Wolfbiter reviews IFComp 2024 - latest: Eikas; wrap-up

today’s theme, courtesy of the rng-gods: two games where you are unable to leave

The Maze Gallery by Cryptic Conservatory
Playtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Cryptic Conservatory includes Paxton, Rachel Aubertin, Chrys Pine, Ed Lu, Toni Owen-Blue, Christi Kerr, Sean Song, Joshua Campbell, Dawn Sueoka, Randy Hayes, Allyson Gray, Shana E. Hadi, IFcoltransG, Dominique Nelson, Orane Defiolle, An Artist’s Ode, Sisi Peng, Kazu Lupo, divineshadow777, Robin Scott, Sarah Barker, TavernKeep, Alex Parker, Mia Parker, J Isaac Gadient, Charm Cochran and Ghost Clown

The one where: we’re trapped in an unusual art museum

This is a big, ambitious place with many authors. In general it was impressively integrated–there were overall systems for mapping and inventory. I didn’t spent a lot of time thinking about which pieces were written by separate people, but nor did I notice any inconsistencies of tone that grated on me

As I closed in on two hours, I did escape the gallery, although I did not try the foundations.

I liked the presence of the in-game map and goals list, which gave me some direction. Without the map I think looking for the exit would have felt overwhelming. (I wasn’t a huge of the “go to the bathroom” goal—it’s already reasonably hard to get anywhere, was additional torment necessary?) And of course, as expected in my culture, the exit is located through the gift shop. I also saw in the walkthrough after I finished that the directories allow fast travel, which I did not discover while playing.

The game delivers on the premise of odd, striking images. Among others:

  • the concept of exploring a shipwreck that turns out to be in someone’s living room aquarium
  • the ink blot of the bull protecting the flower
  • the recursive crank turners

I enjoyed the opening monologue which was fun and high-energy, and put me in a good mood to explore. (Still considering if I am mazed, though.)

The game was at its best embracing the sort of improvisational, dada feel:

Also the president who was flagrantly making up baseball words. (If you’re about to tell me those are in fact real baseball words, I refuse to learn.)

  • the overall concept

I felt there was some tension between the art gallery theme and the puzzle elements. I think the art gallery concept, and the absurdist tone of much of the art, suggested a sort of free play interaction. So it was jarring to feel I had to exhaustively explore an area for plot reasons, or to be told “oh, there was more to uncover.” Or, at times I felt I should move faster to make sure I “finished” the game in two hours. I wonder if a different frame (sketch in a sketchbook as you go, sign a guestbook on the way out, etc.) would have created less of this feeling.

As it turns out, leaving doesn’t require that exhaustive of an exploration, but I wasn’t sure if that was the case while I was playing.

  • I wanted a bit more freedom to play

To me, this concept calls for a sort of illogical play approach. I wanted to perform antics! In some ways the game enabled this behavior, but in some places I felt confined:

  1. Sometimes the game would tell me how the PC felt about something. This rankled, especially when I didn’t agree the PC would feel that way. There are types of games were I’m fine with the game characterizing the PC for me, but it felt out of place in this concept. For example, I recall looking in Bad Art at one point and then going somewhere else, and the description told me “it’s probably for the best to skip.” But I had no intention of skipping, I just wanted to do one of the others first. Similarly, when I wanted to go back to one of the rooms: “So much sand it blocks you from entering the room. Doesn’t seem like much of a loss.”

  2. Oh, and perhaps the example about which I am the most emotional—I don’t recall the exact language, but there was an in-game message in the cafe along the lines of “you might think differently about yourself now.” No, I don’t! I reject the game’s implied moral judgment! To retain what is handed to me, when mind controlled and forced to serve food against my will, is not theft! Perhaps it is possible for an employee to steal, but a slave - (am dragged off stage)

  3. Some of the actions that seemed pretty directly suggested by the game were not implemented or gated off. Ymmv, but personally I was eagerly hoping to:

    • put on the headphones and listen to the audio tour. I CAN HANDLE YOU, POTATO-ELECTRICAL-IMPULSES
    • buy the art that guy in the shadowy hallway thoughtfully made for me, specifically!
    • go through the mirror in Zizi’s room a few more times
  • technical issues

Similar to what others have mentioned, the game bugged out for me several times in the Hungry Room. I was very excited to do that room because I vaguely recalled that Zizi had given me something for the Blob but the game just stopped giving me any clickable options. This happened twice so I just left the Hungry Room without doing anything, sadly. I will note that I fixed this by closing the window and re-opening it (I had cookies enabled), so I didn’t have to restart everything.

I thought the concept of a transcript for a choice-based game was really promising (would make my reviewing life easier), but alas, that feature didn’t seem to work at all.

Front matter
Could better set the table for the game Successfully sets the table for the game Successfully sets the table for the game PLUS

Overall: ambitious, big. (Maybe too big.) Stirred me up and made me think, but intermittently the stirring was in the form of annoyance.

Gameplay tips / typos
  • I got softlocked in the Hungry Room, and several others mentioned similar technical issues there and in the Gift Shop. (I was on Firefox). I was able to resolve it by closing the browser issue the game was running in, and then re-opening it again (I had cookies enabled). This took me back to the same room but a slightly different dialogue place / working. So maybe try that before you restart the whole thing.
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