I didn’t realize it had been THREE YEARS since I had reviewed an IFComp entry. That’s a pretty lengthy detour, but hopefully I have things back in order well enough to rack up a good amount of reviews for 2026.
7 Likes
The Very Last Night I Spent at Ethelred Estate
by Kai DeJesus
Short gothic horror? Yes, please! This was an easy choice for which entry to play first this year. The mechanic for making choices is intuitive and fun, even as you sense that this story can’t end well. The narrator is a young (?) woman experiencing several events that seem to all be happening simultaneously, and there is a weight hanging over her, since the choices she makes will determine the future of her family.
There are some grammatical errors and a bug that prevents readers from reaching the end of one of the branches, but the story was short enough that I was willing to try several playthroughs. It didn’t seem like the choices affected the outcome; instead, you just get other parts of the story, adding to the replayability. Another issue I had was that on my first try, it seemed like it was never stated what was going on with the main character’s brother until the climax, whereas a different branch will tell you what has happened right at the beginning. This made it seemed like something occured during the story in one playthrough, but in another, it had happened before the story started.
I liked piecing together the mystery over several read-thoughs, but I can’t say that this entry is a must-read. It feels like the work of an author who wanted to share their first attempt at IF, rather than a contender for a high-ranking finish.
7 Likes
High School Reunion by Sanj
Here is a short comedic game about a character attending their high school reunion. Yes, the title is unironically accurate.
I really liked the humor in this story, especially how the author would throw in some specific detail that was comically absurd for the situation. I had to immediately play through every branch so as not to miss any of those moments. There seems to be a bug with one of the early choices, and some phrasing that would flow a little better with some revising, but it didn’t disrupt my experience enough to take away from my enjoyment.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Recommendation: Never mind that this entry is too short to reach the higher tiers of the rankings–make sure you play this one for the fun of it!
5 Likes