Category: parser

IF Comp 2015: Ether (Mathbrush)

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

If you are looking for other reviews, this ifwiki page contains a list of places currently carrying them.

CoverEther is a short piece of surreal, lightly puzzly IF about being a magic-wielding nautilus creature. I played it to completion, which took me just a little over half an hour; I did not require any notes to play.

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IF Comp 2015: The Sueno (Marshal Tenner Winter)

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

If you are looking for other reviews, this ifwiki page contains a list of places currently carrying them.

CoverThe Sueno is a parser puzzle adventure set mostly within a dreamscape. I played to a winning ending within the two hour period, though I made some use of the walkthrough in order to accomplish that. I don’t think there are other winning endings available. I should add the caveat that the backstory involves a misleading/inaccurate portrayal of a misunderstood mental illness. This is not the main point of the game (and indeed I didn’t run into it until quite late), but it is there.

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IF Comp 2015: Final Exam (Jack Whitham)

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

final_examIf you are looking for other reviews, this ifwiki page contains a list of places currently carrying them.

Final Exam is a parser puzzle game with a science fiction premise, concerning a future dystopia. I played through to one ending within the two hour period, then spent some time looking for others, but did not find them in the time available to play. If you’ve played and finished this game to multiple endings, I’d be very interested to hear about what you found.

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IF Comp 2015: Life on Mars? (Hugo Labrande)

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

If you are looking for other reviews, this ifwiki page contains a list of places currently carrying them.

cover-finalLife on Mars? is a parser-based, puzzleless game by Hugo Labrande. It was originally in French, and won the French IF competition in 2014. It took me less than an hour to play, and I reached what I believe is the only available ending. (Until last year, translations of existing IF were forbidden in IF Comp because of the “no previous releases” rule; that rule has now been loosened in the case that the translated version has not been seen before. I’m really excited that this rule change bore fruit in the 2015 competition and that it is bringing some of these pieces to a new audience.)

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IF Comp 2015: Map (Ade McT)

map cover

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

Map is a puzzleless parser game by Ade McT. I played it to three different endings, using a midgame save. Though I wasn’t timing myself, I would estimate that this took a bit over an hour over multiple play sessions.

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IF Comp 2015: Two Short Parser Puzzle Games

The 21st annual Interactive Fiction Competition is currently on, through mid-November. Voting is open to the general public; the only prerequisite is that you not be an author, not vote on games that you tested, and submit votes on at least five games. (You emphatically do not have to have played them all! In a year with 55 entrants, it is very unlikely that most judges will get through anywhere near all of them.)

So this year I’m only reviewing comp games that I can basically recommend. If this makes you sad because you enjoy reading reviews where I did not like something, you might instead enjoy my reviews of Tender Loving Care or Lifeline 2, which have the benefit of being commercial games that can fend for themselves.

Hereafter, thoughts on Untold Riches and Grandma Bethlinda’s Variety Box.

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