[IF Competition] Interface

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Another review, another spoiler space. Why fill it with nonsense text if I can actually tell you something interesting? Such as...
There are a lot of processes in our world that happen one way, but not the other. Mirrors break, but shards do not assemble themselves into unbroken mirrors; two colours of paint mix, but they don't unmix. Why? You may believe the answer is the second of law of thermodynamics. You are wrong! I'm serious. At this dramatic point... the spoiler space ends.

Well, this was a nice game. The author claims that it is old-school, with the idea dating back from 1984. He even calls it a "throw-back/relic".

He is wrong.

There is no random death, there are no parser issues, there is no maze, you cannot make the game unwinnable, the item descriptions are longer than three words... nothing in this game reminds me of 1984 (not that I have any clear memories of 1984, but still). Nothing, that is, except the carrying limit, but since all locations are connected it is hardly a problem.

The basic idea is that you got trapped into the body of a robot, and now the shady character who was supposed to change you back isn't all that eager to do so. You must take matters into your own hands, or rather, extensions.

This is a short and simple game, with puzzles that will not stump any more or less experienced player of IF. The writing is adequate (though it gets worse as you approach the end of the game, where you'll even find a spelling error in the name of a takable object). The implementation is fine, and the one NPC is convincing.

So, this is not a stellar game, but it is servicable. It is a lot better than anything--well, better than most things--published in 1984.

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