The Blind House

The Blind House
By: Amanda Allen

Another entry from IFComp 2010, this one exudes creepiness and evocative emotion. It's well worth giving it a try - although if you're anything like me, you'll be left wondering exactly what's going on and how you're supposed to affect it.

You can grab the story file from here, which you'll need to run with an interpreter from here (I used WinGlulxe).

I also needed this walkthrough, which, unfortunately, doesn't take you through everything in the game.

Divis Mortis

Divis Mortis
By: Lynnea Dally

Another entry from last year's IFComp, Divis Mortis is a straightforward game of exploring a zombie-infested hospital and fighting to survive. The tone is possibly an acquired taste, veering between unapologetic silliness and effective atmosphere, but if you liked the black humour of Romero's classic Living Dead films, it's worth giving this one a whirl.

You can download the story file for Divis Mortis here, or play it online.

Aotearoa

Aotearoa
By: Matt Wigdahl

The winning game from IFComp 2010 is in many ways the direct opposite of my own entry. Where Rogue of the Multiverse is extra terse, Aotearoa is quite wordy; where I saw the competition as an opportunity to make a game without newbie-friendly amenities, Matt Wigdahl crammed his game full of tutorials, hints, keyword-highlighting and neat convenience features; where my game prizes focused interaction, Aotearoa is deeply implemented in its responses to unprompted commands; where I prioritised an easy flow, the puzzles here are involved and offer multiple solutions.

A family-friendly adventure through an alternate New Zealand where dinosaurs never died out, Aotearoa simply oozes craft and attention to detail - it's so jam-packed with cool stuff that it absolutely deserves its place at the top.

You can play the game online here.

Face Time

Face Time
By: Noyb

Interesting coincidence: Noyb's Face Time was released as part of a "masquerade" event that obscured its authorship, and it was Noyb who resolved a little matter of authorship confusion arising from my last post. Staying faithful to the theme: in this game, exactly who's who (and whether it matters) is quite the issue.

At first, Face Time may not seem very promising: a visual novel without any character graphics, it hits you with adolescent angst from the get-go. But persevere and it becomes apparent that this is actually a neat little deconstruction of typical romance/relationship games.

Starborn

Juhana Leinonen's Starborn is a short, keyword-only IF game about the home-sickness of someone who's never been home. More of a vignette than a full-blooded story, it's well worth the five or ten minutes it takes to complete.

You can play it online here.

Drive to Succeed

If I don't release at least a demo for this, you may waft unpleasant smells in my direction.