Author Archives: mzspivey

(some spoilers) BYOD is a game that focuses on doing one thing, and it does that one thing quite well. When the story begins, you’re starting your first day at an IT internship. Unfortunately, nobody’s shown up to meet you and tell you what you’re supposed to do. Hanging out in the entryway, you accidentallyContinue reading “BYOD”

Stand Up / Stay Silent is a choice-based game about the importance of defending… something. It’s never clear in the game exactly what you’re supposed to be defending. Well, after the game is over you’re able to access a list of Black Lives Matter links, so apparently what you’re supposed to be standing up forContinue reading “Stand Up / Stay Silent”

(spoilers below) The blurb of Radicofani. had led me to believe that it’s a game about a man obsessed with another woman who isn’t as committed to their relationship as he is. Maybe he’s even a bit of a stalker. However, once I started playing it, it didn’t take me long to realize that’s notContinue reading “Radicofani.”

(some spoilers) The Incredibly Mild Misadventures of Tom Trundle is a long (well, long for IFComp) parser game recounting a teenage boy’s very eventful night at the beginning of spring break. The story begins with protagonist Tom in study hall, waiting for the bell to ring the end of the school day. His dreams ofContinue reading “The Incredibly Mild Misadventures of Tom Trundle”

In The Copyright of Silence you play a friend of the composer John Cage, and you’re visiting him in his four-room apartment. Cage occasionally wanders the apartment but mostly stays put in his study, waxing prosaic about his artistic vision. You can converse (or not) with Cage, engage or avoid his pets, tamper with hisContinue reading “The Copyright of Silence”

(some spoilers for the end) The title of Deus Ex Ceviche threw me off before I started playing it. I thought at first it might mean “God out of the fish.” However, not only is “ceviche” not the Latin word for “fish,” “ceviche” is actually Spanish. Why are we mashing up Latin and Spanish here?Continue reading “Deus Ex Ceviche”

(some spoilers near the end) Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder is a time-travel puzzle game in the tradition of First Things First. The cover art for the two games is even similar: Both feature the same location quartered into four time periods. The plots are quite different, though. In Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder you play a druid sentContinue reading “Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder”

Sense of Harmony is a choice-based game in which you play a young woman, Elizabeth, with cybernetic implants that grant her hyperawareness of what other people feel. She works as a high-tech prostitute, while simultaneously juggling classes in what appears to be a college major in computer science. This is a very interesting setup forContinue reading “Sense of Harmony”

Electric word, “life” is a short-ish Twine game in which you play a shy young man co-hosting a Halloween party with his outgoing roommate. Over the course of the game you’ll find yourself escaping the crowd to hang out on the balcony with some close friends, reminiscing and bantering with them. When another old friendContinue reading “Electric word, “life””

(some minor spoilers) The Arkhill Darkness is a light RPG made in Twine. It doesn’t take itself particularly seriously — in fact, it pokes fun at some RPG conventions. There’s also a mystery of sorts to solve, as you must uncover why the town of Arkhill has been blanketed in darkness. Despite this interesting mixContinue reading “The Arkhill Darkness”