The Island

Random thought: "What the fuck do you do with a winch?"

This game was a good beginning writer's game. It had puzzles, clues, decisions, and mystery. However, I call it beginner because it didn't progress much past the training stage. The story and its elements lacked descriptions, and I was left puzzling over my character's motivations or backstory. Some mystery is expected: it allows you to clarify what's important, but everything being a mystery makes the experience just feel out of focus. Perhaps the finale cleared things up, but I got stuck in the tower where I wanted to bring a bucket up, but couldn't do so. I felt clever enough when I found an unmentioned winch using "take all", but then I tried to >PUSH,  >PULL, and  >TURN the winch, but all to no avail. Which left me wondering if I was missing the obvious verb for what you do with a winch. I ended up giving up. Which made me sad, I was hoping to finish the game, and perhaps get some enlightenment on any of the backstory (the game seemed to imply I would be thrown into an endless loop repeating this puzzle). But I encourage the author to keep going! It was a good start, this is an indie competition, and the more work we get the better. Just work on more depth next time.

2/10