IntroComp2011: All Things Considered
I’ve just submited my votes. No, I haven’t wrote my thoughts on all of the entries; yes, I did play them all; and yes, I’ll try to write about them when I get a chance. I’m not going to post numbers here, but I’ll throw some names into some drawers, with no particular order.
So, if the full version becomes available, I will…
… caress that download link with little delay:
> A Choice of Zombies by Heather Albano
> Stalling for Time by Dominic Delabruere
> Speculative Fiction by Diane Christoforo and Thomas Mack
… check the homepage, but I’ll probably find better things to do:
> Chunky Blues by Scott Hammack and Jassamin Yu
> Choice of the Petal Throne by Danielle Goudeau
… give it a second chance, if the author takes a six month leave from work to polish it between now and then:
> The Z-Machine Matter by Zack Urlocker
… play it if the alternative is to adopt and give love to a peacock:
> Despondency Index by Ed Blair
> Both Exile and Gargoyle by Simon
… play it if the alternative is to have my friends and family pecked by an angry mob of peacocks, with rabies:
> Of Pots and Mushrooms by Devi and Maya
And that’s it for this year’s bunch. These are all the entries* in 2011 IntroComp. We should now raise our glasses to the authors, the voters, the reviewers and lady Jacqueline for putting up with all of us. A hard task. Cheers.
* No, I’m not forgetting about any of the entries.
I’m probably going to regret this, but… what about that thirteenth game? Are you the author, or something?
Gosh, no!
I don’t have anything to do with it, and I don’t know who has, but I would bet my Kinder toys collection on it being a prank – and I do love my Kinders.
I also love pranks, but this one is just… plain sad. I felt anything I were to write about it would just be offering some sort of credit, so I decided to ignore it completely.
But now I’m curious: why would you “regret this”?
I guess I was just afraid I was going to be tapping a vein of uncontrolled loathing for the thirteenth game, instead of the insouciant dismissal you have given it. ;) Like, stepping into the middle of a long-standing Internet feud between you and the author, or something. Anyway, thanks for the response.
This all seems about right. This year, though, I find the games I’d want to continue playing are more a matter of ‘I am curious to see how you address the design issues that you’ve left unresolved’ rather than ‘I am confident that you can deliver a high-quality piece of work.’
Given the usual pattern of differences between IF reviewers and IF voters, I suspect that Petal Throne will do somewhat better than reviews might indicate, and Chunky Blues and Stalling for Time possibly a little worse.
Yes, I think Petal Throne is kind of a crowd pleaser. But It seems all Choice Of titles are somehow this way: competent, but ultimately uninspired, crowd pleasers.
It made me a bit sad not to have a single entry that would justify a ‘Will send bomb letters to author’s house if author fails to publish full game in a month’s period’ drawer. We’ll always have 2012.