Tag Archives: 2021 IF Competition

Game Review: How it was then and how it is now (2021, Pseudavid)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

How it was then and how it is now is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

In this Twine game, you are attempting to navigate a maze with your ex, Clara.  You and Clara still have complicated feelings for each other and as much of the game is spent remembering the past as it is navigating the maze.  The maze is made up of unusual geometric shapes that you have to identify.  You are usually given three options to choose from.  Often the correct answer is deliberately not among the options.  Eventually, you find yourself in situations where you have to pick three numbers but it does not seem to make much difference which numbers your pick.  Is the narrator’s mind deteriorating, is a geometric apocalypse coming, or is it something else?  I played the game and I don’t know.

Twine is a good format for surreal games and they don’t get more surreal than How it was then and how it is now.  In short, it’s not a game for everyone but it is also obviously not meant for everyone.  For the matter, it’s also not really a game as much as its a short story with occasional choices.  (It literally is Interactive Fiction.)  Don’t worry about solving the maze because that will only frustrate you.  Instead, just click on an answer and see where the story is heading.

Play How it was then and how it is now.

Game Review: Brave Bear (2021, John Evans)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Brave Bear is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

In Brave Bear, you are a teddy bear.  In the tradition of Toy Story, you can walk and communicate with all of the other toys and devices in the house.  The game is short and simple.  You are walking around the house.  In each room, there is a dark phantom (each representing things like insecurity and depression) that you must defeat in order to continue on your way.  Some of the phantoms you can defeat on your own because you’re a brave bear.  Others are going to require you to make friends and get help from the other toys in the house.

It’s a cute game, ideal for it you’re looking for something that you can play quickly.  There are puzzles and puzzles are traditionally my downfall but, for once, I was able to solve most of them on my own.  And if you do find yourself stuck, there’s a walk-through.  It’s a simple game but who doesn’t like a brave bear?

Play Brave Bear.

Game Review: The Song Of The Mockingbird (2021, Mike Carletta)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The Song of the Mockingbird is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

You’re not just a cowboy. You’re a singing cowboy! You’re as fast with your guitar as you were with your six shooter. You’re in love with Rosa, a sensuous dancer. Unfortunately, Black Blade’s gang of outlaws have not only abducted Rosa but they also stole your gun! If you’re going to rescue, Rosa you’re going to have to use your wits and your ability to pay attention to all the little details of your surroundings. It won’t be easy. From the minute you start the game, you go from happily singing The Yellow Rose of Texas to being ambushed by Black Blade’s men.

The Song of the Mockingbird is a western. There really haven’t been that many western IF games, which is strange because the western genre seems like it would be a natural fit for the Interactive Fiction format. The Song of the Mockingbird makes a good case that maybe there should be more western games. Well-written and full of memorable details, The Song of the Mockingbird is an entertaining and fun Inform game. It’s a text adventures but the descriptions are so vivid that you don’t really need any fancy graphics to help you visualize the world of the game. The game mixes serious western action with some satirical but affectionate digs at the whole singing cowboy genre.

There are a lot of puzzles in The Song of the Mockingbird. Some of them are simple and some of them are not. Of course, having to solve puzzles have always been my downfall when it comes to IF games. Fortunately, Song of the Mockingbird comes with a walk-through, which you can use as a last resort. I will admit that I referred to it a few times but, when I did, I discovered that Song of the Mockingbird’s puzzles aren’t really difficult. They just require the play to pay attention to every detail of their surroundings. This is a game where it pays to be attentive.

Play The Song of the Mockingbird.

Game Review: The Best Man (2021, Stephen Bond)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The Best Man is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

In The Best Man, you take control of Aiden.  He seems like a classic “nice guy” and that’s the problem.  When his best friend Laura calls him and asks if he would be willing to step in at the least minute and serve as the best man at her wedding to John, Aiden agrees.  Just from the opening conversation between you and Laura, it first seems that The Best Man is going to be one of those romantic comedy games where a nerdy guy goes on an everyday quest (like getting the wedding rings before the ceremony) and eventually “wins the girl.”

Instead, the game reveals that Aiden is not a reliable narrator.  He spends a lot of time in a fantasy world, where he and Laura are together and have a beautiful future but actually, it’s obvious that Laura has never considered him to be anything more than just a friend.  Aiden is so delusional and obsessive that, about halfway through the game, I wasn’t even sure that Laura had actually called him or that Laura even existed to begin with.  The game itself features a lot of minor tasks that need to get done before the wedding but the fact that the whole thing might be in Aiden’s head adds a new wrinkle to the usual romantic comedy.  Aiden may think about Laura abandoning her husband-to-be for him but the player knows that would be the worst thing that could happen.  It takes courage to write a game where you actively root against the person you’re playing and considerable skill to actually make it work.  Fortunately, Stephen Bond has both.

The Best Man is well-written with enough interesting details to make it worth replaying.  The mix of dark comedy and disturbing drama really pays off,

Play The Best Man.

Game Review: we, the remainder (2021, Charm Cochran)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

we, the reminder is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

Something has happened. Everyone that you ever knew, including your mother, vanished nearly a month ago. They went up into the air. You are alone in a dilapidated apartment building, confined to a wheelchair and running out of food. Through the living room window, you can see what appears to be a dead body on the street below. Go out into the hallway and you’ll discover the elevator is broken. The stairs are going to be a struggle to get down on your own. But it’s either that or starve to death. If you make it down the stairs, the world outside is a dangerous place and bad memories of your life in a religious cult are triggered. If you can find food, you’ll then be able to solve the mystery of where everyone has gone.

we, the remainder is a vividly written, horror and religious-themed Twine game, one that features a fair number of puzzles and which can be unforgiving if you don’t quickly figure out how to find food. (As I’ve said, puzzles are always my downfall when it comes to IF so I starved to death a few times.) Once you eat, though, the game is a rewarding exploration of a surreal but intriguing world. Play it, solve the mysteries, and be sure to keep a Bible nearby because having a working knowledge of the Book of Revelations will definitely help you out.

Play we, the remainder.

Game Review: What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (2021, Amanda Walker)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

First, I need to warn you that there’s a SPOILER in this review.  It’s not a huge spoiler but it might effect how you react to certain things that you discover while playing this game.

In What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed, you discover yourself in a large gothic mansion.  You have no memories of how you came to be there.  You also have a very limited set of actions available to you.  This is because, and this is the SPOILER, you’re a ghost and you no longer know how to communicate with the world of the living.  Fortunately, if you were smart enough to accept the game’s opening offer of “helpful information,” you’ll have a list of a few verbs that you can use to escape the room that you’ve found yourself in and explore the house.  As you explore, you learn how to do things in your ghostly form, which in game terms means that you learn new verbs.  You also start to remember the disturbing circumstances of what led to you becoming a ghost in the first place.

This is a long but rewarding game, a throwback to the type of Interactive Fiction that balanced solving puzzles with telling stories instead of favoring one over the other.  The game’s unique command system takes some getting used to but it pays off.  Fortunately, there’s not only a very helpful Hints system but there’s also a walk-through, in case you really get stuck.  I got stuck but I always struggle with IF puzzles.  This is a well-written and thought-provoking game and one of the best of the entrants that I’ve played.  I highly recommend it.

Play What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed.

Game Review: Universal Hologram (2021, Kit Riemer)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Universal Hologram is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

Some games just aren’t going to be for everyone and that’s definitely the case with Universal Hologram, a Twine game where you live in a Martian colony and you learn how to astral project.  Astral projection leads to some wild dreams but it also leads to the discovery that you are living in a simulation.  It’s a long game, one that is more concerned with philosophy than it is with its plot.  Each action and decision is a chance for the game’s characters to discuss man’s place in the universe and the nature of reality.  If that’s your thing, you’re going to enjoy the game’s mix of the profane and the profound.  If you’re not into it and just looking for something more straightforward, you may get frustrated with Universal Hologram‘s deliberately enigmatic narrative.

Myself, though, I enjoyed it.  Twine games, by their nature, are best used for games that are like short stories with occasional choices as opposed o traditional puzzle-solving Interactive Fiction.  Twine games, above all else, reward good writing and Universal Hologram is very well-written.  Mars, the simulation, and the eccentric characters all come to life.  The game also includes computer-generated visuals, the better to put you into a dream state.  That the game is willing to risk alienating its players is one of the things that makes Universal Hologram stand out from so many other recent Interactive Fiction games.  I like games that take risks.

Play Universal Hologram.

Game Review: Hercules! (2021, Leo Weinreb)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Hercules! is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

Usually, I don’t like to start a game review by quoting a huge chunk of text from the game but the opening to Hercules! and the game’s response to the first few commands that I typed in will tell you a lot about whether or not this game is for you.

From Hercules!, by Leo Weinreb:

“Hi! My name’s Hercules, and I want to be a hero!”

That was your opening line to the Gods on the glowing marble steps of Mount Olympus. There was a beat of silence as your words rang through the air – and then a roaring, hysterical fit of laughter that could not be quelled.

You can’t really blame them, you suppose – you don’t exactly fit the heroic mold. You’re near-sighted, scrawny, constantly allergic, and have far more phobias than a demigod should. Your spiteful stepmother Hera discounts you out of hand, and even your father Zeus is skeptical at best. But you know you can be as great as the Gods themselves if only someone would just give you a chance!

As luck would have it, the day after your meeting with the Gods, your cousin Eurystheus offered you a temp job. Finally, you’ve been given a chance to prove yourself, and you’ll be sure not to squander this opportunity! Let’s see, this to-do list he gave you can’t be all that hard…

Main Road
You are on a plain dirt road leading east to the land of Tiryns, where your cousin Eurystheus serves as king.

>verbose
Hercules! is now in its “verbose” mode, which always gives long descriptions of locations (even if you’ve been there before).

>x me
You’ve never been one for vanity, but you give yourself a good once-over. Your limbs are scrawny and weak, almost spaghetti-noodle like, and your acne hasn’t improved since middle school. Your spectacles slide down your nose so much that you’ve gotten into a habit of just pushing them back up again, and your height is considerably below average. Sure you may not be much to look at, but you’d rather be brainy than brawny any day. Give me a good instruction manual and some Albuterol and nothing is impossible!

This game imagines a Hercules who, for lack of a better term, is a nerd.  If you think being a nerd is difficult in the modern world, just try to being one in ancient Greece, at a time when muscles and ludicrous feats of strength are everything!  Determined to prove yourself, you accept the 12 impossible tasks that have been assigned to you by your cousin.

This is a fun game.  Obviously, the main appeal of the game is the way that it pokes fun at Greek mythology but the writing is also consistently funny and the NPCs are all enjoyably quirky and weird.  The puzzles aren’t too difficult and, fortunately, you can download a walkthrough.  I laughed several times while walking through Hercules!  There’s not many IF games that I can say that about.

Play Herclues!

Game Review: The Golden Heist (2021, George Lockett and Rob Thorman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The Golden Heist is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

You are a thief, living in Rome during the time of Nero. You survived the Great Fire, just to see Nero work your architect father to death in his mad pursuit to turn the world’s greatest city into a monument to his own ego. Before your father died, he entrusted you with the plans to the Golden Palace. Now, it is Nero’s birthday and you are planning the heist of the century! You’re going to need to pick an accomplice (you get three choices). You’re going to need to make the right choices. You’re going to have to solve a few puzzles. And you’re going to have to make your father proud.

I really dug The Golden Heist, which rejuvenates its familiar heist plot through the use of the Roman setting. Not only does the game teach a little history (and the authors obviously know their stuff when it comes to the Roman Empire) but it also required a little thought. Which accomplice you pick does matter. How you treat that accomplice and all the other decision that you make matter. This is a game where your choices really do effect how things work out. The Golden Heist is clever, well-written, and, because every choice you make matters, it has a lot of replay value.

Play The Golden Heist.

Game Review: Plane Walker (2021, Jack Comfort)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Plane Walker is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition.  Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

You have just woken up on a plane.  You have no idea how you got on the plane.  You have no idea where the plane is going.  You’re not even sure who you are.  But you know that you need to figure out what’s going on and how to fly a plane!

I enjoyed playing this Inform game.  The premise was interesting.  The descriptions were vivid, well-written, and witty.  The game was puzzle-heavy, as most Inform games are.  As I’ve said before, the puzzles are usually my downfall when it comes to Interactive Fiction and some of the puzzles in Plane Walker are difficult to solve on your own.  Fortunately, the game comes with a walk-through.  Most importantly, the game pays off in the end.  The mystery is worth solving.

Play Plane Walker.