Roberto Ceccarelli
Played 2024-09-21, IFComp 2024

A comedy of parser errors.

Gonna put my experience out front here so you can stop reading if you want.

• I think I see what this is trying to do.
• I don't think it works.
• I believe I hit a game-breaking bug.

What I *think* the game is trying to do is to turn moments that are traditionally frustrating in parser games, like inventory limits and disambiguation, into moments of interactive comedy.

I think for “simulated frustrating” play to work, we need to have confidence that we're in good hands. Unfortunately there are some design choices here and some actual bugs that undermined that confidence for me, causing the experience to tip over into “real frustrating.”

The first breach of trust was the sexist cliche set up in my character's description.

> x me
[…] In love with your girlfriend, very beautiful, but also shrewish when something doesn't go her way. […]

This is setting up the core conceit of the game - Monica is the center of our world, and the driving force behind the tasks we perform. But Violet set a better example over 15 years ago.

Then the little implementation problems begin, with what appear to be timed events not taking my actions into account.

> talk to receptionist
“Good evening, we are Francesco and Monica and we have a reservation.”
“Just a moment, I look for it.” - the receptionist states and types something on the computer.

“Good evening, welcome to our hotel!” - the receptionist greets you.

Now a bit of comedy. I've found the wallet and now need to show my ID to the receptionist.

> take identity card
You're carrying too many things already.

This probably comes down to taste. Since the “held items” limit persists throughout the game, I kind of wish this message didn't look so “default.” You could preserve the frustration of it while still providing some ease-of-use consideration, by mentioning the currently held items in this message. Or heck - “Your hands are already full” would be a more *accurate* error message, because technically I'd be “carrying” the same number of things before and after removing the ID card from the wallet.

I also think there's a differently funny, but less frustrating, take on this idea: What if taking when my hands are full succeeds, but my clumsy character drops something else on the floor? At reception Mo can roll her eyes at me and make sure I pick up all my things before we go upstairs, but at least I can hand over my ID card faster. And later at breakfast, the stakes are higher - I could break plates or spill drinks! - so I'm incentivized to be more careful having learned a bit about my limitations.

But I stuck with it into the breakfast, starting to “get” the joke of the thing. I wasn't totally sure if unclear dialogue systems are another trope being lampooned here?

“May I serve you a hot beverage?” — the waiter asks, then explains: — “I can offer you a coffee, a cappuccino, a hot chocolate or a tea.”
> order tea
“Don't change the topic.” — Monica says you.

Then things started getting genuinely broken.

> talk to monica
You say hello to Monica.
You have nothing specific in mind to discuss with Monica just now.
* * * Run-time problem P47 (at paragraph 1 in the source text): Phrase applied to an incompatible kind of value.
leaves.

I got into a state where I still had a crepe to eat, but wasn't allowed to interact with it because it had somehow been flagged as “owned” by Monica even though I was holding it. (Confirmed with `showme`) so I couldn't make the story proceed. Once I was convinced this was a bug I even tried to `purloin` the crepe but this didn't change its ownership, and somehow put Monica in my inventory.

> i
You're holding a crêpe and a dish, and you have yourself and Monica on the bench. You also have a wallet in the right back pocket, and you have a room key in the right front pocket.

And yes, I did look for hints. Besides being a little condescending, the last line also seemed to be simply wrong (emphasis mine):

> hint
I am sorry to hear you are stuck.
It is not my job to help the player, but I can give you some advice.
First of all look carefully at anything around; be nice to people you meet, such as saying hello; next, pay attention to everything Monica says and does.
*The receptionist can tell you something of interest*.

> talk to receptionist
You say hello to the receptionist.
You have nothing specific in mind to discuss with receptionist just now.

So the whole thing fell extremely flat in my case. I'm happy to see other reviewers had a better time with it.