Reviews by MathBrush
Spring Thing 2016
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A short, well-styled tale of a woman's love for Eva Peron, April 7, 2016This game has a nice choice of background and font. It is a mostly linear Twine game with a slow, deliberate pace. The text often appears on a slow timer, and the links that don't progress the story are generally reflective cycles. Both of these design choices force the reader to contemplate the game at a relaxed pace.
The story offered several surprises to me. I found it to be well-developed, a description of one woman's lifetime. Everything was understated and hinted at rather than pushed through.
My only issues with the game were that I felt that the placement of links and the available choices didn't make me feel involved in the story, and that the story could have been more descriptive. I only feel comfortable mentioning these flaws, though, because the rest of the game did such a good job.
A short, superhero twine game with 3 or 4 branches and some moral choices, April 7, 2016This is a short superhero game written in Twine. Each screen has one to two choices about your actions as a superhero. Save many, or save one? Conserve strength or use your energy?
The game lasts about a dozen or twenty moves. The presentation is minimalist blue on black. The names of the villains made me laugh, but overall I feel the game could be fleshed out more.
A truly dynamic text written in twine about two sisters in a new civilization, April 7, 2016This game has several interesting features. First, it is available in English or Spanish, which I found delightful. This was my first real experience in Spanish, although I only did 1 out of 5 'chapters' in Spanish.
The other most interesting feature is its dynamic text. The only thing I've seen like it is Plotkin's Matter of the Monster, but this game has more depth. You click on links to expand the text, but the expansion can occur at different locations from where you click, opening the beginning of the story, the middle, or the end. In later chalters, the mechanic opens up in unexpected and delightful ways.
Visually, I found the text color and background to be somewhat unaplealing, but it adds to the games character somewhat.
The story is about a couple that leaves a city in an unspecified setting (could be prehistoric, futuristic, magical, etc.). Together they must deal with their children and the new society they take part in.
A game worth sticking with. Adventures in the sand., April 7, 2016This is a game that I was not impressed with at first. I found the writing to be a bit over the top and disjointed. My initial impression was not completely unfavorable, because the story was interesting and the game worked very well on mobile.
But as I pushed on to the end, the game took an unexpected turn which made me reevaluate my initial feelings. It made me chuckle. I played again for fun, trying to see how much branching there is (a medium amount, it turned out), and I thought I didnt like it as much the second time, but again, the ending made me chuckle.
If you try this one, make sure to finish it. Especially if you find it frustrating at first.
An immersive submarine experience. Twine game with 3d world model., April 6, 2016This game is generally about exploring in a submarine. You catalog new species you find, you can descend, ascend, or go left or right.
Perhaps the best thing about this game to me is the ability to make and execute plans. I had an idea from the beginning of what I wanted to do, and the game let me do it very well. You are constantly presented with choices to explore, to go deeper, to chase something, to return.
You have an air meter that goes down when you make choices. The beginning is more linear than the midge me and endgame.
I only played once, but it seems to be highly branching.
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