Tag Archives: Charm Cochran

Horror Game Review: Kiss of Beth (2021, Charm Cochran)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Cordero has just knocked on the door of your home.  He’s here to take your roommate Beth on a date.  While Beth gets ready, your job is to check Cordero out.  Have a conversation with him.  Find out what he’s planning to do on the date.  Maybe ask him about his family or his plans for school.  You could even ask to see pictures of his dog if you want.  Find out all that you feel you need to know about Cordero because, towards the end of the game, you’re going to have to make a big decision.  And that decision will effect not only how Cordero views you but also your relationship with Beth.

With the exception of the final few moments of the game, Kiss of Beth is a conversation simulator.  At the start of the game, it seems like you are just being an overprotective friend but, as things progress, it becomes obvious that there is more to your relationship with Beth than just friendship.  There are two potential endings, a good one and a bad one.  I’ve discovered that it’s a lot easier to get the bad one than the good one.

Kiss of Beth can be played in less than 15 minutes and, because of the number of choices and the multiple endings, it’s a game that can be replayed several times.  After you finish the game the first time and learn the true nature of your relationship with Beth, you’ll be surprised when you play the game a second time and see that all the clues were right there for you to see.

Play Kiss of Beth.

Game Review: You May Not Escape! (2022, Charm Cochran)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

You are trapped in a maze.  You’re not sure why you are walking through this maze or why it is so difficult to find a way out.  At the start of the maze, a man named John Everyman offers to help you out but if he doesn’t think you’re being properly appreciative, he’ll leave you to figure it out on your own.

Try to make your way through the maze without getting lost.  I’ve played this game a few times.  It’s not easy.  It’s even a little creepy.  Stop and relax on a park bench but don’t fall asleep.  Climb a tree and discover a homey place to rest but watch out for the rain and the lightning.  Then there’s the graveyard.  Three of the graves are filled.  The fourth is waiting for you.  Find some rocks.  Break the security cameras and the LED signs that flash messages at you.  It’ll make you feel better but it won’t get you out of the maze.  At one point, you’re even given the chance to accept that the game is over.  Will you accept or will you keep searching?

You May Not Escape! was designed using Inform and it’s a throwback to the classic text adventures that I used to play when I was a kid.  Even the puzzle feels like a throwback.  Can you navigate a maze?  How many times to Scott Adams go back to that well?  But You May Not Escape! is much more difficult and rewarding than the old games that it resmebles.  This game requires some thinking.  It requires some imagination.  It requires that the player pay attention to what they’re reading.  The game is well-written and I appreciated all the little details that made the maze so memorable.  I especially liked the LED tickers the spelled out messages that were either menacing or encouraging, depending on how you read them.  You May Not Escape! is challenging but rewarding.

Play You May Not Escape!

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.