TOOKiE'S SONG
Author: Jessica Knoch
Language: z-code
Genre: Science fiction
Score: 6
"TOOKiE's SONG" felt like a first attempt at IF from an author who has
talent and potential, they just need to be refined some. The game
started off on the very wrong foot with me when the first puzzle I
encountered was the water weird. This little obstacle was lifted almost
directly from an old Dungeons & Dragons choose your own adventure book,
"Dungeon of Dread". Borrowing ideas is one thing, but this was almost a
direct copy. As a result, I think it colored the rest of the game for
me. (The author confirmed that this was an unintentional
There were also a number of "huh?" situations... you know, a room or
item or occurrence that just makes you stop and go "Huh?" In the
starting room, the ceiling was so low that I banged my head into it if I
jumped. However, I couldn't grab the keys attached to the ceiling
without a ladder. The desc of the "dropping door" reads: 'You can't put
your finger on it, but something about the large door in the wall makes
you think of it as a "dropping" door. There is a row of colored leaves
hanging from the top of the door.' Is there really something that makes
me think of it that way, apart from the text saying there is? (The idea
was that by "dropping", this was a reference to "fall/autumn".) And
when I examine those leaves, the response I get is: 'See the row of
icicles text.' No no no, that is very bad. Was it really that hard to
make up a description for the leaves? I hadn't even encountered the
icicle door yet, which made it all the worse. I'm guessing this was
simply an oversight, that the reference to "icicles" text was a "to do"
note the author had written to herself.
Eddie's riddle, which I solved on my own, can only be answered a
particular way. You'd be surprised how many different ways you can write
10 o'clock AM. I tried "10 am", "10 a.m." and "10:00 a.m." before
checking the walkthrough and seeing that the only syntax accepted was "ten
a.m.". The egg riddle is so old and overexposed I sighed at finding it in
an IF game.
While the game did have its problems, it was still an amusing diversion.
I especially enjoyed the alliteration in the full score list. It's too
bad that cleverness wasn't consistently evident throughout the whole game.
(View this game on Baf's Guide to IF or The IF Ratings Site)
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