it’s not what it seems.

(If you’re the author, PM me; don’t get yourself disqualified by discussing.)

7

Yes, HHH was an actual game, and the graphics are lifted from it. (not personally affiliated with either original HHH or the Twine version.)

8

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback. I just wanted to follow up, though, and say that I’ve decided not to cover the IFComp in my podcast after all. Part of this is because admin responsibilities here have kept me from coordinating play-time with Addie this weekend. Thanks, and sorry for wasting the time of anybody who made suggestions, here and privately.