These are not reviews, merely short notes I made while playing the games. The notes are in the order I played the games, but first are very tentative scores and rankings. These should be taken very lightly; I was not judging so I did not try to come up with any sort of coherent scoring system. Basically the numbers represent how much I enjoyed the games, and I tried to spread them out fairly evenly. I probably would have given different scores in a number of cases if I were actually judging.
In general I was impressed with this year's entries. My top five ranked games were all very good and my rankings of them are somewhat arbitrary; I could see any of them having won. My top twenty or so ranked games were all definitely worth playing, and even those I have ranked in the 5-6 range are worth playing (possibly after a bit of reworking in some cases).
I played all of the entries except for the Windows-only ones (Fetter's Grim, Green Falls, The Initial State, Simple Adventure, Visocica, Beam), the two MANALIVE entries (see notes below), and my own entry (well, I played that one *many* times, but I'm not commenting on it here...).
1. Tentellian Island
This didn't do a lot for me, but it was mildly interesting. Not entirely
well motivated puzzles. May look at this again to try to save the fish.
2. Another Goddam Escape the Locked Room Game
Amusing. Most things implemented. Ridiculous puzzles, but that's kind of
the point. A good spoof of the locked room genre. I needed to use the hints
a couple of times.
3. Labyrinth
Unmotivated logic puzzles, unless this is supposed to be what the coma
fantasy of a mathematician is like (and if it is, I really hope I never
find myself comatose). The puzzles worked ok and there were no real
implementation problems, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
4. Enter the Dark
Why am I here? Ok, another amnesia thing. Lots of unexaminable stuff. Maybe
this is a deficiency in my interpreter (Spatterlight), but there doesn't
seem to be any listing of exits. Events hard-coded in room descriptions.
Hit a bug with killing the crow and couldn't get past (following
walkthrough); eventually found the right syntax and followed walkthrough
till I hit another apparent bug and quit, since this wasn't doing much for
me.
5. Sisyphus
I'm pretty sure this is a joke entry, especially since it's a 132K I7 .z8,
but I'll at least try all the verbs I can think of. No joy, but mildly
amusing responses. I'll wait for the reviews to see if I missed something
(if so, it definitely needed better hinting). This could have been a good
premise for an actual game (assuming it isn't).
6. The Apocalypse Clock
A bit lightweight. Not the best implementation. Didn't do a lot for me.
7. PTGOOD 8*10^23
I couldn't find a lab se from the stairs (presumably a bug). The cytometer
exploded me. It didn't seem worth the effort to search more.
8. The Primrose Path
I really enjoyed this. It took me a bit over two hours to finish it (but
I'm a slow player). Of course, I'm partial to time paradoxes... The
painting system was quite well done, and the puzzles were very satisfying.
I'm not quite sure who "I" am supposed to be, commanding Mathilda, i.e. I
was a bit confused by the exact nature of the player/PC distinction here. I
didn't really think about the purpose of the first person narration until
the end, so I should replay this and watch more closely. I found the PC
particularly well characterized.
9. Strange Geometries
Several typos. The beginning seemed a bit empty, with a lot of wandering
around, but I enjoyed the atmosphere of the town. I was amused when I found
the twist (and finally understood why I hadn't been able to look under the
desk...). The game picked up pace around the middle, and the story became
interesting. A few things were very unintuitive with command order.
10. Aunts and Butlers
Definitely oldschool but I found it quite enjoyable. Puzzles not too hard.
Had a bit of a problem with text scrolling down out of the window. A number
of typos involving words running together. Not the most robust parser, but
I didn't encounter any real problems and it didn't detract from the game.
Several parts were quite amusing.
11. Legion
I really liked this one. Trippy, took me a bit to figure out what was going
on at the beginning. No noticeable bugs or typos. I particularly liked
discovering what I was and what everything else was. The progression of
understanding was well done and well-paced, so that everything made sense
by the end. Highly recommended, and definitely not a typical experience. I
ranked this first on my list in part due to its originality.
12. Game Producer!
Nothing I really didn't like, but it didn't leave a strong impression on
me. Puzzles not too hard; but I didn't feel a real sense of urgency. Sort
of interesting slice-of-life sort of thing. A few linebreak problems, but
no noticeable bugs.
13. Requiem
Interesting story. Sort of CYOA-ish. Missed the "good" ending without the
walkthrough. Had a quibble with the multiple endings not seeming mutually
coherent (and not all agreeing with the flashback beginning).
14. Polendina
The author seems very angry. Very short, sort of disturbing. The end
explains why the narrator seems to be mocking me. Definitely worth playing
despite my scoring (which is due mainly to the shortness and the puzzles
having less than intuitive solutions in a couple of cases).
15. Hedge
This was enjoyable, but I never really figured out what was happening. Typo
at beginning ("once chance to make amends"), ending on stage messed up with
introduction of victims. Only got 45 / 100. Couldn't figure out pillars,
except flowers. Backstory never really made sense to me, but interesting.
16. A Broken Man
A lot of inconsistencies, e.g.:
> knock on door
You really shouldn't make any noise.
> shout
You scream as loud as you can.
Short. Not too exciting for me. Maybe it would have helped to have seen the
movie Swordfish, which seems to be referenced heavily.
17. Star City
I was really enjoying this until the flying part at the end, which sort of
interrupted the flow when I had to restore about five times, so that the
ending was a bit anticlimactic. But a nice story, generally well
implemented otherwise.
18. Floatpoint
Rich backstory, everything implemented, interesting story and characters
I don't necessarily always like being able to choose all endings right at
end, without much dependence on the rest of the game. A rich world, with
extensive backstory, fun to explore.
19. Wumpus Run
Not really IF. Not really an exciting game, either. Terse descriptions, and
my first playthrough was unwinnable because the Wumpus was in the same room
as the pit.
20. Madam Spider's Web
Fairly amusing. Another car wreck coma fantasy thing, though. Never quite
figured out the symbolism of the spider, but I am guessing cracks in the
windshield. I think a lot of people will enjoy this; perhaps it just didn't
catch me in the right mood.
21. Fight or Flight
Poor implementation; after going into mess after crash, no mention that
Jason hurt; several dynamic things hard-wired into room descriptions. Not
clear that various people had various skills (i.e. who I should tell to do
what). I liked the idea, though, particularly the perspective switching
B-movie feel. Could be a good game with a bit better implementation.
22. Carmen Devine: Supernatural Troubleshooter
Liked the premise a lot. Story a bit short, but interesting. I would have
liked to have to utilize wolf vs. human abilities more. One confusing point
was that I howled at the cave entrance which summoned the pack, but I
hadn't found the injured wolf yet and didn't understand why the pack didn't
show up (presumably they don't start out with the injured wolf). A good
story, and otherwise well implemented.
23. MANALIVE, A Mystery of Madness - I
I only played a few minutes of this. It seemed to have the problem of most
games based on books, that you pretty much have to follow the book exactly.
You particularly seemed to need to know the story here (which I didn't)
since the PC's motivations are not at all clear. I may come back to this
some day after reading the story (which I would like to do, having enjoyed
other of Chesterton's writing).
24. MANALIVE, A Mystery of Madness - II
(skipped)
25. Pathfinder
Somewhat interesting premise, but a lot of implementation problems. Felt
rather contrived. Default response to "x me"; "driving off into that good
night"? But wait, the car's still here. "Knock on brown door" doesn't work,
but (checking the walkthrough) "knock brown door" does. Device disappeared
from me in one playthrough (bug). Description of safe didn't mention a
keypad.
26. The Traveling Swordsman
Clean, very nice implementation. Puzzles well hinted. Very enjoyable.
Amusing ending; I like this sort of fantasy explanation better than the
coma fantasy type. The three acts go well together, and the puzzles are
pretty natural.
27. Unauthorized Termination
Fairly interesting story and consistent style, but the names and
teleporting became a bit tedious. The ending seemed a bit sudden. A couple
contrived things. The beginning describing a totalitarian society didn't
really seem to come into play, unless the point was that I, as a robot,
happily followed along with it.
28. Moon-Shaped
Nice story and an amusing twist on the classic stories. A few confusing
points (I never found the history of the stick and didn't realize that
waaving it was helpful; it also wasn't clear to me that there was anything
north of the waterfall, so I needed the walkthrough to find the graveyard).
Otherwise the puzzles worked well and everything was well implemented.
29. Ballymun Adventure
Maybe interesting for the students of this school, but probably not for
anyone else. Lots of things described. One thing I found annoying:
> put lead in recorder
You need to be more exact e.g. Put the connector into the tape port.
> put the connector into the tape port
I'ts a perfect fit!
30. The Bible Retold
Pretty funny, actually; I was expecting something either preachy or
saccharine, but it was very light-hearted and amusing. This is by no means
simply a Christian teaching tool, although you need to know a bit about the
Bible (or look stuff up, or use the walkthrough). I had some trouble with
Zoom crashing sporadically (this seemed to happen if I waited too long
before entering a command; I think there's some timed input).
31. The Tower of the Elephant
Fairly short and straightforward. Interesting story (I wasn't familiar with
the original); clean implementation. Quite enjoyable and well-implemented;
I liked the fact that your actions at the beginning affect your later
conversations with the Elephant.
32. Lawn of Love
Poor implementation, very short. The premise might actually have been
interesting if taken seriously.
33. The Sisters
Hmm, lot of car crashes this year. A few minor things: Needed walkthrough
at beginning since "down" didn't work (needed to "follow footprints") and
"put wire in lock" told me the wire was too thick, until after I'd put the
newspaper under the door. A bit cliche at the beginning, but the story got
interesting, and I quite liked it despite a few implementation issues.
Pretty creepy; I pretty much figured it out before the end. Examining
everything got a bit tiresome; some more puzzles might actually have helped
break this up. I encountered one significant bug: I could get into the
cellar before I found the key, which led to a somewhat confusing
(premature) ending. At the end, I wasn't sure if the initial "fix the wound
or die" was out place with the rest of the story, but it did help to set up
the player.
34. The Elysium Enigma Cool story. Liked the misdirection. Nothing to complain about; a few places where I wouldn't have figured things out without walkthrough (moving cabinet, etc.). Very enjoyable.
35. Delightful Wallpaper
If you haven't guessed, the author's name is an anagram for Ogdred Weary (I
really kicked myself for missing this until after I finished). So, uh.... I
basically could manipulate the doors in the first part, but the second part
confused me a bit as I was playing. Well, I could sort of figure out what
to put where, but the underlying motivation eluded me sometimes. The first
part was a bit long ("Why is the house doing this to me?", I kept thinking,
although it did make sense in the end). The second part was amusing,
definitely in the E.G. fashion (Is this one of his poems? I don't recognize
it offhand, and definitely more credit to this author if it is original).
After I finished and realized what had been going on I was much more
impressed; perhaps a bit more hinting of this during the game would have
helped. In retrospect I would like to have enjoyed this a bit more than I
did, but I'm not entirely sure the gameplay was enjoyable; part of my high
ranking is for the overall scheme. I want to replay this with more
awareness to see if I enjoy it more. I bet the standard deviation is quite
high on this one, and I'm also curious to learn the identity of the author.
36. Xen: The Hunt
Somewhat interesting story (I haven't played the first part), very much on
rails though. Lot of reading the author's mind to avoid insta-death, but
enjoyable nonetheless.