New Adrift games are few and far between at the moment but the IFComp is just about the only moment when Adrift games are played by a large number of normal persons, with commonly held IF beliefs, tastes or interests, and mainstreamers. I am glad that Adrift games are no longer de facto MS Windows games since IFComp 2011 thanks to ADRIFT WebRunner, as this year I am only rating entries with a “Play online” button. This game works seamlessly in my Android Firefox Focus, and note that the same cannot quite be said of Quixe, however, wink.
This game strives to give you a promising introduction, and the optimism that underlies this No-Man’s-Sky-esque concept approach and the very room descriptions are themselves no doubt inspiring, but things only scatter from there with its lackluster and repetitive gameplay. I expected, a collection of well-executed callbacks to older games, at least.
I would also recommend polishing the UI/look; this would benefit greatly from a little attention to the color scheme. And I discovered that several important commands were only briefly mentioned. For example:
➢ 5
You decide not to recruit a hero. They are not worth your time.
➢ 3
The dark matter currents have shifted. For better or worse, it is time to move on…
➢ move on
Sorry, I didn't understand that command.
Previous text said:
(We can make a single choice here, then we will have to move on. We can do that by typing "c" and then "l")
So, I noticed that I would have needed to memorize those commands. By the way, what is the purpose of using these two commands together, might I issue one command but not the other in certain moment?
The game had an attractive premise and, on the level of prose, a concise execution. However, interface design and implementation are too important to be treated the way this game treats them, and it suffers for it.
Iris Colt — Interactive Fiction 