Abrupt ending
I found myself slamming face first into the ending.
Feature request: let players see if they completed the map of story points. I’m left with an awful feeling that I missed something and have no way to go back now. Like I never got to try entering both of the suggested angles.
Why have the cool story map, if you can’t even see at the end whether you checked all the circles or not?
Also, why can’t you go back through the game after you’ve finished? The game just gives you a title screen and kicks you out for good. I would like to go back in and look closer at things I might have missed or sped through WITHOUT playing through the *entire* game again.
The plot is interesting, but when there’s a HUGE wall of text and you have to bounce up and down and up and down through that massive text it quickly becomes a headache. And solving how to progress is not always intuitive; I especially got stuck where the only options were to change whether the brother goes left or right and had to scroll ENDLESSLY through the mountain of text to see what I had missed. The button to jump to changing a decision is often finicky. It will confusingly grey out if you’re within 5 miles of an existing decision. And most of the time I needed to jump to a name to change perspective; a button to do that would be very useful.
The plot falls off the rails towards the end. Specifically *mild spoilers* where they leave town for CA at the end of one chapter and abruptly each of them is who knows where in time and location without explanation. From there on explanations are out the window and it takes the carefully crafted plot of the first half, dumps it into a blender, and produces a jumbled mess.
Who is the woman Cat is with? You don’t know, also she doesn’t even have a name. How did you meet her? Who knows. Why aren’t you in California? Plot got bored and missed the exit I guess. And apparently there are self-driving cars now? So, maybe there was a time jump? It feels like a whole lot of missing plot.
I will forever wonder if the plot would have radically changed if I had entered a different angle to paint, so I’m left with a feeling of utter irritation with this game and nothing else. All the other gripes would have been minor but getting kicked out with no resolution as to whether I got the correct ending (if there is one) or if I saw all of the plot points is EXTREMELY frustrating for someone who enjoys narrative games!utsukushisashi
Incredibly inventive storytelling mechanic
Aside from a couple of minor QoL improvements needed in the UI, this was an incredibly inventive and enjoyable interactive story. Well written, well realized, and well worth 99 cents! If innovative narrative experiences are your jam, do yourself a favor and spread this one all over your toast.notamandolin
Developer Response
I'd love to know what you didn't like about the UI! michael [at] doublespeakgames [dot] comA perfect blending of interactivity & a book
The fact that I’m able to sit down and get sucked into this game when there’s not much I can concentrate on now in the pandemic tells you everything you need to know. I love how to make some feel like I’m actively solving the mystery. It feels like sci-fi noir that I’m living through but in a surprisingly grounded way. Totally an instant purchase for any A Dark Room fans (which is a game this company first developed).PresEmeritus ;)
