There are 42 games this year, most of them of the linear or multiple-choice Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) format rather than the traditional type-in-commands text parser format.
The move toward CYOA is good because:
- CYOA games are easier to make, so more authors can get their ideas out there
- CYOA games are easier to play, and most of the entries work in your web browser
- Games that would just be clunky and bloated as text parser games become more playable as CYOA games
- The increased accessibility means that there are about 10 more bad games for every good one.
- The delicious gameplay complexity one can get in text parser games is generally lost in CYOA games. Some CYOA games don't even offer meaningful choices. (Then again, neither do some text parser games, including a few very good ones.)
I'm sort of agnostic between text parsers and CYOA. I prefer a good text parser over a good CYOA, but I'll enjoy any good story whatever the format.
This year sees a rise in quantity but decrease in quality, probably because of the influx of new authors. Of the 42 entries, I found only 2 games I liked enough to rate higher than 6 on the 1-to-10 scale. Rather than write pithy reviews of all 42 games, I'll just talk about the two.
Venus Meets Venus: A tale about a young, angsty lesbian who is entering her first meaningful relationship. The symbol-laden story delves deeply into sex and gender identity, the conflict between being supportive and being selfish, and much more. It's a linear hypertext with some tangential observations, but it's one of the best love stories I've ever read, provocative and suspenseful but sometimes just as ordinary and comforting as any relationship. Intelligent, profound stuff. Rating: 8/10.
Creatures Such As We: The winner of last year's contest may win again with this. You're a space tour guide whose only relief from the boring, lonely work is obsessively playing a popular zombie RPG shooter. But you get the surprise of your life when you meet your next tour group. This CYOA has lots of ethical and dialogue choices and remembers what you said to whom, providing replay value. It explores game design, the conflicting perspectives of artist and observer, and even, if only briefly, the awful gamergate controversy. The characters have distinct personalities and I was rather fond of some of them. This game's a little long and wordy, but I enjoyed it a lot. Rating: 8/10.
The judging period ends on November 15, with results to be posted afterward. There's still plenty of time for you to play and rate some of these games if you're so inclined. (You have to rate at least 5 games for your scores to be counted.) When the results are posted, I'll go public, in this very thread, with my reaction to them, so stay tOOned, and sorry for the all the comma splicing, amigos!
My previous IFComp stomps: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013