You're a Time Agent! by Tabitha O'Connell

Play the game Read other reviews Other games by Tabitha (@tabitha-writes)

Silly time loops! (4/5)

When it comes to time-loops settings and gameplay, Tabitha always delivers. This time taking a more silly approach to the genre, with you playing as a "dumbass time agent" that ends their missions in the stupidest of ways (essentially winging it). The goal here is to get through a guarded door. Simple, right?

WRONG! Who Thought trying to get through a measly door with just one guard would be so difficult!

With each passage are given a couple of options, each branching into other set of choice, until you either manage to enter the building or reach a dead end. The game also lets you reset the loop from the start. Resetting will sometimes add new options (when you uncover information). There are 3 ways to properly end the game, with 4 achievements to get.

Each path is pretty silly, tricking the guard by confusing him, or distracting him. There are tons of funny one-liners and hilarious exchanges (I laughed so hard at the (Spoiler - click to show)). The third ending was so stupidly funny!

I had a bit of an issue with how the learned knowledge was displayed on the page (with the oldest bit disappearing from the page), but changing the colours of the links, to display which path had been taken or which led to a dead end, was really helpful when starting a new loop!

Do you use Harlowe? I found a template for you!

Dark Communion, by alyshkalia

Two teenage girls. One abandoned church. ??? survivors. A short Twine game written for Ectocomp 2023. Cover photo by me.

A little game I made for the Neo Twiny Jam!

Queer Vampire Game Jam 2024

Hello! I am currently working on a submission for the Queer Vampire Jam 2024 on itch.io, held by @nyehilismwriting. I'm using it as a distraction when I get bored with my main project and, when it comes out, I hope that you guys will check it out!

Speaking of which, I highly recommend you check out the rest of the game jam submissions! I'll link them down below.

Queer Vampire Game Jam - itch.io

Bleeding Heart by kit (itch.io)

Through Death We Become by Ethersic (itch.io)

Blood and Company by alyshkalia (itch.io)

Bertha by solflo (itch.io)

signs you might be undead by vileidol (itch.io)

Love at First Bite by Arbiter Annie (itch.io)

Neo Twiny Jam - bite-sized review

The Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) is an interactive fiction game unranked jam where participants could not write more than 500 words per entry.

You can find every submitted piece on the jam's Itch Page.

=============

Life of Puck by alyshkalia

Entry - More by alyshkalia - @tabitha-writes

The Sweet Life of a Rat Eat, sleep, drink some water, clean yourself, and look for your human. This is the sweet, sweet, life that Puck, the cute little rat, lives. Though it might feel quickly monotonous - there is only so much a rodent can do - the game invites you to try different combinations of actions to fill in the achievement list. A really cute game indeed!

The Loneliest House by Tabitha O’Connell

IFDB - Game - @tabitha-writes Note: this was a La Petite Mort entry, and submitted to the Bare-Bones Jam

Summary: You’ve always been drawn to the lonely old house on the hill outside your town. It’s been abandoned for as long as you’ve lived here; you’ve never seen it get any care or attention. To everyone else, it’s just a part of the scenery. But to you it’s always been something more–a mystery, an omen, a promise.

This is a short parser letting the players use only one command: examine (X / L), where the point is to examine the abandoned house, and its different element, as if you were exploring it. Examining an element gives you a description, which focuses on other smaller elements, which if you examine those will describe further details, and... so on and so forth until the details are simply too small to see, or until you examined all elements to reach the end.

The gameplay reminded me of Nested, where checking an element gives you details you can look out, each if checked will give out subsequent details, and... Except, unlike Nested, TLH doesn't loop back to repeat ad infinitum if you take one specific path.

As for the whole, it felt a bit voyeuristic, especially in the descriptions of each details of the house, as, even if it is abandoned, you sort of see yourself opening the door or looking out the scenery from the window. You wish you could be inside the house, but you can't. You're on the other side of the fency, gazing with envy at the house. It's pretty eerie...

Also: +1 for including a walkthough! -1 for not being able to pet the dog (/jk)

POV: You’re a Teenage Girl in a Conservative Christian Family by alyshkalia

IFDB - Game - @tabitha-writes

Summary: A little piece of my religious trauma.

I'm going to need a hug after this, and so will you.

The piece is fairly short, with a couple of hundred words at most, and it will make you hate yourself (maybe) when you reach the end. Entrenched in the very harsh environment that is religious conservative norms, the game explores what it feels to be denied the little joys of life and exploring your identity.

It is not just a tour-de-force to be able to hit those emotions with so little words, but the way the choices are formatted hits like a ton of brick. As you click and come back to the main page, choices appear and disappear from the list... until there is nothing left. Until you are denied everything.

Strangely, the harsh Harlowe interface and palette adds another layer of bleakness to the situation.

Dark Communion by Tabitha O’Connell

IFDB - Game - @tabitha-writes

Summary: Two teenage girls. One abandoned church. ??? survivors.

Moody abandoned church? check! Two kids with not enough fear to know better? check! Spooky shenanigans? check, check, check!

The game plays like one of those horror movie, where dumb kids do something they shouldn't, stumble on a weird thing that definitely means them harm, and try they best to escape - hopefully in one piece...

The writing is quite moody and creepy, and with the quick page, it gives little space to breathe (you have to act now or else...). The reluctance of your PC towards your sister/more-than-friend/acquaintance's wish to explore without care is understandable, from the uneasy descriptions of the abandoned church (and all the horror warnings of not breaking off ranks). Endings can come quite fast, depending on the choices, with some leaving you with a sense of dread for what happened.

As is it quite easy to pick the "wrong" choice, and reach a bad end, the game gives you the opportunity to "rewind" to the last choice made, and try something else. While there are many ways to fail the game, it is also a short one - so getting back on track doesn't take too long.

Another interesting bit of this game, was how the text/ending was affected from the first choice: what relationship you have with the other girl. Different tactics are required for different relationships...

Anyway, going back to hunt the last of the achievements~

The 5-Second Simulation by alyshkalia

A Single Choice Jam entry.

Entry - IFDB - More by alyshkalia - @tabitha-writes

A Sysiphian Experience While one the short side, this parser is still much longer than its title promises. Set somewhat like an escape room, you must find three words to complete the simulation and escape a doorless room. Easy, right? Well... no. You can only do one action before the simulation ends and you need to reboot it. Forced to replay the game until you find all elements to complete the puzzle, the game forces you to think about your previous action, as it does not track it on screen. You can look at different objects around the room, as well as manipulating them to discover the room's secrets. But remember, the room resets when the simulation ends! The Sysiphian gameplay is quite interesting and pretty smart. It really makes you think about the information you have on the screen before you have to reload the game. Examining every single element in the room will give you and idea of what you can interact with... and most importantly how. The hints parsed throughout the rooms are quite cleverly done (though it took me a while to find some of them - thank you Help for putting me out of my misery). The first word is probably the easiest to find, and as soon as you understand the logic in it, the other needed words will follow quite easily (or go check the help section, like I did :P ) It is a very neat small parser experience, and I would recommend to anyone with 30min to spare.

Cycle by alyshkalia

An Anti-Romance Jam entry.

Entry - IFDB - More by alyshkalia - @tabitha-writes CW: Deception and manipulation in a romantic relationship

Time loop and its consequences? Ever fudged so badly in your relationship you wished you had a time machine/trinket to go back and fix your mistakes by actually doing and saying the right things to save what is almost lost? This is something that Tiel doesn't need to worry about, as his grandmother left him a neat little pocketwatch, allowing him to save his relationship... if he plays his card correctly. Through a thread of choices, your actions will determine which ending you will receive, and whether you will manage to save your relationship. Still, regardless of the end post, Heron's criticisms only resonate ever so louder with every new cycle. Sure, you may be acknowledging eir hurt and needs, but are you truly doing this selflessly? Don't you invalidate eir choice, the one triggering the story, by going back in time until you succeed in your goal or relent in your defeat? The game does not just do time loop incredibly successfully, it also raises quite the moral questions about slippery slopes when rewinding time...

This entry is related to the author's other games: Structural Integrity and You're a Time Agent!

Neo Twiny Jam - bite-sized review

The Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) is an interactive fiction game unranked jam where participants could not write more than 500 words per entry.

You can find every submitted piece on the jam's Itch Page.

=============

Mother, Daughter, Sister by alyshkalia

Entry - More by alyshkalia - @tabitha-writes

All done in three's... This is the story of three people - a mother, a daughter, and that daughter's sister - each feeling happy, sad, and angry following an undescribed event that changed the dynamics between those three individuals. In so little words, the author manages to paint quite the picture...

This might be the shortest entry into this jam so far.

What They Don't Know by alyshkalia

A Single Choice Jam entry.

Entry - IFDB - More by alyshkalia - @tabitha-writes CW: emotionally abusive parent, brief mention of spouse death, brief mention of parent death

... can still hurt them. Setting the stage at the Highchester estate, where a widow, the Lady of the house, trains her only daughter, Chelle, to take on the helms, a change of plans disrupts the life of three women. The arrival of Ara, requested by the Lady, enacts change in the relationship between mother and daughter, as well as subordinate and estate owner. The game lets you explore the perspective of those three women after this change. I recommend you leave The Lady for last. With very little words, the entry depicts a sad tableau, painting pained faces and hurt feelings, the urge of having affairs in order forced by hidden secrets, and the expectations from one's stations surpassing love and affections. But it also shares emergent feelings and an hopeful look on the future, as well as hinted breaks of class rules. It is impressive to depict much in such a tight package, and depict in a very touching way. I was honestly wondering if Chelle and Ara would pull an Eugénie Danglars before the end...

My latest IF game!

One of my recent games!

Lady Highchester, widowed shortly after the birth of her daughter, has raised said daughter to take over the family estate one day. Chelle, the daughter in question, was 18 when her mother announced a change of plans.

A story in 1,000 (or fewer) words. Made for the 2023 Single-Choice Jam.