Read time: 6 minutes (3 times through to try some different options)
I hadn’t played this one of yours before! My favorite aspect of this piece is how powerful the small amount of text is in generating a lot of implications. It’s so much like realistic, very human conversation where people talk about things indirectly and not in an expository way as you often see in fiction. The writing trusts that the reader will pick up on the hints and cues to get a pretty clear image of the situation. Is my personal interpretation of the events described precisely, exactly correct? Maybe not, but I feel like I am pretty close to the mark after thinking about what I read. The Dialogue Jam restraint is interesting here in how it strips away other types of indicators of tone (for instance, description of body language or facial expressions) and yet, it’s clear based on the silences/pauses/obfuscation how Theomer and Heron are feeling throughout the scene.
Maybe it’s a bit clichéed at this point to describe something as “atmospheric,” but this certainly is. I really liked the abstracted-but-still-relevant visuals and how that contributes to a sense that the emotions here are familiar but difficult to describe/express, underscoring what is happening in the narrative. The narrowness of the text column as the story unfolds gives the piece a feeling of intimacy and pulls focus inward. I enjoy the single choice jam premise and seeing what people did with it. The two options are described in a unique way but still hint at what they each mean, and I felt like the choice was consequential but not final; if you choose to “tread lightly,” it feels like Maven will get another chance to try again in the future if they want to open up more.
I played/read the Mac version of this game in about 25 minutes.
I enjoyed this! Amy’s voice was consistent and that drew me into the first-person narration. Something I thought was effective here was the tonal shift over the course of the piece. At first, with the bright/bloomed out pastel backgrounds and ambient sound, the atmosphere feels embracing and optimistic. Then, as the story/night progresses, it becomes increasingly cold and alienating as the “dream job” sours/gets corrupted, a vibe shift that I wasn’t really expecting but felt natural and inevitable by the time I got to the end.The throughline that brings it together is the friendship between Amy and Julie that is really recontextualized by the end of the piece—it felt like as a reader, I was questioning Julie’s intentions alongside Amy.
I know it's over a month later, but I was feeling a little too shy/self-conscious to respond to this review at the time. I just want to say how much I appreciate the time you spent with this game and your kind words about it. This is the first interactive fiction game (or game jam game in general) that I ever made, so I am really thankful that you had a positive/memorable enough experience with it to write a thoughtful response like this. It means a lot to me.
Take care,
DemonApologist
PS: Thanks for the music you shared as well! I mainly listen to classical music on a loop when working. This is what I listened to mostly when I wrote this game: Bach - Ricercar a 6
