intfiction.org

We've done this the last couple of years, and I've enjoyed it. And I think some of the participating authors who lurk are interested in knowing when new chat about their game might show up.

I'm talking about play lists. List out the all the games in the order you intend to play (I use the ifcomp.org random voting list) and X off each one after playing. In years past we all stuck to a single topic and re-edited our own post each time we wanted to update the list. There were only a handful of us doing it, though, and unless anybody objects, how about this year anybody taking part just creates their own separate Play List topic? Handle it however you want!

I'll start with my random list. I haven't yet decided if I'll be posting full reviews this year (this seems to become more and more time-consuming with each passing year), or if I'll write them but wait to post until after the competition, or what. At a minimum, I might respond to this topic after playing each game with a sentence or two in a "spoiler" tag.

[X] zork, buried chaos - By bloodbath
[X] Trap Cave - By Emilian Kowalewski
[X] Gleaming the Verb - By Kevin Jackson-Mead
[X] Resonance - By Matt Scarpino
[X] Earl Grey - By Rob Dubbin and Adam Parrish
[X] The Grand Quest - An interactive struggle By Owen Parish
[X] Interface - By Ben Vegiard
[X] Star Hunter - By Chris K.
[X] Condemned - By a Delusioned Teenager
[X] Eruption - A tectonic excitement By Richard Bos
[X] Beta Tester - By Darren Ingram
[X] GATOR-ON, Friend to Wetlands! - By Dave Horlick
[X] The Duel That Spanned the Ages - By Oliver Ullmann
[X] Yon Astounding Castle! of some sort - By Tiberius Thingamus
[X] The Hangover - By Red conine
[ ] The Believable Adventures of an Invisible Man - By Hannes Schueller
[ ] Grounded In Space - An Inadvertent Adventure By Matt Wigdahl
[ ] Spelunker's Quest - By Tom Murrin
[ ] Broken Legs - By Sarah Morayati
[ ] Byzantine Perspective - A Straightforward Burglary By Lea
[ ] The Duel in the Snow - A Tale of Old Russia By Utkonos
[ ] The Ascot - A Shake 'n Nod Adventure By Duncan Bowsman
[ ] Rover's Day Out - By Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman
[ ] Snowquest - A Curious Tale By Eric Eve

Huh, the comp site gave me the exact same list. I wonder if there's something wrong with the site's randomizer?

Someone else also has this random list, so presumably there's a randomizer issue. You might want to re-randomize if you haven't started and want your own order.

Yes, there's a bug in the site's random-order generator. I'm going to see if I can fix it.

OK, I updated the RNG and it should be working now. It has the side-effect of creating a new list per person, but I think that's OK this early on in the comp.

Thanks! I'll check mine and re-shuffle my play list accordingly.

(edit)
Sorry to be a pest, but now I'm not seeing the option to switch between Alphabetical and Random. Looks like there's a button missing... ?

The button will not show up unless you are logged in.

Oooh. Right-o. Thanks.

Interestingly, the game that was previously first is now last on my random list.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to write long reviews as in years past. My intention was to limit my comments to just a couple sentences, but already I've found little restraint when it comes to writing more. My first review, coming up, is short by comparison, but still longer than intended.

I'm simplifying my scoring criteria this year. I'm ripping off Game Informer Magazine's guidelines this year. No more evaluating story separate from puzzles separate from implementation separate from whatever in the score -- just the review (if needed).

Here's what I'm using:

10: Outstanding. A truly elite title that is nearly perfect in every way. This score is given out rarely and indicates a game that cannot be missed.

9: Superb. Just shy of gaming nirvana, this score is a high recommendation because the game reviewed is head-and-shoulders above the competition.

8: Very Good. Innovative, but perhaps not the right choice for everyone. This score indicates that there are many good things to be had, but arguably so.

7: Average. The game's features may work, but are nothing that even casual players haven't seen before. A decent game from beginning to end.

6: Limited Appeal. Although there may be fans of games receiving this score, many will be left yearning for a more rewarding game experience.

5: Passable. It may be obvious that the game has lots of potential, but its most engaging features could be undeniably flawed or not integrated into the experience.

4: Bad. While some things may work as planned, the majority of this title either malfunctions to varying degrees or it is so dull that the game falls short as a whole.

3: Painful. If there is anything that's redeeming in a game of this caliber, it's buried beneath agonizing gameplay and uneven execution in its features and theme.

2: Broken. Basically unplayable. This game is so insufficient in execution that any value would be derived in extremely small quantities, if at all.

1: Horrifying. Here, they usually put in joke to show an example of something that would merit a 1 in some other context. Most recent example: Worse than a movie written by Michael Bay and directed by Kevin Smith.