Thanks for this. I was getting a little dispirited about making games in the future, in truth, as I felt like 'Evermore' didn't really click for most people (or the 2 hour competition playtime limit meant that a lot of players didn't realise the sheer expanse of the game) so it really means a lot to know that there are folks out there who enjoyed it! Cheers!
Viewing post in Evermore: A Choose Your Own Edgar Allan Poe Adventure comments
More the responses in the comp itself TBH - I was troubled that more than one commentator felt there was sexist and/or racist humour in the game - doubtlessly, there are racist and sexist aspects to Poe's work and I tried to offer a critical commentary on this, or provide ironic deconstructions, without misrepresenting the original texts. The difficulty in doing this is why I would never attempt such a game with Lovecraft.
Otherwise, it seemed like many people experienced the game as "puzzle less"... in truth, I think the game's design gets more interesting and complex the deeper you get into it, especially in the island section, where there is a fair amount of variable tracking and what I would consider puzzles... I'd like to think that familiarity with the tropes/ structures of CYOA (and especially Fighting Fantasy) books should allow the player/ reader not to brute force the game to reach a desired conclusion.
That is to say, there *are* some unfair endings and responses that cannot be usefully predicted (to keep in with the style of CYOA and also for humour and to allow more illustrations!) but I think if you play it as "cautious but not cowardly" (as those old books often seemed to encourage) you'll probably do okay!
Thanks for playing and enjoying!