IF Comp Review #5: Lake Starlight
by SummersViaEarth
I sorted the remaining entries into choice-based, 1.5 hours long, and this one sounds perfect. Young Adult coming of age is a genre I like. I’m 41 and still working out who I am, so the themes work for me (and tend to be fairly gentle, even if the world might be ending).
Lake Starlight says almost nothing, but evokes a mystical, natural feel. So does the cover, which is simple and effective. The description sounds pretty gentle too, and the writing style is pleasant without making demands on me. Perfect.
There are some minor grammar and spelling errors, that would not be picked up with a thorough spell check (which I’m confident this writer has done). They’re not egregious enough to truly annoy me.
Ooh, use of a language other than English. Love it.
And a choice of weakness, which I also love.
Neat stat and notification system. Very similar to ChoiceScript, which of course I like. Some neat visual tricks too.
The magical teachings are all, I think, therapy tools. And it is really working in the story. It feels like a story my daughter could easily enjoy—and, thanks to the forms of magic, it could be really beneficial too.
I… think I’m in love.
And a choice of weakness, which I also love.
Neat stat and notification system. Very similar to ChoiceScript, which of course I like. Some neat visual tricks too, used appropriately and effectively.
Many of the magical teachings are real-world therapy tools. And it really fits in the story. It feels like a story my daughter could easily enjoy—and, thanks to the therapeutic magic, it could be really beneficial too.
Hmm. I got a little bored due to the simplistic story and writing. Appropriate for a tween I think. The “evil corporation is coming” plot was told in a very expository and cliched way.
I was surprised to get to the end and find out I’d only read Part 1 of a much longer story. It’s sort of good because I can compare it to the two other ‘beginning of a much longer tale’ games I’m judging this year, but it also means I didn’t get to see where my strengths were useful. Or an ending, of course—although doing one successful bit of magic was satisfying.
IF Comp Review #4: One Knight Stand
By A. Hazard (SURELY a made-up name?)
This game has plenty of violence, despair, etc… so I’m upping my emotional defenses. But they also have the option to read a detailed list of possible triggers, which is great! So I read through them and I think I’ll be okay. There is violence and mature themes… which I’m hoping means sex and violence, not rape. If there’s rape, this warning isn’t quite cutting it for those with that specific trigger (which is a lot of people).
As usual, I’m more ‘live blogging’ than reviewing.
I’m a fast reader and decisive, so let’s see if it’s possible to actually get through the game under 2 hours despite it saying “Over two hours” in the description. [Edit: not a chance. It’s another monster-sized game.]
Title has a pun but also suggests a desperate last stand. I like desperate last stands and hate puns (but forgive them in titles).
Uh oh. There’s a typo in the first sentence. That is more ominous than any foul prophesied horserider.
The rest seems deliberately verbose, but probably just for a prologue-y quote-y bit (otherwise it’ll be a real slog). Writing seems solid, though, I think.
The first choice happens nice and quick, and it’s instantly intriguing.
Hmm. The following text makes me think it was a fake choice.
Onto Chapter One!
Up to the first choice and yep, I’m sold on both the game and the writing. There is enough clearly going on to intrigue me, the writing is indeed solid and not the overwrought stuff of the opening, and I’m pleased to see King Arthur is apparently involved (you may want more originality in your tales, but he and his knights are old friends and I like familiarity).
I LOVE a choice of weakness! And there are several here.
There is a LOT of customisation here, which is great. Except the writer made an error. When they described the hand-shaped bruise on my arm it is said to be a sharp contrast to my light skin. Which means the player character must be white.
Okay! My two hours is up and I feel like I’ve barely started this game. I’d guess the full game takes at least six hours to play. There is enough to keep me interested, but the pacing is fairly relaxed at first (giving plenty of space to ramp it up later), with some action scenes. The horror elements are certainly horror, but they’re more disturbing to the characters than to me, so I’m fine reading along.
My feeling is that there’s a little too much customisation, but I’m sure some readers will love it. It was only in the last half hour that I actually had much idea of what was going on, so a lot of my choices felt largely meaningless (although I don’t think they were actually as meaningless as they felt like they were, eg they were measuring my investigation skills) and a little repetitive.
There are a few very minor errors of spelling or grammar.
It’s extremely hard to judge a game without an ending, but I’ll do my best. There are some really cool plot beats, and a nice sense of ominous things coming closer.
The action ramps up considerably at a certain point, but I can certainly tell this game is just getting started.
IF Comp Review #3: One Does Not Simply Fry
by Stewart C Baker and James Beamon
ChoiceScript comedy. I’m in.
I am suspicious of comedy as a genre, as taste varies so very much. I personally love the “Lord of the Rings” movies with a fiery passion… but I hate puns. So this will be quite a journey!
Now that we’ve established I have massive biases in both directions, let’s jump in!
Also, there will be massive spoilers because this is more of a live blog thingy than a typical review.
The writers have already done something rather clever. ChoiceScript has a specific visual style, designed to be non-distracting. It’s very basic. The games also automatically open directly into the first bit of text when you click ‘Play Online’. Entrants in the IF Comp typically upload an html file with the link to the game (mine is literally just one hyperlink and nothing else). These guys had a nice-looking page of instructions and other details which is not done in ChoiceScript at all (or if it is, they would have had to sort through a bunch of code to shift colours etc)… but then links to the ChoiceScript file.
I shall definitely do that next time I enter. It is much classier, and feels better to the player.
I do love the name “Mount Boom”.
Props for giving vegan and vegetarian options! I am not at all a vegetarian, but when someone actually thinks about minority groups and chooses to bother doing extra bits of code for them, I am impressed. It also makes me instantly feel safe, because a thoughtful game tends to be a kind game (kind to easily-traumatised readers like me, I mean).
I was scared this game would be entirely built on puns, but they seem to be mostly just for names. The style is fun and amusing. I’m on Paragraph 3 of Chapter 1 and I can now fully relax, because it’s clear I’m in good hands. As I’ve said before, if it’s got good writing I will like it. If not, I’ll hate it.
This is good so far.
At the choice of character, having one who can only be accessed on replay is brilliant, especially as it’s clear the writers really want players to go through the game at least twice. Ooh, and only if you WIN the fry-off. These writers are playing hardball!
There are quite long blocks of text between choices. I wonder if that changes when everything’s set up and properly getting started. We’ll see.
What’s with the dice roll? The story basically told me this was my first test, then it appeared to be randomised and not based on anything I’d done. I’m past the first chapter and I’ve made hardly any meaningful choices at all (although to be fair, the two choices I made were significant: character and goal).
It feels weird to play a ChoiceScript game and not choose my gender. I think the writers felt everyone was sick of choosing gender, sexuality, name, etc every time they play a ChoiceScript game. But I like that stuff.
Uh-oh, things are ending badly (which is good for a game very focused on being replayable—it shouldn’t be too easy). It’s a well-written bad ending.
It’s not my favourite game ever, but it’s pretty darn good, and well executed.
Playthrough #2!
Hmm. I bet the Which King? can influence the dice roll and get the super cool kitchen. [Edit: He can’t. Seriously, what is even the point of the dice roll?? Is it merely to make poor innocent completionist players take a fourth play-through in case the one character they didn’t try gets the good kitchen? Well, probably.]
On two different tests I had two viable choices and one obviously poor choice. But my relevant stats were exactly equal for the two choices, so that was unhelpful. The stats are completely static, too—nothing I do makes any difference to my skills. Which is fine, just unusual in ChoiceScript which is specifically designed for delayed branching.
At a couple of stages, a particular choice is correct regardless of what other choices I’ve made along the way. Good for rewarding replayability (and the player’s short term memory), bad for distinguishing one character from another.
I won this time! I was very anxious because I wanted to win this time around, but I knew my onions weren’t perfect. So I feel good about that.
LOL. I’m literally allergic to onions (yet craving them due to this game) so of course I enjoyed having that option (and the torment of wanting to eat onion rings anyway, which is extremely true right now).
Third Playthrough.
I was planning to play the game twice, but they have lured me in. I’m playing as the Which King? next, even though it didn’t entice me at all the first time around.
On this third play-through I saw some things I hadn’t seen before, but it was also very clear that much of the game remains the same. For example, EVERYONE apparently finds Smeagol (you know who I mean right?) slightly attractive, which is statistically very unlikely. There are so many bits of flavour text that could have been different for each character. It’s a shame they didn’t get developed.
I feel like replaying this game was moderately rewarding but not as rewarding as it should have been for a game that is so determined to have players returning for a second (or third or fourth) go.
Still a good game though.
IF Comp Review #2: How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title
The author saw my last post and suggested I try his game, since it’s specifically designed to be moron-friendly (that is not actually how he described it).
After installing a TADS er… thingy and downloading it, including going into my security system, I was tired out from problem solving and took a break. I’d been using my brain for almost three minutes!
But I was greeted with a pretty screen and music, which was a nice reward.
The full instructions took about ten minutes to read, and serve as a good intro to parser in general I think. I remembered how much I hate re-reading the same description over and over (a rather essential part of parser games) and opted for the read-through.
Ah! I love the opening paragraph! The exact same humour as was clearly indicated by the title.
Love the whole first page, which starts strong and gets better (and more original) from there.
(In case it wasn’t clear, my main bias is in a highly writer-centric direction. If there ain’t good writing, I will hate it. So far, I love this.)
The author pauses a couple of times to give hints about formatting stuff, which sort of interrupts the story but as a raw beginner I love getting little bits of info juuust when I need them, and in easily-digestible fragments. Ooh, and they develop into gaming hints as well. I’m still allergic to parser (to the extent that I tense up when someone mentions a compass direction) but any moderately sane and intelligent person could easily fall in love with parser because of this game helping them along the way and giving them the option to continue the read-through or put in their own commands.
It does seem to me like a lot of text. I’m not complaining personally, it’s just that my usual experience of IF has the shortest possible bits of text followed by a decision (choice-based IF, of course). Fortunately, fun writing is the author’s strength so why not use it?
There’s some seriously excellent world-building, such as the roads being designed with living creepers to keep them harmonious to the landscape.
Still regularly making me laugh out loud.
I reached an ending (in the sense that the read-through gave it to me), which was delightfully macabre and easily undone. The “undo” button is a wonderful thing.
There’s evidence of thorough programming here, where the scene ‘remembers’ where you dropped things previously.
I just reached the end of the prologue, still enjoying the story (although I thought the paranoid king would believe his rutabagas were somehow sabotaged out of winning first place). It took me less than an hour and a half to get here (it really helps to do the read-through, of course!) so I’ll keep going. I’ve deliberately kept a timer on so I give this game two hours—no more, no less—as per contest rules (we’re meant to judge a game based on the first two hours of play if it’s a monster of a game like this one).
I’m quite delighted that the main focus of the last hour and a half has been some vegetables. I adore low stakes. I also love the prince. And the odder commands in the read-through (eg “Drown Prince”) are delightful. I sometimes find phrases a little clunky, but I think that’s part of the deliberately verbose style rather than actual grammatical clunkiness.
Every so often I know just enough to see the elegance and hard work happening behind the scenes to make the story flow nicely. There are dozens of snippets about what Prince Quisborne is doing as you poke around, and when you leave an area the game very kindly tells you that you leave certain items behind (keeping the inventory to useful items).
I can’t truly comment on the ending, of course, but this seems like a really excellent game that is also very polished and charmingly written.
IF Comp Review #1: Help! I Can’t Find My Glasses!
The Interactive Fiction Comp runs every year, and it is a huge deal among interactive fiction writers and fans. I first entered it in 2015, when I was very new to the whole field of IF, and the entire experience was intense and amazing and lovely. Apart from anything else, part of the forum is a secret Author’s Section where only those who’ve entered the contest that year can talk to each other.
The judging lasts six weeks, and during that time there are HUNDREDS of public reviews.
It is NOT a popularity contest. The community is expected to judge as fairly as they can, and the judges keep an eye out for suspicious trends. But the basis of the contest is community and trust, and I LOVE it.
I am a terrible judge. About half the games each year are parser-based, ie they have puzzles to figure out. Given that I barely know what day it is and live in a permanent state of near-panic, those games are no good for me. I’m also amazingly bad at figuring out even the simplest of computer-y instructions, so a lot of the games are cut off from me for that reason.
So, in sum, I’ll start with games written in the same engine as my own—ChoiceScript. There are three other than my own, so at some point I’ll gird my loins and see what other games are suuuper accessible for my particular neuroses. Because I aim to judge at least 5 games (which is the minimum to take part).
Oh yeah, and I don’t want to give my brain anything too dark, because my depression feeds on that quite badly. That includes any mental illness stuff, so I’ll be avoiding any “this is what it’s like to be mentally ill” games.
Enough rambling! Let us begin!
Help! I Can’t Find My Glasses!
ChoiceScript? Check. Non-Traumatising? Almost certainly. Short? Very.
This game sounds SO easy to play and judge. I’m in.
As a writer, this title is brilliant. It sets tone (tiny, real-world, highly relatable, small-stakes drama), it tells the reader exactly what the driving force of the narrative will be (need glasses), and it immediately makes me sympathetic towards the main character (it gives us a serious problem, as anyone with glasses can tell you, and also gives us a key vulnerability).
The first few choices immediately set name, gender, and sexual orientation, with non-binary options (although no asexual options for those who don’t feel like a fictional romance). This gets some mechanics out of the way very neatly (important in a short game) and allows gender and sexual diversity which immediately makes me feel safe. (Not that I’m in danger from a game, but it means the writer is kind and therefore much less likely to accidentally have casual racism or something else hurtful. The names also had some cultural variety.)
I was immediately let down by the grammar, which is clunky eg “Your hand swipes through…” is saying that your hand passes through solid wood, which would be magical… which is not what the writer intends. Referring to glasses as “it” rather than “them” makes me think English is the writer’s second language. Which makes this an even more impressive achievement. But if this was a longer game, I would quit within three choices. This is what beta testers and editors are for.
The author captures the helplessness of a person without their glasses very well, but the choice to either “beat”, “gut” or “forgive” the person who took them doesn’t allow for any middle ground between violence and forgiveness. Why can’t I report them to a teacher, for example? Or steal something belonging to them?
It’s also odd that someone would fall asleep in a club room. Yes, students will fall asleep anywhere, but it still needs a line of explanation.
My first ending I chose to go and take another nap, and my glasses just appeared back on the table as if nothing happened. It was a little abrupt, but okay (and, no romance happened). My actual theory is that Minh or Jaime knocked the table while being silly and the glasses fell on the floor. Let’s play again and see…
Second ending I discovered Jaime’s dark past (or at least some of it) and asked them on a date, which they agreed to. But I don’t think I found my glasses, so that was a weird ending.
Third ending I wandered around the school a bit, which was quite pleasant, and then I thought I was clicking through familiar endings when I was suddenly at the end. Oops? Or an error?
Fourth ending, I simply ran out of time and the game ended. That’d be the bad ending.
I won’t rate this game very highly, but the writer certainly shows promise. It was smart of them to enter a short game in the IF Comp—a (relatively) small amount of effort for a lot of feedback and community involvement.
Felicity Banks 