George Shannon's weblog

All my votes are in!  This was the first time I’ve ever done this, it was pretty cool.  I’ve been playing old comp games for the last couple years, and realized I probably ought to just do the year’s competition games as they arrived.

I hope the format of the reviews worked well.  I used Quentin Stone‘s format, which I always liked.  I didn’t do his ‘high point’, ‘low point’ end caps, which actually would have been fun.  They often end up as nice summaries.  Next time I definitely think I will have a better review system, since mine was basically arbitrary this time (though looking back, it appears pretty consistent, thank god).

If I have time, I think I might add a page to the weblog that lists other people’s reviews for all the games, since I already have a list going.  It was really neat to see what other people had to say.  It’s telling that in more than a few games, I missed some stuff completely.

Thanks for the comments!  I like the discussion about the games and how they worked, it’s way more interesting than theory about something that isn’t written.

This is a review of The Ngah Angah School of Forbidden Wisdom, by Anssi Raisanen (whose real name contains characters I don’t know how to type, and c/p is cheating), an ALAN game of all things, entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. Spoilers after the cut.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Gemma Bristow
Michael Martin
Another Mr. Lizard
Wesley Osam
Nitku
Merk
Carl Muckenhoupt
Imrihamun
Lucy (includes other reviews)
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jacqueline A. Lott Ashwell
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)

(more…)

This is a review of Nerd Quest, by Gabor de Mooij, a Java-based executable game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.  Spoilers after the cut.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Victor Gijsbers
Michael Martin
Wesley Osam
‘Nitku’
Sarah Morayati
Merk (read the whole thread)
Imrihamun
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)
George Dorn
Christos Dimitrakakis (includes other reviews)

(more…)

This is a review of Snack Time! by Hardy the Bulldog (but apparently some weirdo named Renee Choba also attached her name to it), a z-code game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.  Spoilers after the cut.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Victor Gijsbers
Michael Martin
Skeet (includes other reviews)
Wesley Osam (includes another review)
‘Nitku’
CAT PERSON —> Sarah Morayati
Merk
ANOTHER CAT PERSON —> Jenni
Riff
Imrihamun
Carl Muckenhoupt
Cesia
Lucy (includes other reviews)
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)

(more…)

This is a review of Berrost’s Challenge, by Mark Hatfield, a TADS2 game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.  Spoilers after the cut.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Peter Nepstad (includes other reviews)
Genna Bristow
Michael Martin
ralphmerridew (includes other reviews)
Another Mr. Lizard
Wesley Osam
‘Nitku’
Sarah Morayati
Merk
Imrihamun
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)

(more…)

This is a review of LAIR of the CyberCow, by either Conrad Cook or Harry Wilson, an ADRIFT game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Aric Maddox
Michael Martin
Yet Another Mr. Lizard
Wesley Osam
Merk
Jenni
Riff
Carl Muckenhoupt
Dan Shiovitz
Jacqueline A. Lott Ashwell
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)
George Dorn

(more…)

This is either a review of Search for the Ultimate Weapon or Search for the Ultimate One, by Sharilynn, a SUDS-made Windows executable game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.

Here are some other reviews:

Michael Martin
Skeet (includes other reviews)
ralphmerridew (includes other reviews)
Another Mister Lizard (who is more fair than I)
Carl Muckenhoupt
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)

(more…)

This is a review of Recess at Last by Gerald Aungst, a glulx game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. Spoilers below.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Victor Gijsbers
Aric Maddux
Gemma Bristow
Michael Martin
Wesley Osam (includes other reviews)
Nitku
Sarah Morayati
Merk
Imrihamun
Carl Muckenhoupt
Lucy (includes other reviews)
Dan Shiovitz
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)
Christos Dimitrakakis

(more…)

This is a review of Ananachronist by Joseph Strom, a z-code game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. Spoilers below.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Michael Martin
Another Mr. Lizard
Nick Bronson
Nitku
Sarah Morayati
Merk
Jenni
Riff
Carl Muckenhoupt
Dan Shiovitz (includes other reviews)
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)

And I thought I was clever by making the sledgehammer comment.

(more…)

This is a review of Escape from the Underworld by Karl Beecher, a z-code game entered in the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. Spoilers below.

Here are some other reviews of this game:

Emily Short
Peter Nepstad (includes other reviews)
Gemma Bristow
Michael Martin
Another Mr. Lizard
Nitku
Sarah Morayati
Jenni
Riff
Jacqueline A. Lott Ashwell
Jake Wildstrom (includes other reviews)
George Dorn
Christos Dimitrakakis (includes other reviews)

(more…)