itch.io

I really enjoyed this! Still trying to beat it. I'll get there, don't you worry.

There's a wealth of content here, four complete stories in Inform cleverly linked by a framing story created in Twine. One of the best of the Balderstone series.

A very evocative and thoughtful piece. Well done!

An interesting and vivid short story about self-image, with clever use of a supernatural element.  Not in any way interactive, but well written.

Short, sweet and silly. Not bad for an hour's work!

Well! I admit to being thoroughly baffled by this one, until I glanced at the walkthrough. Unusual and well-made.

This is a superbly silly game. I want to play it over and over to get all the different endings, but I must stop and play some of the other games. I'll come back to it later.

A wonderfully creepy and ambiguous short game with a clever and unusual setting. It took me a little while to find all the endings.

This was interesting. I wasn't sure whether a Kabu was a real thing or something the author had invented. Either way, I enjoyed the few minutes it took to play this.

An enjoyable game of ghostly revenge, with a few minor bugs and implementation problems. It's definitely worth making a map, especially in the second scene.

A very touching story about real life horrors, told with minimal interactivity. I played through twice to see the different choices. 

A horridly grisly space misadventure. Based on this evidence, I wouldn't want me as a spaceship captain. I found most of the endings...

This is an excellent game. Tightly and solidly implemented, with an engaging story and some very original puzzles, it's one of Brian Rushton's best. While the game is a homage to the works of Chandler Groover, you don't need to have played all of Groover's games to enjoy it, and in spite of the setting it remains quintessentially Rushton, with themes and elements that recall the author's previous games such as Absence of Law and The Origin of Madame Time. Originally intended for IFComp, Grooverland is one of the largest games in the competition, and I found it so absorbing that it's been hard to tear myself away to try the other entries. Recommended.

The minimal style works too, but you can certainly write, so I'd love to see a version with more detailed descriptions!

This is a game of contrasts. The introduction is beautifully written and illustrated with pixel art, while the main game is sparsely written and illustrated with photographs.  Two very different fonts are used for the intro and the main game.

I preferred the more lavish writing, the more legible font and the photographs. It's clear that the author was inspired by the landscape in the photos and it was interesting to play a game based around a real place. I'd like to visit it myself!

The game is short and the puzzles fairly easy, with the exception of one where I had the right idea but couldn't guess the right syntax. There were a few things I didn't have time to do in the endgame, so I will be playing it again. Overall it was a very pleasant experience.

This was interesting, it was impossible not to be reminded of the thematically similar M. Night Shyamalan film of the same name. I think I found a winning ending. It was a bit of a struggle to restart the game and do it differently, due to the lack of a start again option.

After playing this and the Pumpkin Pie game I had to double check that this competition didn't have a cookery category! I enjoyed the mechanic of gradually building a page of cookery blog, but there was a bit too much to read before you get to the punchline.

I loved the Japanese setting and premise! Great fun, and I'm pretty pleased with myself for solving the type-in puzzle too. Brilliant.

There's some interesting imagery in this creepy tale, but I would have liked more choices and more endings.  There were one or two typos and grammatical errors, but it was an otherwise solid game. 

An suitably twisty serpentine tale. The low-gravity setting added interest.

A limerick can be quite hard to write,
But here are some that will give you a fright.
(When I review I actually prefer
To write iambs in a pentameter.)

This game is quite linear, and resisted all of my attempts not to be a maniac. It's a game about gun violence, but it doesn't offer much of a commentary on it. Not my cup of tea at all, I'm afraid.

Superb.

This game is beautifully implemented and hilarious. Like dgtziea, I threw everything into the bowl before I found the recipe, but I also couldn't figure out the oven so the pie came out raw even after hours of cooking. I now have no soul, and should probably just give up baking.

Very well written, and very impressive for something written in under four hours. I'd like to read an expanded version of this story with a few extra branches.

I thought this game had a strong central concept, but I found it quite confusing. I concur with Stewart C Baker about the clothes ripping.

I enjoyed playing this one. I went through it twice and found two different endings. It was atmospheric and mysterious and I liked that it leaves you to draw your own conclusions (or did I miss something?) There were a few unimplemented scenery objects, some of which seemed like they might be important, but for a first game, it's great!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to announce that Alias 'The Magpie', a parser-based interactive fiction game, has now been launched on itch.io. Written in Inform 7,  Alias 'The Magpie' is a comedy crime caper inspired by P. G. Wodehouse and the Pink Panther films.

Sir Rodney Playfair, gentleman thief, has a simple plan: impersonate a psychiatrist, infiltrate a country house, steal a priceless Egyptian scarab and make it back to London in time for cocktails. All in a day's work for the illustrious 'Magpie'. 

WINNER of IFComp 2018: 1st Place overall; 1st Place, Miss Congeniality - 24th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2018)

Here's what the critics said:

"It’s all about the text, which absolutely sparkles. Beautifully, professionally done – superbly implemented. Funny, clever and delicious." - McT's Interactive Fiction Reviews

"Alias ‘The Magpie’ plays like one of the best games from the Infocom era, but with a rich setting, motivated puzzles, and memorable characters." - IF Comprehensive

"Alias 'The Magpie' drew me in quickly, with its very English tone and sense of humor. I found it cleverly-written, well-implemented, and a lot of fun to play." - Mike Spivey, IFDB

Play or download it here: https://j-j-guest.itch.io/alias-the-magpie

Well, tinkerty-tonk, old fruit!

- J. J. Guest