This is a short but entertaining parser game where you are an academy student trying to save the world from invading aliens.
There’s a lot to like here. I liked the key puzzles and the ultimate solution. I also really liked the bonus section discoverable at the end. And the interaction with NPCs was fun. Each NPC felt like a distinct character who I was happy to engage with.
However it would have benefited from more polish. A lot of alternative nouns and verbs that I tried did not work, meaning it was a bit of a fight the parser situation. More playtesting would have reaped rewards. It’s also necessary to SEARCH in a lot of locations, and the implementation of that verb wasn’t trouble free.
I did like that the game is very kind though. I thought there might be a timer re you have to solve the game within a certain amount of time or moves. It is more relaxed than that, although the “go to X to get Y” then you are told “go to P to get Q” and so on did get a little linear in places, so it wasn’t so necessary to explore widely.
Also the English language translation was slightly off in a lot of places. I’d recommend having a native English speaker or two or three glance over the work. Only small things here and there, but enough to accumulate for the effect to be noticeable.
Thanks to the author for providing a walkthrough. Though for most players I think the game will be straightforward enough to play through in the main. Though a few key objects might be especially hard to find. I was grateful for the scoring mechanism used. I liked feeling that I was making good progress!
This is a curious mix of a web based choice game with parser like elements. You try to help a man whose wife has gone missing, and the game sees you investigate the house and her back story.
It’s very evocative. The writing is strong throughout and the graphics are great. I didn’t play with sound on. It’s also quite moving, as you feel for the lost woman and her situation, and you definitely feel that you make a connection.
On the downside I found the web based interface somewhat cumbersome. You have to repeat certain actions dozens of times over multiple objects, which requires a lot of clicking. In this case I think parser might have been easier to handle. For me anyway.
I did like the inventory management later on. But again there was a lot of clicking.
I played a couple of times. The first time I struggled to get towards a decent ending, using some objects in one place that led to bad effects. I played again and got a moderately good ending, but not ideal. But I was happy with that. I would have liked to see a note at the end saying what actions would produce the best result. But with all the clicking required I did not want to have a third go.
But it was a very strong piece, and has made quite an impression on me.
This is a very surreal choice based game, where you are having lucid dreams, and find yourself in a mysterious station.
It’s not a good start when there’s a typo in the content warnings. And typos continued throughout, and right up to the very end.
However the writing was imaginative, and though I kept having bad endings and things looped back to the start I kept replaying. So there was very much a “keep exploring” vibe.
There are a number of locations and things you can interact with. And a specific sequence of events can lead to the true ending. I got part way through this on my own, but luckily there is a walkthrough provided so I switched to that.
There’s one moment where you have to do something that I had serious problems with (shooting the gun in the school). From that point I found I couldn’t stay totally engaged.
I’m still not sure what was going on in the end, but I assumed it was a metaphor for cancer.
I certainly hope I never have dreams like this one! But it was a wild ride.
Note for author there is a typo in the walkthrough
In the get cutlass section it says go into the room on the right and talk to the god. It should be room on the left.
This short choice based piece sees the player explore a mysterious city hanging in the sky from spider webs.
The player character uses a stick, so I immediately felt a connection with them. I use two sticks to walk if not using my wheelchair. There is however no way that I would want to walk with a stick or sticks where this character walked!
It is quite a haunting piece, as you have freedom to explore the city, and discover and interact with different places and people.
However the endings when they happen were too abrupt, and did not always make sense given what had just happened (e.g. when I asked a man why everyone was so happy the ending screen that followed seemed to come out of nowhere).
There are also quite a lot of typos and wrong verb endings scattered throughout. More proofreading can always help.
But I found it a relaxing experience to play. I just wish I hadn’t kept hitting unsatisfying endings. I replayed quite a few times.
Thankyou so much for this review, I’m glad that you felt it was worth giving it a few spins. The typos are clearly an issue yes, even though I had quite a lot of friends check the game and point out errors like this a few do seem to have slipped through- something to really work on next time. The typos are a product of my dyspraxia- particularly the one you note in the walkthrough! lolol, you’re the first person to mention that to me.
Regarding the incident you refer to. I hope this wasn’t too distressing for you. Writing from Britain I think I should have considered how this would feel in an American context more. Perhaps I should have included a content warning for it? Or maybe even that isn’t enough. I certainly don’t want people to feel that I was making light of it in any way.
You Feel Like You’ve Read this in a Book by Austin Lim
This is a game where you face a time limit challenge to beat a challenge that will kill you otherwise.
It’s quite a lot of fun, investigating different lcoations and objects, and trying to accumulate the money required to solve the overall puzzle. There are multiple endings, and it’s probably a game that rewards replaying once you have figured out what’s what. Though it is quite forgiving, with multiple options to win.
I liked the detail in the walkthrough. Which includes information about all the literary references in the game. I recognised some of these while playing, but not all, not even for those books I have read. To be honest though I don’t think these literary references were as effective as they might have been. Most were too passing, easily missed, and it might have been nice to have a game using fewer ones, but developed more fully.
However I enjoyed it. Though I wish it had been a little bit longer.
The Grown-Up Detective Agency by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
This is a choice based piece where you are a detective investigating a missing person, and also have the strange appearance of someone unexpected to deal with.
I enjoyed this hugely. The user interface is a nice mix of graphics and text, with images for the main characters in each scene. It also uses imaginative techniques, like script style format for dialogue scenes, and a map display as you choose where to go in your investigations next.
The writing is strong throughout, and I felt invested in the detective mystery, and following up the clues. All the NPCs are individual and well crafted. I also really liked the ending that I got, though I imagine there may be multiple ones. I haven’t replayed.
That’s me finished all the games I will manage to get through before the end of the competition. Thanks to all the authors, both these games and the others. Every single game I play inspires me somehow, so thank you all.
Thanks too to my fellow reviewers. I’ve enjoyed reading your reviews, mainly after I try a game myself, but also in some cases while I’m pondering what to play next. Much appreciated!
But Scottish, with horribly vivid memories of when this happened in Scotland. So yes, a content warning might help.