itch.io

(I don't know if this will post to the game's main page, but spoilers ahead if so.)

This was a really fun game with some interesting puzzles and a solid tutorial! I actually hadn't known about Nurikabe puzzles beforehand, so that was a fun introduction, and I liked the solution of going back to the inn for a bottle of sake. Overall, an awesome experience!

I do think the way that the puzzles are ordered can somewhat mislead the player, though . In particular, when I solved the shrine puzzle and the priest told me that one of the kappa's weaknesses was that it likes cucumbers, I thought that meant I needed to find a cucumber before luring the kappa out of the river, so I wasted some time trying to find a way around the river before luring the kappa out of it, because I needed to get across the river to find a cucumber! It also didn't help that one of the earlier puzzles you can solve essentially tells you where to get a cucumber, which implies that you'll need it soon. TL;DR is that you just find a lot of information way before you actually need to use it, which can lead to players following the wrong threads. I would have avoided telling players about the logic puzzle or anything related to cucumbers until after they deal with the kappa; that way, it's clear when you're ready to lure out the kappa and you have a solid idea of what to do afterward.

That's a lot of writing for what was overall a really minor hiccup, though, so I want to reiterate that I had a lovely time and I hope more people play this!

This is probably going to be a very incomplete review since I can't figure out how to progress in the game. I like the environments! They're very detailed. I also think the characters are interesting. However, it's definitely a bit confusing as to how you're supposed to progress in the game, and I don't feel like we get any direction on how to proceed. This might have been your intent with this game--maybe we're not even supposed to proceed from there? Maybe this game is playing on the same level as Undertale in terms of critiquing the Gamer's Desire To See Content? But if that's the case, I don't think it's very clear and I personally am not seeing it. Or maybe I'm just having a game journalist moment and the solution is staring me right in the face. Who knows?

I really like this! It's a lot like the flower-growing game we played in class. Like other people have said, the use of repetition to emphasize the differences between iterations is a really strong narrative device. I also love the effect you've done with the end card. Great work!

I thought this was a really interesting game! It got me to the point of mapping out the connections between rooms in Excel, and eventually just trying random combinations to see if I got anywhere. I think that can definitely represent the main character's fruitless search for whatever they came here to find. I also enjoyed how the connections between rooms get a little bit strange. I'd be very interested to see what the map Inform gives you in the Index looks like, because there's definitely something interesting going on here.

I do also want to mention, though, that I think there is a bit of a disconnect between the way that the player expects to play the game and what the game parses. For the big example, I tried a command that I think should have gotten me the ending immediately after I talked to the old man, but it turns out the parser expects you to phrase it in a very exact way. I don't want to go more into detail in the comments because there's no spoiler function on itch, but feel free to DM me if you want to know more! Also, I don't think it's immediately clear that you're supposed to go north on the first two screens. You might want to make it clearer that you're supposed to go north or, again, add extra synonyms (e.g. "go in" or "enter" at the entryway should probably just take you to the main entrance. 

Lastly, I just noticed this while I was trying extra commands out, but I think it's really funny that the old man is considered inanimate by Inform. I also tried to sit on the chair and not only did Inform not know the chair existed, it assumed I was trying to sit on the old man! 

you can examine the man (e.g. "x man") to see his dialogue!

I like the double subversion here. First, there's an ending you can get where the wolf pack corners you for not following the lone wolf's instructions, so the lone wolf seems trustworthy. Then, you keep following the instructions and discover that the lone wolf actually wanted to eat you! In the end, you have to think for yourself and not entirely trust anyone. I think it's a pretty neat premise.

game that made me normal. very good.