The Sandman by Bellamy Briks
I’ve not finished playing this one, but I thought I’d review it anyway, given that I’ve had a couple of serious goes at it, and it’s not had many reviews yet. Also, because I think it pairs nicely with the previous game, as both are centred on the idea of sleep, but in diametrically opposite ways.
A very professional-looking Twine game, complete with graphics and a soundtrack which, during the gameplay, is just enough to be atmospheric (a kind of repetitive, haunting moaning in the background; tingly sound effects when you pick any options). It reminded me vaguely of The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo: a sinister atmosphere produced by dark graphics and minimalist sound effects; various options that you have to click on; a gameplay divided into time periods.
Unlike As the Fire Dies, in this game, the goal is not to fall asleep, as a virus has taken over the world: if you fall asleep, you will not wake up. The main character (the default name is Veronica, but you can choose) has travelled with her children to some kind of institute where she believes the virus will be cured, but instead she just finds a single old man whose identity is not disclosed, at least to begin with. On each day, you are given three actions, usually to keep yourself awake, to keep each of your children awake, or to talk to the man: these are philosophical conversations about the meaning of life, the afterlife, and so on. There are various options for these, and in some cases you can type in your own responses, but I’m not sure to what extent these affect your progress. If you don’t pick the right options, then you, or one of the others, will fall asleep forever. On my best playing, I got as far as Day 11, the only one left, and had no more option but to sleep. If you have a few conversations with the man, you find out things about both your pasts; I suspect that there is some kind of big reveal if you manage to keep him alive for longer than I did.
I don’t know if the relative lack of reviews is because few people have played this game, or because they are simply waiting to finish it before reviewing; if the former, I would definitely suggest giving it a go.