- How well it accomplishes what it sets out to do (assuming it has a goal better than, "be a joke")
- How well the story in conveyed via writing (and programming) prowess.
- If it is enjoyable or not (treated a bit as a binary).
Sunday, November 11, 2012
IF Comp 2012 Wrap-up
This was my first year being involved in the IF Comp as a non-author, and I was excited to have gotten in the time to play and review all of the games. There were some great stories and mechanics out there, and as always I feel fired up to continue writing my own games after enjoying the entries of everyone else. Below I'll list the game in order of their scores. There are three main factors that I considered when evaluating a game:
Changes
Random Thought: "Other rabbits, I come in peace!"
This was a somewhat interesting game, that I think had a great deal of potential, but lost me fairly quickly. I'm going to list a lot of criticisms of this game, but that's only because I enjoyed it and these tweaks would have improved the gameplay so much that I feel it's worth it to switch to criticism mode, whereas most of my posts attempt to focus on what I enjoyed about the game.
This was a somewhat interesting game, that I think had a great deal of potential, but lost me fairly quickly. I'm going to list a lot of criticisms of this game, but that's only because I enjoyed it and these tweaks would have improved the gameplay so much that I feel it's worth it to switch to criticism mode, whereas most of my posts attempt to focus on what I enjoyed about the game.
howling dogs
Random Thought: "This is the first time I have seen a Wall of Text implemented so purposefully and perfectly."
Escape from Summerland
This was really just a fantastic concept and storyline - I loved switching in between the three protagonists and viewing the world through each of their eyes. The different descriptions took awhile to get used to - especially sifting through the robot's output, but I really enjoyed having the solid voice for each character, and the ghost mechanic was great for cutting through any confusion. My favorite writing mechanic hands-down was the inclusion of monkey smiley faces for the descriptions of each event, it was incredibly endearing.
But something of this scope obviously involves a lot of descriptions, a lot of rules, and a lot of programming to make sure that it all fit together seamlessly. And that's where I ran into problems - it was a very buggy game, descriptions were sometimes delivered with the wrong voice, and I got stuck twice on what were obviously bugs dealing with the service elevator. And after restarting and replaying the game, getting stuck on the elevator again (this time in a different place), killed all the time that I had for judging this game.
This was a project that - if it had been held back a year - would have easily sailed into first place in the competition. In fact, once I had gotten accustomed to the controls, I was ready to call this one the winner. Even after I got stuck the first time, I asked my husband to play co-op with me (we like to play adventure games "together"). But then the bugs held us back, and I admit that this just wasn't making the cut. I still rate this game very highly, because it went out and accomplished something incredibly enjoyable, novel and technically interesting.
7/10
But something of this scope obviously involves a lot of descriptions, a lot of rules, and a lot of programming to make sure that it all fit together seamlessly. And that's where I ran into problems - it was a very buggy game, descriptions were sometimes delivered with the wrong voice, and I got stuck twice on what were obviously bugs dealing with the service elevator. And after restarting and replaying the game, getting stuck on the elevator again (this time in a different place), killed all the time that I had for judging this game.
This was a project that - if it had been held back a year - would have easily sailed into first place in the competition. In fact, once I had gotten accustomed to the controls, I was ready to call this one the winner. Even after I got stuck the first time, I asked my husband to play co-op with me (we like to play adventure games "together"). But then the bugs held us back, and I admit that this just wasn't making the cut. I still rate this game very highly, because it went out and accomplished something incredibly enjoyable, novel and technically interesting.
7/10
Guilded Youth
Random Thought: "I wonder if you could make an all ASCII-based room and player description, would it still count as a text-based adventure game?"
While this was technically a text-based adventure game, it felt and played much more like a CYOA, which made the game feel more streamlined and definitely kept the pace up. While the actual adventure was very short, each of the characters had a great amount of detail lavished onto them, and while I didn't poke at them too much, I felt like they were all very solid, each with their own motivations, each with their own level of involvement and investment. And I was incredibly impressed with that: good characterization is one of the more interesting, yet difficult aspects of creating an adventure game.
The adventure itself seemed of epic enough proportions: kind of a dumb kid thing to do, while actually also kind of interesting. I have to say, when I was a teen I never went out drinking with friends or looking to cause trouble or push the boundaries: so this kind of story about sneaking into abandoned houses struck me as about as foreign as a game about sports. Why would kids go out and drink 'till they puked? What did they feel they were accomplishing? Were girlie magazines really all that mysterious and amazing? It is really considered part of growing up to destory and loot property? To sneak out at night? Perhaps this was an accurate representation of someone's teenage years, but it was never representative of my youth, and I find all those desires somewhat strange. I felt more for Maximus who obviously got peer pressured into doing something he was uncomfortable with.
But, I did my best to put myself into the mindset of the protagonist, and the game was incredibly enjoyable and cute. The puzzles each felt like they led into each other naturally, and gameplay really seemed to unravel naturally. And the characterization was amazing. It was an fun and fast-paced experience, and definitely a great story idea.
8/10
While this was technically a text-based adventure game, it felt and played much more like a CYOA, which made the game feel more streamlined and definitely kept the pace up. While the actual adventure was very short, each of the characters had a great amount of detail lavished onto them, and while I didn't poke at them too much, I felt like they were all very solid, each with their own motivations, each with their own level of involvement and investment. And I was incredibly impressed with that: good characterization is one of the more interesting, yet difficult aspects of creating an adventure game.
The adventure itself seemed of epic enough proportions: kind of a dumb kid thing to do, while actually also kind of interesting. I have to say, when I was a teen I never went out drinking with friends or looking to cause trouble or push the boundaries: so this kind of story about sneaking into abandoned houses struck me as about as foreign as a game about sports. Why would kids go out and drink 'till they puked? What did they feel they were accomplishing? Were girlie magazines really all that mysterious and amazing? It is really considered part of growing up to destory and loot property? To sneak out at night? Perhaps this was an accurate representation of someone's teenage years, but it was never representative of my youth, and I find all those desires somewhat strange. I felt more for Maximus who obviously got peer pressured into doing something he was uncomfortable with.
But, I did my best to put myself into the mindset of the protagonist, and the game was incredibly enjoyable and cute. The puzzles each felt like they led into each other naturally, and gameplay really seemed to unravel naturally. And the characterization was amazing. It was an fun and fast-paced experience, and definitely a great story idea.
8/10
Spiral
Random Thought: "Am I going to be tortured in real life and then threatened with the spectre of more torture in Hell?"
This game had many incomprehensible layers, all of which necessitated much more time than the competition limit of 2 hours allows to unravel. The game certainly had many interesting mechanics, but I did not understand how to link or cooperate between the two dreams, and that crippled me for much of the game. After I finally gave up, and turned to the walkthrough, I realized I was only a little bit into the story of the game, and as such did not finish the game before the 2 hour time limit. So I will only comment on the game up to how far I reached: midway into both dream sequences.
This game had many incomprehensible layers, all of which necessitated much more time than the competition limit of 2 hours allows to unravel. The game certainly had many interesting mechanics, but I did not understand how to link or cooperate between the two dreams, and that crippled me for much of the game. After I finally gave up, and turned to the walkthrough, I realized I was only a little bit into the story of the game, and as such did not finish the game before the 2 hour time limit. So I will only comment on the game up to how far I reached: midway into both dream sequences.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Body Bargain
Random Thought: "How about I just wash dishes instead?"
This game grossed me out hardcore, which was I believe the intent of the game, so kudos. To be fair, I felt much of the grossout was just having to do with surgery in general: one of my grossest memories was watching a video in a biology class of arthritis surgery. So when it came to just the procedures, I steeled myself as best I could, telling myself it was just par for the course.
Where the true horror is, of course, in the unregulated and whimsical practices of this doctor. The true horror is with the abuse of power, the callous disregard of rights or empathy or sterile procedures - the poor framing of my old tattoo should have tipped me off. I even felt for the White Dragon, whose vision of his body might not match my own desires, but still deserves the shot to actually get what he wants. He deserves regulation and a doctor who would work with him to give him some sort of compromise, or at least be honest about the cost. What this game was really about for me was how this doctor could prey on the desires and abuse them. This game completely hit the mark when it came to making me feel shocked and disgusted. But I think it might have been leaning on blaming the victims for having those desires so strongly, for giving in to the pressure to be a certain body type (when arguably White Dragon was deciding not to succumb the peer pressure to conform to a certain body type - namely human), and really it feels like blaming a lady who got felt up by a dentist for getting braces.
This game had some problems with implementation and sometimes I struggled with the parser, which was disappointing, and I ran into a situation where an Overclock who was no longer in the room was commenting on my surgery technique.
7/10
This game grossed me out hardcore, which was I believe the intent of the game, so kudos. To be fair, I felt much of the grossout was just having to do with surgery in general: one of my grossest memories was watching a video in a biology class of arthritis surgery. So when it came to just the procedures, I steeled myself as best I could, telling myself it was just par for the course.
Where the true horror is, of course, in the unregulated and whimsical practices of this doctor. The true horror is with the abuse of power, the callous disregard of rights or empathy or sterile procedures - the poor framing of my old tattoo should have tipped me off. I even felt for the White Dragon, whose vision of his body might not match my own desires, but still deserves the shot to actually get what he wants. He deserves regulation and a doctor who would work with him to give him some sort of compromise, or at least be honest about the cost. What this game was really about for me was how this doctor could prey on the desires and abuse them. This game completely hit the mark when it came to making me feel shocked and disgusted. But I think it might have been leaning on blaming the victims for having those desires so strongly, for giving in to the pressure to be a certain body type (when arguably White Dragon was deciding not to succumb the peer pressure to conform to a certain body type - namely human), and really it feels like blaming a lady who got felt up by a dentist for getting braces.
This game had some problems with implementation and sometimes I struggled with the parser, which was disappointing, and I ran into a situation where an Overclock who was no longer in the room was commenting on my surgery technique.
7/10
The Lift
Random Thought: "Ladies don't need tissues..."
An incredibly short CYOA, this one combines many of the more annoying directions a CYOA can go. It has few options, with the PC frequently making decisions for you. And each option requires previous knowledge of the game to complete it. There's not much rhyme or reason to what works where, it's just guess and try. It was kind of obvious that it was done quickly, and lacked polish or any backstory or motivation. But I did appreciate that it told me how many possible survival solutions there were, I was driven to replay and see the win scenarios.
2/10
An incredibly short CYOA, this one combines many of the more annoying directions a CYOA can go. It has few options, with the PC frequently making decisions for you. And each option requires previous knowledge of the game to complete it. There's not much rhyme or reason to what works where, it's just guess and try. It was kind of obvious that it was done quickly, and lacked polish or any backstory or motivation. But I did appreciate that it told me how many possible survival solutions there were, I was driven to replay and see the win scenarios.
2/10
Saturday, November 3, 2012
A Manor of Speaking
Random Thought: "Thank the writer the 'eye' was not used to make 'eyescream'."
I am not a big fan of pun adventure games - I did NOT enjoy the 1993 Companions of Xanth, and I feared that this would be a bit of a repeat of that game - annoying puzzles, with each pun puzzle getting more and more farfetched as the game went on (the hot dog boss still makes me embarrassed for the writers). But this game was far better than Companions. It took awhile to get into the groove of looking for puns, but once I did it was pretty enjoyable. Even in situations where I wasn't sure what to do (I was still getting into it when I was looking for the proof) failing happened so quickly and obviously (and with its own pun!) that it was not only quick to get back on track, but it was enjoyable enough that I enjoyed the deaths for their own merits. It's definitely a lot nicer to have a death reel play for you when you can read the death at your own pace (instead of being forced to wait and watch an animation), can just UNDO (instead of having to restart or restore) that I went around looking for ways to die just to enjoy the world that much more.
Having a game that makes fun of the player can definitely tread a fine line, but I enjoyed the scoring system, and actually pumped my fist when I graduated from "thumbtack" to "turkey baster". I also appreciated a small detail - apparently asking the couch about the beta testers gives you answers. That is a really cool and polite Easter Egg!
I was a little wary when the game crossed over into some more suggestive themes - I am so tired of games making me a horny male heterosexual protagonist who loses my mind over any 2-dimensonial curvy thing that beckons. But I actually think that they added to the overall humor without being too demeaning or generalizing of men. So overall, it was a lot of fun! It accomplished what it set out to do, and had no faults. I have to say, I am amazed to have run into so many well-made games in a row. I was a bit worried at the start of the list.
10/10
I am not a big fan of pun adventure games - I did NOT enjoy the 1993 Companions of Xanth, and I feared that this would be a bit of a repeat of that game - annoying puzzles, with each pun puzzle getting more and more farfetched as the game went on (the hot dog boss still makes me embarrassed for the writers). But this game was far better than Companions. It took awhile to get into the groove of looking for puns, but once I did it was pretty enjoyable. Even in situations where I wasn't sure what to do (I was still getting into it when I was looking for the proof) failing happened so quickly and obviously (and with its own pun!) that it was not only quick to get back on track, but it was enjoyable enough that I enjoyed the deaths for their own merits. It's definitely a lot nicer to have a death reel play for you when you can read the death at your own pace (instead of being forced to wait and watch an animation), can just UNDO (instead of having to restart or restore) that I went around looking for ways to die just to enjoy the world that much more.
Having a game that makes fun of the player can definitely tread a fine line, but I enjoyed the scoring system, and actually pumped my fist when I graduated from "thumbtack" to "turkey baster". I also appreciated a small detail - apparently asking the couch about the beta testers gives you answers. That is a really cool and polite Easter Egg!
I was a little wary when the game crossed over into some more suggestive themes - I am so tired of games making me a horny male heterosexual protagonist who loses my mind over any 2-dimensonial curvy thing that beckons. But I actually think that they added to the overall humor without being too demeaning or generalizing of men. So overall, it was a lot of fun! It accomplished what it set out to do, and had no faults. I have to say, I am amazed to have run into so many well-made games in a row. I was a bit worried at the start of the list.
10/10
Fish Bowl
Random Thought: "I'm glad I'm a beach bum instead of a generic apartment-owning bum. At least that mixes it up a bit. [before I got very far into the game]"
I've been saying that dream sequences are incredibly difficult to do because they need consistency, but this game pulls off a dream sequence perfectly. It does this because the rules and scenery don't change wildly, and when they do change, that change is announced and somewhat acknowledged, and if you work at it, you can link the dream sequences with the real sequences. The game is somewhat short, but it's tight and well-implemented, strikes the right balance between being revealing/mysterious enough, and serves as evidence that if you have a good story that can be told briefly, you don't need length. (Plus when you're a judge, it's nice to have some short games to help you move on to the next game). I only had trouble with noticing the mirror, but that was probably my fault. I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration into this game, and afterwards I was left with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It achieved everything it wanted, was perfectly enjoyable, and I can find no fault.
10/10
I've been saying that dream sequences are incredibly difficult to do because they need consistency, but this game pulls off a dream sequence perfectly. It does this because the rules and scenery don't change wildly, and when they do change, that change is announced and somewhat acknowledged, and if you work at it, you can link the dream sequences with the real sequences. The game is somewhat short, but it's tight and well-implemented, strikes the right balance between being revealing/mysterious enough, and serves as evidence that if you have a good story that can be told briefly, you don't need length. (Plus when you're a judge, it's nice to have some short games to help you move on to the next game). I only had trouble with noticing the mirror, but that was probably my fault. I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration into this game, and afterwards I was left with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It achieved everything it wanted, was perfectly enjoyable, and I can find no fault.
10/10
J'dal
Random Thought: "A urinal-only bathroom? D: "
Well this looked like a promising and interesting game with some great character interactions. The About warned me that some serious shit might go down too. I immediately became curious about the story behind this job. What brought all these people together? Was my adoptive father shady? I appreciated the interaction with the waitress.
Unfortunately I got stuck too early on, where after >SLEEPING for the night there was nowhere for me to go or do to get this job rolling (the lack of room directions didn't help either). Talking to my dad didn't help, he just suggested we SLEEP for night again. It seemed to get into a state where it wasn't progressing. I figured that I would restart and go through that part with a walkthrough to get around this bug, but there wasn't a walkthrough for the Intro. Which just goes to show: never assume that any part of your game is "too easy" to not need a walkthrough. Which is too bad, it had an incredibly promising beginning.
5/10
Well this looked like a promising and interesting game with some great character interactions. The About warned me that some serious shit might go down too. I immediately became curious about the story behind this job. What brought all these people together? Was my adoptive father shady? I appreciated the interaction with the waitress.
Unfortunately I got stuck too early on, where after >SLEEPING for the night there was nowhere for me to go or do to get this job rolling (the lack of room directions didn't help either). Talking to my dad didn't help, he just suggested we SLEEP for night again. It seemed to get into a state where it wasn't progressing. I figured that I would restart and go through that part with a walkthrough to get around this bug, but there wasn't a walkthrough for the Intro. Which just goes to show: never assume that any part of your game is "too easy" to not need a walkthrough. Which is too bad, it had an incredibly promising beginning.
5/10
Kicker
Random Thought: "I am actually really glad that I didn't perv. out on the cheerleaders."
I'm not a sports fan, but I have found sports adventure games to be surprisingly entertaining, (I enjoyed last year's Fan Interference, despite having some lack of polish), and while I was kind of skeptical about how well I would enjoy Kicker, it sucked me in incredibly quickly. The tone of the game was perfect, the mechanics were well done, and I really felt like I was in the game, suffering the indignity of being the least respected member of the team, like some kind of annoyance they have to tolerate because someone made this dumb rule about kicking the ball. I feel like I now understand what it means to be a Kicker.
I completely got into the spirit and head of being a kicker - being completely bored for long stretches of time wondering what I should do (practice and look at stuff, I guess) and then getting incredibly excited when it was my turn to do those basic 4 steps of run on, signal, kick and run off. I got that pang of guilt when I messed up, the feeling of relief and accomplishment when I succeeded, and ended up I wondered if there was a game mechanic that made it if I practiced more or perhaps did something else, would I get the kick? Or was it just random? And that possibly superstitious line of thinking really contributed to what it must feel like to be in that position.
I also enjoyed the descriptions of the fans and other nearby interactables, the "wisdom" of the coach was fantastically baffling, and I have to wonder if there was a real-life inspiration for this guy. While I can't say that this was my "favorite" game or kind of game, it perfectly accomplished its goals and was incredibly enjoyable, and I can find no fault.
10/10
I'm not a sports fan, but I have found sports adventure games to be surprisingly entertaining, (I enjoyed last year's Fan Interference, despite having some lack of polish), and while I was kind of skeptical about how well I would enjoy Kicker, it sucked me in incredibly quickly. The tone of the game was perfect, the mechanics were well done, and I really felt like I was in the game, suffering the indignity of being the least respected member of the team, like some kind of annoyance they have to tolerate because someone made this dumb rule about kicking the ball. I feel like I now understand what it means to be a Kicker.
I completely got into the spirit and head of being a kicker - being completely bored for long stretches of time wondering what I should do (practice and look at stuff, I guess) and then getting incredibly excited when it was my turn to do those basic 4 steps of run on, signal, kick and run off. I got that pang of guilt when I messed up, the feeling of relief and accomplishment when I succeeded, and ended up I wondered if there was a game mechanic that made it if I practiced more or perhaps did something else, would I get the kick? Or was it just random? And that possibly superstitious line of thinking really contributed to what it must feel like to be in that position.
I also enjoyed the descriptions of the fans and other nearby interactables, the "wisdom" of the coach was fantastically baffling, and I have to wonder if there was a real-life inspiration for this guy. While I can't say that this was my "favorite" game or kind of game, it perfectly accomplished its goals and was incredibly enjoyable, and I can find no fault.
10/10
Signos
Random Thought: "Represent ALL the mythologies!"
Dream sequence games are incredibly difficult to play, because there's so rarely any consistent logic or rational trail of thought. And the lack of consistency makes sense when you're actually in a dreamstate, but when you're awake playing a simulation of a dreamstate, they're too often just confusing or annoying. I felt that this game did a great job of actually bypassing a lot of that difficulty, by having some consistency and creating expectations for what you as a player needed to do to advance. The game-advancing mechanics were definitely confusing when I was first thrown into them, but after awhile I understood what I needed to do, and I appreciated the consistent direction. That said, I felt that while the puzzles tended to be logically consistent, they weren't necessarily thematically consistent. Sometimes the solution was to be a jerk, sometimes it was to find inner peace. And those two things seemed entirely at odds that I sometimes felt like I was making the wrong move and putting myself in an unwinnable place.
It was also kind of glaring that the writing could have been shored up: having mistakes in the names of your rooms is a pretty big offense. Not to mention that many synonyms just didn't exist (e.g. the "stone" was never recognized if you referred to it as "flint") and many objects just weren't there. This limitation was helped greatly by the interface highlighting important nouns, which helped prevent you from paying attention to the nonexistent nouns behind the curtains.
The ending was kind of confusing, I'm not exactly sure how I reached my inner peace and became one with the universe, but I won't argue with it. It was still kinda fun.
5/10
Dream sequence games are incredibly difficult to play, because there's so rarely any consistent logic or rational trail of thought. And the lack of consistency makes sense when you're actually in a dreamstate, but when you're awake playing a simulation of a dreamstate, they're too often just confusing or annoying. I felt that this game did a great job of actually bypassing a lot of that difficulty, by having some consistency and creating expectations for what you as a player needed to do to advance. The game-advancing mechanics were definitely confusing when I was first thrown into them, but after awhile I understood what I needed to do, and I appreciated the consistent direction. That said, I felt that while the puzzles tended to be logically consistent, they weren't necessarily thematically consistent. Sometimes the solution was to be a jerk, sometimes it was to find inner peace. And those two things seemed entirely at odds that I sometimes felt like I was making the wrong move and putting myself in an unwinnable place.
It was also kind of glaring that the writing could have been shored up: having mistakes in the names of your rooms is a pretty big offense. Not to mention that many synonyms just didn't exist (e.g. the "stone" was never recognized if you referred to it as "flint") and many objects just weren't there. This limitation was helped greatly by the interface highlighting important nouns, which helped prevent you from paying attention to the nonexistent nouns behind the curtains.
The ending was kind of confusing, I'm not exactly sure how I reached my inner peace and became one with the universe, but I won't argue with it. It was still kinda fun.
5/10
Transit
Random thought: "I am friends with a drug lord."
Well, this was a short CYOA. It had an interesting premise and some interesting (possibly?) mechanics. After restarting several times, I manged to find the correct sequence of events, but I felt like a superstitious pigeon, because there didn't seem to be much reason to the solution - just pick options until you get the right one. I initially thought that maximizing the caffeine in my system would help my athletic skills, but that did not pan out. Then I thought that being annoying enough would make my friend materialize, but that didn't help either. I did enjoy some of the small jokes about being a foreigner traveling in another country - the ubiquitous American Starbucks and McDonalds, the difficulty and frustration with basic human interactions, the money confusion. Disappointingly for such a short CYOA, I seemed to run into a bug where sometimes going "back to security" from the terminal entrance would prevent progress. This game definitely offered a little bit of enjoyment, but it could have used some more work and cohesion.
4/10
Well, this was a short CYOA. It had an interesting premise and some interesting (possibly?) mechanics. After restarting several times, I manged to find the correct sequence of events, but I felt like a superstitious pigeon, because there didn't seem to be much reason to the solution - just pick options until you get the right one. I initially thought that maximizing the caffeine in my system would help my athletic skills, but that did not pan out. Then I thought that being annoying enough would make my friend materialize, but that didn't help either. I did enjoy some of the small jokes about being a foreigner traveling in another country - the ubiquitous American Starbucks and McDonalds, the difficulty and frustration with basic human interactions, the money confusion. Disappointingly for such a short CYOA, I seemed to run into a bug where sometimes going "back to security" from the terminal entrance would prevent progress. This game definitely offered a little bit of enjoyment, but it could have used some more work and cohesion.
4/10
A Killer Headache
Random thought: "Can I eat my own brains, like an ouroboros?"
When I started playing this game, I was immediately psyched. A humorous zombie adventure as the zombie? 10/10! I felt a kinship towards my severed head friend Jim, although I was sorry that he wasn't more involved of a companion. The intro was amazing, and I really enjoyed the flashback sequences, which all seemed relevant to the goings on. I think it was really fascinating how the flashbacks were tied to releasing my headache and to what was going on around me. The puzzles were tough, but the ABOUT section did warn about that. I'll admit I'm kind of in a hurry (and trying to finish these games in under the 2 hour limit) so I went to the hints section a lot. Sometimes I felt like it was my fault for not getting it, but other times I didn't feel bad at all. I don't know very many songs by name, I don't know how to siphon gas, and I never would have thought to be so demanding of a nun.
When I started playing this game, I was immediately psyched. A humorous zombie adventure as the zombie? 10/10! I felt a kinship towards my severed head friend Jim, although I was sorry that he wasn't more involved of a companion. The intro was amazing, and I really enjoyed the flashback sequences, which all seemed relevant to the goings on. I think it was really fascinating how the flashbacks were tied to releasing my headache and to what was going on around me. The puzzles were tough, but the ABOUT section did warn about that. I'll admit I'm kind of in a hurry (and trying to finish these games in under the 2 hour limit) so I went to the hints section a lot. Sometimes I felt like it was my fault for not getting it, but other times I didn't feel bad at all. I don't know very many songs by name, I don't know how to siphon gas, and I never would have thought to be so demanding of a nun.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Shuffling Around
Random thought: "Well, that was a waste of the paper I was using to create a map."
This is an (incredibly short) game about the frustrations of being newly jobless. Being jobless sucks. But what sucks even more is how patronizing everyone else is around you: suddenly they are all experts on what you need to do to fix yourself. There's not a lot of empathy or emotional support - just a lot of, "This is your problem you'd better fix right away because the clock is ticking, and did you know that being a negative nelly means you're only digging yourself deeper? So chipper up!" And indeed that's what most of these so-called motivational speakers do. They just blame you for not putting on the right show, instead of acknowledging the very real difficulty, or offering personal jobsearching services. That kind of atmosphere is annoyingly unhelpful and condescending.
Tapping into that emotion could really have made for an interesting IF game. Of course, it would have been very technically challenging to access the shame, despair and frustration felt by someone jobless without coming across as alienatingly bitter.
This game came across as alienatingly bitter, as a personal project to vent about a personal struggle, but without engaging the audience. It felt a bit like watching a scene from The Room or reading a Livejournal post: short, not much substance, and with the focus centered around the person creating the project. And that's fine to create, I hope it was a good venting exercise. But for the rest of us, it just comes across as puzzling at best, annoying at worst.
2/10
This is an (incredibly short) game about the frustrations of being newly jobless. Being jobless sucks. But what sucks even more is how patronizing everyone else is around you: suddenly they are all experts on what you need to do to fix yourself. There's not a lot of empathy or emotional support - just a lot of, "This is your problem you'd better fix right away because the clock is ticking, and did you know that being a negative nelly means you're only digging yourself deeper? So chipper up!" And indeed that's what most of these so-called motivational speakers do. They just blame you for not putting on the right show, instead of acknowledging the very real difficulty, or offering personal jobsearching services. That kind of atmosphere is annoyingly unhelpful and condescending.
Tapping into that emotion could really have made for an interesting IF game. Of course, it would have been very technically challenging to access the shame, despair and frustration felt by someone jobless without coming across as alienatingly bitter.
This game came across as alienatingly bitter, as a personal project to vent about a personal struggle, but without engaging the audience. It felt a bit like watching a scene from The Room or reading a Livejournal post: short, not much substance, and with the focus centered around the person creating the project. And that's fine to create, I hope it was a good venting exercise. But for the rest of us, it just comes across as puzzling at best, annoying at worst.
2/10
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Lunar Base 1
Random Thought: "Why don't you go check out the glint to the northeast? **Steals shuttle for self and leaves the crazy astronaut here to die.** "
This game was short, but it did not have the complete lack of polish usually accompanied by such short games. I felt like the writing and mechanics could have been a little better in places, but overall the game felt like a fair example. Maybe something like a well-done first attempt or a solid second attempt. This game definitely harkened back to its roots with regards to adventuring: Solaris meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which is definitely a creepy kind of premise and offers a great starting point for a story or a plot, and I enjoy going after that vibe. I didn't feel it as much as I should have: the game felt like it expected a very specific action to advance the plot, but did not always provide hints as to the expected action. And while probably others have pointed this out, the suit on/ suit off shuffle got repetitive after awhile, which slowed the pace and impeded my immersion.
While it felt a little bit like I was watching a movie, it felt like a familiar movie's remake with some flaws, but still an enjoyable homage. I'd really like to see more from this author! I feel like there's some good potential here with more work. And while I agree that you put a lot of work into this already, being asked to put in more work feels kind of like a dick move on the player's part, but that's how you get better and create these memorable experiences.
5/10
This game was short, but it did not have the complete lack of polish usually accompanied by such short games. I felt like the writing and mechanics could have been a little better in places, but overall the game felt like a fair example. Maybe something like a well-done first attempt or a solid second attempt. This game definitely harkened back to its roots with regards to adventuring: Solaris meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which is definitely a creepy kind of premise and offers a great starting point for a story or a plot, and I enjoy going after that vibe. I didn't feel it as much as I should have: the game felt like it expected a very specific action to advance the plot, but did not always provide hints as to the expected action. And while probably others have pointed this out, the suit on/ suit off shuffle got repetitive after awhile, which slowed the pace and impeded my immersion.
While it felt a little bit like I was watching a movie, it felt like a familiar movie's remake with some flaws, but still an enjoyable homage. I'd really like to see more from this author! I feel like there's some good potential here with more work. And while I agree that you put a lot of work into this already, being asked to put in more work feels kind of like a dick move on the player's part, but that's how you get better and create these memorable experiences.
5/10
Eurydice
Random Thought: "Jeez, if he doesn't usually accept quarters, there must be a lot of SOL souls."
Traveling to the underworld is another staple of Interactive Fiction, and while that tends to mean that they require higher scrutiny, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed Eurydice. It had enough hints at magic that when the transition to the underworld happened, things felt natural and expected, and definitely beckoned at the player to suspend their disbelief. But what allowed for the believability in the slowly ramping up of the mystical was the very real characters created in real life. That depth and complexity really facilitated immersion. And I enjoyed the fact that there were multiple endings and ways to better your score, but still come to a satisfying ending. Too frequently in adventure games "multiple endings" means a complete fail or a complete win, but not frequently enough are there options that lead to endings that are just... different.
I did choose to replay this one to see what would happen, because I enjoyed the narrative. I feel like these kinds of stories that deal with the death of a loved one really touch on what it means to be human and mortal, and suffer grief and loss. It really sucks you in when there's been a lot of work put into the writing. One thing that really helped with the writing was the bypass mechanic, which allowed you to focus on advancing the story at your own pace instead of getting bogged down in failing a pixel hunt. And my only small complaint was that some of the "different ending" items were not necessarily intuitive, or were hidden deeper than expected. But that is a hard balance to strike.
This game really resonated with me, and while the end felt unsatisfying, I feel like that's... just life. And sometimes we don't get what we want, and are left feeling emptier or worse off than before. But that really struck that emotional chord with me, and I appreciated it.
9/10
Traveling to the underworld is another staple of Interactive Fiction, and while that tends to mean that they require higher scrutiny, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed Eurydice. It had enough hints at magic that when the transition to the underworld happened, things felt natural and expected, and definitely beckoned at the player to suspend their disbelief. But what allowed for the believability in the slowly ramping up of the mystical was the very real characters created in real life. That depth and complexity really facilitated immersion. And I enjoyed the fact that there were multiple endings and ways to better your score, but still come to a satisfying ending. Too frequently in adventure games "multiple endings" means a complete fail or a complete win, but not frequently enough are there options that lead to endings that are just... different.
I did choose to replay this one to see what would happen, because I enjoyed the narrative. I feel like these kinds of stories that deal with the death of a loved one really touch on what it means to be human and mortal, and suffer grief and loss. It really sucks you in when there's been a lot of work put into the writing. One thing that really helped with the writing was the bypass mechanic, which allowed you to focus on advancing the story at your own pace instead of getting bogged down in failing a pixel hunt. And my only small complaint was that some of the "different ending" items were not necessarily intuitive, or were hidden deeper than expected. But that is a hard balance to strike.
This game really resonated with me, and while the end felt unsatisfying, I feel like that's... just life. And sometimes we don't get what we want, and are left feeling emptier or worse off than before. But that really struck that emotional chord with me, and I appreciated it.
9/10
Irvine Quik and the Search for for the Fish of Traglea
Random Thought: "Does anybody remember Legend of the River King?"
I know wacky adventures are a staple of IF Games, but I'm not a terribly big fan. Or at least, I have more precise standards for something to impress me and not just feel overly cheesey. Also I feel that wacky adventures tend to lack consistency or rules, where anything goes and the solutions don't make much sense. I feel that perhaps Quik maintains that necessary consistency (it went through the trouble of introducing me to game mechanics) I wasn't really taken in by the writing or the mechanics. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions when it came to HiRBy. First I was kind of annoyed by having to "take" things twice, then I was excited that perhaps this was a plot device that would allow me to take things out of my reach, and carry things way past my physical limit. That hope was dashed when my character reached his inventory limit. I thought perhaps HiRBy would redeem himself by being endearing. Then I ran into a situation where HiRBy wouldn't give me a sheet, and it wouldn't say why. The game seemed to imply that HiRBy was playing coy with me, or perhaps I had run into an inventory full issue, but at any rate, I felt like I was struggling against the game mechanics to do what I wanted, instead of feeling like feeling like the game was working with me. Then the captain fainted, and it all felt a little too silly for me to suspend disbelief or get into, and I decided to move on. First unfinished (on purpose) game of the season. Sorry! :(
5/10
I know wacky adventures are a staple of IF Games, but I'm not a terribly big fan. Or at least, I have more precise standards for something to impress me and not just feel overly cheesey. Also I feel that wacky adventures tend to lack consistency or rules, where anything goes and the solutions don't make much sense. I feel that perhaps Quik maintains that necessary consistency (it went through the trouble of introducing me to game mechanics) I wasn't really taken in by the writing or the mechanics. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions when it came to HiRBy. First I was kind of annoyed by having to "take" things twice, then I was excited that perhaps this was a plot device that would allow me to take things out of my reach, and carry things way past my physical limit. That hope was dashed when my character reached his inventory limit. I thought perhaps HiRBy would redeem himself by being endearing. Then I ran into a situation where HiRBy wouldn't give me a sheet, and it wouldn't say why. The game seemed to imply that HiRBy was playing coy with me, or perhaps I had run into an inventory full issue, but at any rate, I felt like I was struggling against the game mechanics to do what I wanted, instead of feeling like feeling like the game was working with me. Then the captain fainted, and it all felt a little too silly for me to suspend disbelief or get into, and I decided to move on. First unfinished (on purpose) game of the season. Sorry! :(
5/10
The Test is Now READY
Random Thought: "Looks like it's just you and me. You.... and me."
I really, really enjoyed this game. I tend to just go for total immersion whenever I play a game, so with each moral decision I was wringing my hands trying to decide how I would decide what I was going to do. Well, except for the fact that I am such a goodie two-shoes about my gaming characters that self-sacrifice seemed pretty basic and obvious to me, but that's just my gaming nature. I did have a lot of trouble with the train decision, however. I even woke up my husband to ask him what he'd do in that situation, because the decision for me alone was too stressful. And that's the kind of emotion that this game wants to evoke.
The game was short and had little backstory, but I think it's evidence that you don't need to put months and months into a game if you have polish and direction. I also enjoyed the evaluation conclusion at the end, it was nice to get a wrapup.
8/10
I really, really enjoyed this game. I tend to just go for total immersion whenever I play a game, so with each moral decision I was wringing my hands trying to decide how I would decide what I was going to do. Well, except for the fact that I am such a goodie two-shoes about my gaming characters that self-sacrifice seemed pretty basic and obvious to me, but that's just my gaming nature. I did have a lot of trouble with the train decision, however. I even woke up my husband to ask him what he'd do in that situation, because the decision for me alone was too stressful. And that's the kind of emotion that this game wants to evoke.
The game was short and had little backstory, but I think it's evidence that you don't need to put months and months into a game if you have polish and direction. I also enjoyed the evaluation conclusion at the end, it was nice to get a wrapup.
8/10
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