Category: Reviews

IF Comp 2015: Switcheroo (The Marino Family)

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.

mirror_bg532Switcheroo is the third in a series of Undum children’s stories about Mrs. Wobbles, a foster parent who lives in a big mysterious tangerine-colored house with many foster children. (Previously reviewed here: Book 1, Book 2.) It is fairly linear but has an important choice near the end, and allows for some playful interaction in the middle as well, including a couple set-piece elements that play as mini-games. Once again I fail at accurate timing, but it took me less than an hour to read.

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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: Capsule II – The Eleventh Sandman (PaperBlurt)

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.)

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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: Nowhere Near Single (kaleidofish)

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.)

Nowhere Near Single is a Twine piece about a poly relationship between four women, three of whom are living together. You play as the newest member of the quad, and someone in a high-profile job where image matters. The piece is by kaleidofish, author of last year’s Venus Meets Venus.

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