Fifteen Minutes is a parser-based puzzle game with light narrative elements; while I wouldn’t say it’s super hard, it takes some focus and is not for the puzzlephobic. You’re likely not to win on the first try, though I also wouldn’t quite put it in the replay-to-win category, because once you’ve started making real progress, you probably won’t need to restart again.
I played it all the way through.
I know, I know, it’s IF Comp season and this is not an IF Comp game. But as I enjoyed it, I thought you might too.
Star Court is a silly game about being on trial for a crime you probably didn’t commit, and needing to try to defend yourself. There are a lot of randomized elements, so that replaying is likely to go quite differently: in one trial, for instance, I called on a witness who turned out to be away from their phone, whereas the next time I was able to reach them. You also have a resource, “favors”, that you can use to select advantageous options that would otherwise be off limits.
Even when the story goes badly for the protagonist, it’s generally amusing.
Maybe more story-toy than story-game.
Transparent is a parser-based haunted house game with a mix of puzzles and exploration. I played it to an end, though I think there was a lot more to see; however, I’d run out of time at that point.
Continue reading “IF Comp 2014: Transparent (Hanon Ondricek)”
Creatures Such as We is a choice-based romance story. I played it all the way through.
Continue reading “IF Comp 2014: Creatures Such as We (Lynnea Glasser)”
Origins is a short two-protagonist story, in which the outcome depends on what both characters decide to do. The player can control one protagonist at a time (while still seeing what the other character does), or can instead leave both option sets visible and swap control.
Continue reading “IF Comp 2014: Origins (Vincent Zeng and Chris Martens)”
Unform is a choice-based story concerning an amnesiac prisoner being “rehabilitated” and facing a series of surreal puzzles. I played it to completion.
Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling 