MAGS January “Break Some Rules” (RESULT)

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

My spoilery reviews

Bière Américaine (MAGS) by Ponch

Spoiler

I'm not really the greatest at sliding tile puzzles, especially the end of sliding tile puzzles where there's barely any room to move. But this one starts with small dimensions, so I guess it's the more frustrating part of the puzzle. I liked that it wasn't JUST a tile puzzle and that you had to make a path. Though I solved that part by screenshotting / paint.

I thought that walking off the path by mistake might make you restart the game which would have been awful, but I didn't want to risk it. Still don't know if it actually "kills" you or not. But staying on the path wasn't hard.

I liked the humor in the ending.

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Skrexeval's Quest (MAGS) by Emma Gundersen

Spoiler

I really like the king's quest AGI vibes that this entire game throws. The vertical looping in the desert was a bit strange...as was that you start on the same Y value no matter where you enter the desert from. I felt that this game was one that didn't focus on the theme but rather included it as it authentically would have been used in games back in the day.

I could tell there were going to be soft locks and I didn't want to spend too much time restarting the game, so I'll admit that I did check the walkthrough for soft locks and accidentally spoiled a solution or two in the process. But in general, I like the feel of the game. I wouldn't have guessed that killing the guy caused a soft lock even though I probably should have suspected that.

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Artifact by Kara Jo Kalinowski and pell (My game, but I'll give some thoughts and perspectives to the creation)

Spoiler

I don't expect to win this competition though I'm curious if I will get any votes! I think that there are others had so much more to them and probably deserve it much more than mine. I will say about mine, that my artist wanted to keep it small - and asked to keep it to 2-3 rooms. That's why I decided to go with a labyrinth - with doors on the North, West, East, South that could be shown or hidden to create 1 giant maze. If you look at the code, the entire labyrinth minus the final room is actually just 1 room. The creation of the doors and the random rotation upon entering each room (if you didn't notice!) is all handled through code - arrays specify where each door in each room lead, then it's all set up each time the room is loaded.

It was always my intention from the start that the final room's solution would be "Come here with no items and you won't get trapped" - but I really wanted to make it to where the person doesn't accidentally win the game without trying, if they leave the house right away. So that was my idea with the hat - he won't leave the house without it, so it would be very hard to accidentally leave without it on the first time. And same with having the letter - another added element the player is almost sure to have. I originally was going to have extra "useless" items in the drawers and in the crack underneath the dresser, but I think it worked out great with just the 3 items. And how getting rid of the items actually becomes the puzzle, due to not wanting to accidentally let the player win right away.

There's also a secret with the portrait that some people might miss that's a callback to King's Quest 2..

I don't think that my game will win any awards but I'm quite happy with how I incorporated the theme.

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One Million Years Dungeon by Falsely

Spoiler

I could tell from the beginning that this would be the longest and most time-consuming game, and I was right. You can totally learn this symbol language and I was really invested in that - making sure to translate the text on the title screen and in the manual! As I mentioned before to you directly, I was disappointed that I couldn't manage to translate the Godere stone on its own - if there's an update to this game I really wish that the unused letters that don't appear in any other translated phrases could be provided somewhere, so that it's a bit easier. Cause figuring out stuff like this even when you don't need to is fun!

I felt dumb for needing a hint for that final puzzle and should have realized it myself but when I noticed that happening before I thought it was a small bug...

But yeah overall I really liked this game. Hopefully there's plans to add this one to the AGS database

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[heltenjon]

I didn't vote this month. I was a few minutes too late. But as I haven't played all the games thoroughly, that's just as well.

Bière Américaine (MAGS) by Ponch

Spoiler

Nothing annoyed me at all. I like slider puzzles and don't find them particularly difficult. (Perhaps it's the other way around.) And some good humour at the end. So for me, it was a 10 minute, fun game. But if I liked it, surely I'm not supposed to vote for it?

[close]

Skrexeval's Quest (MAGS) by Emma Gundersen

Spoiler

The laptop I played this on didn't have the F-keys operational, so I couldn't save. I decided to come back to it, but didn't find the time before the time limit. From what I played, my thought was that this was probably going to be my favourite, mocking King's Quest with silly instant deaths.

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Artifact by Kara Jo Kalinowski and Pell

Spoiler

I cheated and watched Wham! solve the maze for me. The maze was well made and everything, it's just that I find mapping mazes plain boring, and I've done that too many times in my gaming life already. I liked the annoying puzzle at the beginning/end. And that you had to walk through the maze just to try something new was just the right amount of trolling to be acceptable in this theme. When I tried to vote, but was a few minutes late, I was going to vote for this one.

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One Million Years Dungeon by Falsely

Spoiler

Too long - Didn't Play.
Not really. But I did try it and found out I had to play it in another manner with more time, no noise and pen and paper at the ready. I also gathered from the other feedback that this one would take some time to play. Unfortunately, I've also been trying to play the nominees for the AGS awards and had a lot of work deadlines at the same time. So on the back burner it sits, unfortunately.

[close]

Congratulations to the joint winners!

And if you haven't had enough of breaking the rules, here's Space Quest Historian's game All Demons Must Go To Hell, which tried to break almost every single rule in the book, and turned out a hilarious game. Made in AGS. The maze is programmed in the same way Kara Jo did hers, by the way, as a single room with shifting exits.

[Stupot]

Voting is over!

The joint winners are:

• Skrexeval's Quest (MAGS) by Emma Gundersen
• One Million Years Dungeon by Falsely

Well done to you both. You'll be contacted soon about setting the theme for March.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

I didn't vote this month. I was a few minutes too late. But as I haven't played all the games thoroughly, that's just as well.

Bière Américaine (MAGS) by Ponch

Spoiler

Nothing annoyed me at all. I like slider puzzles and don't find them particularly difficult. (Perhaps it's the other way around.) And some good humour at the end. So for me, it was a 10 minute, fun game. But if I liked it, surely I'm not supposed to vote for it?

[close]

Skrexeval's Quest (MAGS) by Emma Gundersen

Spoiler

The laptop I played this on didn't have the F-keys operational, so I couldn't save. I decided to come back to it, but didn't find the time before the time limit. From what I played, my thought was that this was probably going to be my favourite, mocking King's Quest with silly instant deaths.

[close]

Artifact by Kara Jo Kalinowski and Pell

Spoiler

I cheated and watched Wham! solve the maze for me. The maze was well made and everything, it's just that I find mapping mazes plain boring, and I've done that too many times in my gaming life already. I liked the annoying puzzle at the beginning/end. And that you had to walk through the maze just to try something new was just the right amount of trolling to be acceptable in this theme. When I tried to vote, but was a few minutes late, I was going to vote for this one.

[close]

One Million Years Dungeon by Falsely

Spoiler

Too long - Didn't Play.
Not really. But I did try it and found out I had to play it in another manner with more time, no noise and pen and paper at the ready. I also gathered from the other feedback that this one would take some time to play. Unfortunately, I've also been trying to play the nominees for the AGS awards and had a lot of work deadlines at the same time. So on the back burner it sits, unfortunately.

[close]

Congratulations to the joint winners!

And if you haven't had enough of breaking the rules, here's Space Quest Historian's game All Demons Must Go To Hell, which tried to break almost every single rule in the book, and turned out a hilarious game. Made in AGS. The maze is programmed in the same way Kara Jo did hers, by the way, as a single room with shifting exits.

Haha well thanks for the vote even if it was too late

I agree with the winners of this one. I liked both of them for different reasons, though I voted for one million years dungeon due to how invested I was in note taking and trying to find secrets. Congrats!

[Ponch]

Fun theme. Congrats to the co-winners.