and are YOU a fan of Interactive Fiction, such as Fallen London, or Ulysses? (The novel, not the general or Fallout character) And finally, do YOU enjoy Leftist politics? Well then I have the perfect thing for you! You should play Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen! Play as the SPD! (Back when they were cool) Reconcile with the Communists! Reform the police! Deport Hitler! Accidentally make another totalitarian dictatorship but it’s fine because your people are in charge now! Plunge Germany into a years-long civil war! Form the European Union early! Fix the Economy, through a variety of different Economic Plans! Or don’t fix the Economy! Whatever floats your boat! Play it! It’s free and can be accessed in your browser! It gave me a Weimar Germany hyperfixation!
DISCLAIMER: I AM IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, AFFILIATED WITH THE GAME OR AUTUMN CHEN. I JUST REALLY LIKE IT.
You are the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1928. Can you stop the Nazis from taking power?
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============= Synopsis
A woman alone in a dying city, on a dying world. What will be left when it all falls apart?
The Archivist and the Revolution is a slice-of-life/romance/history simulator set in a far-future sealed city that has undergone cycles of destruction and revival. You play as Em, a middle-aged woman who is no longer an archivist, as she struggles with rent payments, chronic illness, and the remnants of past relationships.
============= Other Info
The Archivist and the Revolution is a Dendry* game, submitted to the 2022 Edition of the IFComp. It ranked 4th overall.
*Autumn is also an unofficial maintainer of the Dendry format.
CW: optional sexual content, illness, death, transphobia, homophobia.
============= Playthrough
First Played: 6-Oct-2022
Last Played: 05-Aug-2023
Playtime: around 2h (multiple endings)
Rating: 5 /5
Thoughts: Some glimmer of hope in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future...
============= Review
This is a Post-Comp Version review. Also maybe biased because I really like Autumn's work.
In a far future, after centuries of conflict, the Earth's population has been reduced to small communities stuck inside arcologies (city domes). In one of them, lives Em, an Archivist (sorta), trying to survive the best she can (sorta), and maybe (re)form relationships to better her situation. Throughout the game, you must ensure Em is on top of her duties and health.
Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.
As with her other Dendy games, A&R works in layers. On the surface, it is a resource management game, where your savings, energy level (hidden), mental and physical health (hidden) must be minded when organising one's day or spending.
While you have agency in this, how far you can go with the different actions will depend on whether you've unlocked certain storylets, or Em's current health at the time. Since she has chronic issues, you won't be allowed to churn through hundreds of files for your job, or even do anything at times.
Underneath, two other mechanics come to play: the relationship/storylet aspect with Em's old acquaintances, and the archiving loop, Em's job. Both will affect Em's survival (savings/health) and the ending of the game.
The first is relatively similar to Autumn's previous Dendry games, in which a side-story will be parsed throughout the game, requiring the player to meet specific characters multiple times to uncover the story at large. In this game, clearing more than one path in a playthrough is quite doable.
The latter is a mechanic I had not really seen before in an IF game, but one I enjoyed greatly. Your job entails decrypting and archiving files, each with a specific code (hint hint), requiring to be either placed in a specific slot or discarded (or you can keep it for yourself). Combing through the documents were quite fun.
The first time I played the game, I thought I could survive all on my own, leaving past relationships where they were, focusing only on my job and keeping myself afloat. I remember it being incredibly stressful (I almost cried when Em was on the brink of eviction). Everything felt hopeless, and the almost-clinical-at-times prose, as well as the UI, accentuated that feeling.
This time around, I followed Autumn's advice and shamelessly begged my acquaintances for money. I didn't want to recreate that very anxious feeling I had the last time - and wanted to see what else I had missed. Indeed, it was much less stressful to go through. I didn't really have to worry about money (thanks A-), I didn't have to exhaust myself with work, and I could explore more different facets of Em's life (her past relationships, herself, how she had to navigate the world). The world is still wretched, but there is more hope. You almost believe that surviving through it is... doable.
The storylets manages to offer a bit of levity in this wretched world, in which Em can find a community helping others, rekindle her relationship with a (re)closeted trans person, rekindle her relationship with her ex who you had a child with. In (re)making connections, you can learn more about your past and how you (don't) fit in this world. You can go on a date, cook with someone, spend time with your child... have a "normal" life.
I quite enjoyed how grounded and raw these storylets felt. They, at times, seemed like a commentary on our present, with the tribalism of social media, the lack of trust in the news, the grueling life under capitalism, and the treatment of transfolks. Strip away the sci-fi/post-apocalyptic future, and they could could be right at home with our current time.
I still hated the news part... its description changing the 'a form of self harm' was on point considering the comments...
Even if you don't interact with anyone, you can still learn about the world and your place in it through the notes (essentially a Codex page) or DNA files you decode. From old recovered chats between yourself and other characters, science articles, old journal entries, and documents regarding the Arcology's founder - Liana -, you can build together a bleak image about the world, the state of the environment and human condition, filled with disenchantment and conflict.
Depending on what you do with your day, you may find some Easter Eggs, like the TV Series you can watch or the Games you can play, little winks to Autumn's other games. Some characters of the game, made obvious by their names, share a resemblance to ones from the Pageantverse.
With the implementation of the Autosave, I was able to reach a lot more endings than the first time around, especially less bleak ones, without having to replay the game. Those endings are highly dependent on the actions you took during the game, some being sweet (especially with K-), some being maybe critical (imo A-'s, Alone), and one specifically blew my mind (Ending 1 - didn't find before).
Ending 1 is by far the most interesting one in my book. While it might seem a bit like a Deux Ex Machina or coming from out of nowhere (depending on your playthrough it may feel like a whiplash), it is the one that has not left my brain since I've replayed the game - maybe because of how strikingly different it is from the others. I think this ending might work best if connections with other characters were not made. It also made me wonder whether Em's life would have been that different if her arcology was still in contact with the others, or whether contact was severed between all arcologies. Honestly, it brought a lot of questions about the world after reading through (sequel of Ending 1, when?).
I don't know if there is a point or a moral to the game. If I were to give one to it, it would be that communities are important for people to thrive, maybe even necessary, and that the world can be a very difficult place when you keep to yourself, worse when your situation is dire in the first place. Even if it seems bleak, there is a glimmer of hope and goodness there...
============= Old Review
Can we code DNA to make data storage?
I enjoy Autumn’s games and (re-)played all her other publications this year (after being introduced through A Paradox Between Worlds). So I was excited for her entry this year too!
Although it is supposed to be placed in a bleak almost apocalyptic future, there seems to be references to some sort of post-Covid period, the current inflation (especially housing) and the treatment of transpeople. Or at least this was the vibe I got from it. A strong feeling of almost hopelessness oozes from the prose (though you can end with a more hopeful/positive ending if you play it right). I almost cried when I didn’t make the rent and saw the amount just jump…
Like Autumn other games, there is a focus on the relationship between the different characters and on MC’s conditions (mental and physical). It is a bit hard to go through (the trigger warnings are warranted) but it does offer an interesting exploration on how to survive when your situation looks this dire. The news items are heart-breaking… but I hated the comments even more.
The Archiving mechanic is really interesting. Reading each file (some being contemporary pieces) as if they were bits and pieces from an ancient time is disturbing (but in a good way). The filing section is simple when you get the hang of it, but it does its job as it’s supposed to. I don’t know if this has been mentioned in the other reviews but: the code for the DNA strings are related to which category you are supposed to file it in and or the origin of the document, W being wikipedia. If you ever wanted to make the filing more difficult, you could add subsections to each categories
But, when you take into account the small resource management (you being the resource to take care of), the simplicity of the archiving makes things a bit easier to go through. I think I would have liked some sort of “action points” or “energy level” bar to see how much more I could do that day (but that is almost the only issue I have with the game, and it’s not even an issue really).
The inclusion of a walkthrough is very welcomed, as each ending requires widely different paths to take. I also liked the background changing depending on where the character was physically (outside, in the room, working…) and the way the pictures were edited enhances the feeling of things not being quite right.
I also like the small link between this entry and the previous games (which was made obvious to me by following the progress of this game on the author’s personal blog)
Overall, this was a great entry, and I hope our future is not as bleak as this one.
IFDB - Game - @cyberpunklesbian
Note: this was a La Petite Mort entry, and submitted to the Bare-Bones Jam
Summary: ConfigurationUploader is a program for uploading configurations.
When I saw the game pop up on my feed, I honestly thought Autumn had built a new program and had just uploaded a legit but bare documentation for it. But now, this is an actual IF, pure science fiction (I hope...) bundled up in an unusual format.
The whole gameplay feels like going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole (you know the ones, where you open links on the current page into a new tab to read later, because who knows if you'll find them again, and now your browser is lagging and it is 5h later) mixed with an incomplete and obtuse documentation for a program that doesn't exist (at least here) and doesn't seem to have a clear use (by going from the starting page/game blurb).
As you go deeper into the pages, finding that this program was lead by a university professor and eir students (some of which have left the projects in suspicious ways), it is possible to piece the mystery together (or the big picture at least). The implications of what is afoot is quite frightening, and bleak.
See other games by Autumn or follow her @cyberpunklesbian
============= Synopsis
It is 1937, or the 26th year of the Chinese Republic. In the city of Tianjin, nine-year olds Zhang Xiaoyun and Yan Yan struggle to survive through the Japanese invasion, the civil war, and beyond.
============= Other Info
Great-grandmother and the war is a Twine (Harlowe) game. This was the first piece from this author.
Status: Completed
Genre: Historical, LGBT, War, Romance
CW: /
Note: war, death, execution, famine
============= Playthrough
First Played: 7-Aug-2022
Last Played: 25-May-2023
Playtime: around 2h+
Rating: 5 /5
Thoughts: An episodic bittersweet tale of struggles, pains, but also love and family.
============= Review
Great-grandmother and the war is a story within a story, following Lan/Christine Zhang (referred as Lan/Christine below) listening to her great-grandmother (Zhang Xiaoyun, referred as Zhang below) recounting the tale of her meeting Yan as a child, growing up during the Sino-Japanese war, and her survival. It is a mix of hyperlinks and choice-based interactive fiction.
Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.
I couldn't help myself and heard the post-mortem before laying down my thoughts...
From the start, you are informed the story will have three distinct part, each with the possibility to start from the main screen. Those parts depict different period of Zhang's life throughout the Sino-Japanese conflict, through her retelling to Lan, her great-granddaughter: during the bombing of Tianjin, where Zhang is just a child having to leave everything behind; under the Japanese's rule, during which Zhang lives in a girls' boarding school, having lost contact with her family and struggling with her identity and emotions; and starting from China's liberation at the end of WWII, where snippets of Zhang's adult life is described, as she yearns to find who she considers to be her family.
An interesting parallel to this is that Lan/Christine experiences the retelling of her great-grandmother's life at a similar age Zhang is supposed to be during the story and facing mirroring those events, as Lan is about to move to the Americas as a child, then coming back as a teenagers struggling with her identity (changing her name being a major point), and as an adult reconnecting with her family after many years apart.
An other important character I have yet to mention here is Yan. First finding and following Zhang (or pushing Zhang to overcome her anxiety about the situation), then staying with her at the boarding school where she ends up getting involved with the local revolutionary group (and romantically with Zhang), before leaving Zhang behind in the final part to join the Communists. Yan and Zhang do manage to find each other twice after that (both by chance), with the final meeting reigniting their relationship, until Yan's death.
From the writing of things, it is clear the story stems from a very personal one (see post-mortem), from the questioning of one's identity and place in the world, the yearning for connection (family/lovers), to one's survival in strange times. There awkwardness in some of the dialogues (aside from Zhang's awkwardness), which I found very touching, and somewhat added to Zhang's struggles with adapting to the changes outside of her home/of the boarding school or of her relationship with Yan (stranger to closer to lovers to cold to strangers to family). It also made the more romantic passages all the stronger.
Another interesting thing with the depiction of these characters is how opposite Zhang and Yan are from one another. While one is very shy and awkward, the other was social and outgoing; one comes from a comfortable bourgeois setting with little thoughts(?) about social order, the other a lowly orphan* with strong communist leanings; one needs to be pushed to move with her life**, while the other kind of takes life by the balls. Like the saying goes, opposites attract...
*well kinda...
**you do have active choices, but her character seemed to be a bit more of a pushover, especially compared with Yan.
It took me a while to grasp it, but Zhang mentioning how she sees Yan in her great-granddaughter felt more of a wish than a parallel (at least I wasn't seeing it as clearly as Zhang did): finding a friend in a strange new place and adapt to changes, discovering yourself and be more vocal about your identity, reforming bonds with family.
Additional context about an event, a location or a character is hidden behind hyperlinks, where "present time" Zhang or Lan/Christine will interject/get cleared/ask more question... This also sometimes strengthen the parallel between Zhang and Lan/Christine and the bond they have for one another.
There was quite a bit of abruptness within each part of the game where time/location jumps a bit out of nowhere. It is more forgivable in the first part, as child Zhang might be a bit confused by what is happening around or more by what it means. But in the second and third parts, those abruptness feels like something is missing (as in something had been planned for scrapped up at the end, which was confirmed by the author). Still, one could write it off as the great-grandmother forgetting bits of her history as she gets older (and maybe senile) or repressed memories from that traumatic period in her life (in one bit, the missing explanation through a hyperlink is filled in by an uncle).
The game ends bittersweetly, with a visit to the family memorial, where great-grandmother Yan is now buried. Yet, there is this sort of hopeful future that emanates from it, as sunrays break through the rain-heavy clouds...
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============= Synopsis
It is the year 201X, and the Nebulaverse fandom is on fire. You are a teen online, and your safe place is about to be torn apart.
A Paradox Between Worlds is a game about fandoms, internet melodrama, and the stories we create for ourselves.
============= Other Info
A Paradox Between Worlds APBW is a ChoiceScript interactive game, submitted to the 2021 Edition of the IFComp. This was Autumn's first entry to the competition, and it ranked 10th overall. It also won the Banana of Discord (entry with the biggest standard deviation in votes).
Status: Completed*
Genre: Slice-of-Life, LGBT, Internet Culture
An updated version is in the work (find a non-stable version here)
CW: Transphobia, including allusions to real-life events. Internet harassment and abuse. References to illness, death, and suicide. Interpersonal conflicts and discourse. Contextual content warnings are included in-game.
Note: some posts are optional to read.
============= Playthrough
First Played: December 2021
Last Played: 28-May-2023
Playtime: around +3h (one playthrough)
Rating: 5 /5
Thoughts: A nostalgic snapshot of Tumblr fandom, a critical look at community interactions with controversies, and a love letter to the things left behind.
============= Review
As a fan of the Chronicles of the Shadow Nebula, a fictional book series by G. T. Macmillan, you have been involved in the Nebulaverse fandom on a Tumblr-like platform. You are also an aspiring Nebula fanfiction writer, looking for fame and adoration in the community (well, at least some likes). Soon, however, the fandom in thrown into chaos, when an event blurs the lines between online and IRL. What follows is an exploration of fandom culture, identities, and internet personas.
Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.
To this day, I am still baffled about how this game was able to recreate the vibes of Tumblr fandom from the 2010s (I shouldn't be surprised considering the references). From the old Tumblr Blue to the very virulent fandom conflicts, or the fan-organised conversions, or the always-left-behind character (sorry, Tycho), APBW perfectly encapsulate a prolific time of fandom culture.
It was kind of nostalgic to me, having lived through quite a bit of the Supernatular/Doctor Who/Sherlock shenanigans... Though I was not really into the fanfic side of it all.
But APBW is more than a snapshot of the very fascinating ecosystem of Tumblr fandom. It is also a commentary* on how the relationship between a piece of work and its fans change overtime, especially when a ripple in the fanbase, like a mundane headcanon post, creates a storm as the author of the work gets involved (and not for the better). Raising questions (but not answering) about what fans would do in this situation: do they keep on enjoying the work that is so deeply personal to them (maybe even have helped explore their identify) or do they disavow it completely; do they band together in support of the victim/targeted group or do they have a blasé attitude about the issue; do they try to keep the fandom community alive and stand as one or do they become fragmented**;...
*might not have been the author's intent, but this was my perception.
**the death of fandoms are... something. It was very bittersweet to kind of relieve it.
It gets even more shocking/impactful when the OP of the post identifies as trans and the author goes on a (inter-?)national broadcast spewing transphobic rhetoric*, leading to the teenager being harassed and abused. The fandom (and online communities at large)'s reaction is very troubling, but neither new not surprising. From the hard-core fans who will support the author no matter what, the ones who will question any actions trying to show support for the targeted group (like a boycott), the ones who will not engage with the drama, or the ones who roll their eyes at it because they were calling out the author all along**... this is a real thing that happens. And is portrayed in this game with all the visceral intensity you'd find on Tumblr/Twitter/other social media.
*the author made it clear that it wasn't about JKR in the postmortem (there are more transphobes authors out there), but when the shoe fits/it still is topical...
** I see you Karla!
Even without the author (GTM) adding onto the fire (which was already sparking before their disgusting action), the games portrayed the parasocial relationships between the fandom users, how even adults can get caught up in what people would think as petty teenage drama, or how being online is not just an escape from IRL problems, feels very real. I have personally seen those call-out posts between fanfic authors about plagiarism, those fake-pologies to calm down the fandom in hopes everyone forgets, the "kid-friendly" spaces still filled with inappropriate/problematic contents, the Discourse, the fights between people not following the conventions of interaction*...
*Tumblr introducing the disabling of the reblog function was a blessing
Even if the online characters are based on tropes, they all have their stories to piece together: the self-proclaimed fandom mom, whose chronically online presence hides her avoidance to live her life truthfully*, the supportive adult who plays a double-role to take down bigger name accounts**, the always critical-puts herself in the discourse-calls out the shitty stuff-overall is kind of a bummer (but a correct bummer), and the kids who just want some space for themselves. I have followed this people before (have I been those too?), I have had those weird-ass URL, I have been in those fandom fights... It was not just real, it felt being right back in those communities.
*I really didn't like Claire, but the more I've been thinking about their arc, the more I find her arc compelling. Her shitty actions still isn't fully balanced by the end, but there is some steps taken in the right direction.
**I honestly didn't see it either times I played... handing in my detective gear in shame...
And then there is you, the player, trying to navigate the dumpster fire that is the Nebula fandom as you want to reach your goal of writing a fanfiction* and gain a bit of notoriety (I did manage to double my followers count in this playthrough :P), balancing your relationship between the different users you follow**, and your relationship with the Nebula universe. You can choose you name, your pronouns, your URL, your favourite character, your ship, the reason why you are creating fanfic, and what kind of post your blog is filled with. But your character is not the focus of this game (the above paragraphs are).
*I, of course, titled mine A Paradox Between Worlds
**interact with users enough to receive special messages or get invited into secret group chats
This PC-is-not-the-MC is reflected in the fanfiction you are "writing", as each part reminds you/Gali this is not your story. Gali moves on from one universe to the other*, finding different versions of [their] friends entangled in trope-y AU** and feeling out of place/alone/like an outsider every single time (like You the player might feel this way in the Nebula community). Your actions defines the ship you have in your writing, as well as the quality of the writing***. The focus on senses at the start of each new scene made me giggle a bit, from a parser "player" perspective.
*the multi-verse take was so meta, with APBW having the Canon/Fanfiction/Online universes in play. Autumn, your mind!!!
**I didn't really noticed it, but that's because I was more focused on the Online drama. The trope could have been more obvious/on-the-nose
***though I think this might be the same for everyone?
As the drama of the Nebula community unfolds, you find yourself struggling with writing/finishing the fan-fiction, reflecting on the feelings you have about the series itself considering the author's comments. In my playthrough, I pushed through, and found... myself, as the Destroyer (the Nebula baddie), meeting Gali, reminding [them] it is not [their] story, telling [them] the story is about to end, that maybe it should never have existed in the fist place... and that maybe you learned some lessons along the way... Writing the last part of the fanfiction hit me like a ton a brick, and made me question how I have consumed and created content in the past.
Finally*, there is the Canon. Each movement/chapter starts with a snippet of The Chronicles of the Shadow Nebula to contextualise the fandom, but also give some sort of preview of what is to come in the Online universe (very much a Cassandra vibe to them...). Though the author has mentioned the influence coming mainly from Homestuck**, I found more similarities with other YA universes (HP***, Divergent, or any YA-series-with-a-house/class-system-having-to-fight-a-big-baddie, and even a bit of the Hunger Games...). I dove into the codex in the stats page and devoured it, finding nuggets of gold and trying to link it to works I knew. One of my favourite bit: the Selene Dione character who is a Hannah Montana parody.
*lol, i've organised this in the reverse of how you experience each part in game...
**that's mainly because I never got into Homestuf that I didn't pick up on those references
***especially the main gang...
I don't know how to conclude this review. So I will leave with the final chat you can have with the gang: no one goes through character arcs like the books, IRL is messy and not everyone wants to share this part of themselves online, growing up is hard but so is growing apart from something that was important for you, moving on is also part of life...
So yea...
Go play this game.
=====> Some random notes I didn't know how to include:|
Changing the colour scheme to subtly announce the change of universe was smart (on top of the obvious title).
I thought naming each chapters as Movements was a good call. It reminded me of symphonies whose moments will bring out different intensity from the instruments (akin to the vibes of each chapters).
On top of the fake-canon chapters, the title of each moments and the quotes were a cry for what to expect.
This game is not about subtlety and I still missed a bunch of signs. Loved that arc for me. (no joke, it's great that it's not subtle about all this)
[A/N] will forever be Autumn/Nebula to me. Fight me in the comments.
The fucking weather reports on the vibe of the community when you log in... that's it, that's the post.
The commentary of the community that the last Nebula book will be a CYOA where all the endings are canon lfwahngnajknf;wmfgA"PKfgn
The used Tumblr blue felt odd to me for the longest time... until I realised I was there in a different time, and that made me feel old... (also relevant Autumn post about said Tumblr colours)
The NebulaCon gave me war flashbacks... it gave me DashCon vibes but lower stakes. (its fall might have been a bit too... quick? but the explosion chef kiss)
Even if I wasn't part of the fanfic culture, the initial clashes between Luna and Claire felt very much like the settled oldie/newcomers fight you have in any community (which apparently was supposed to be the major focus), and it's weirdly nice that it's never resolved...
the lorde references, omg. Pure Heroine still is one of her best EP, and the title achievements were chef kiss x3
Luna was my favourite character, hands down. I wanted to wrap her in a blanket, give her a cup of a hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a peck on the forehead. Teary eye when she thanked me in a post.
the fucking colour of the sky post. I swear to God If I see this post again I will scream!!!! Anyway, there should have been more of them, like the meme'd versions (especially the bee movie version).
I was honestly tempted to frame this review using the Shrek Onion Meme to be on theme... but I'll spare everyone. You're weeeeelcome.
Entry - IFDB - More by Autumn - @cyberpunklesbian
CW: COVID-19 pandemic
A Raw Snippet of the Early Pandemic
As the months pass and people seem to move on from the health crisis that changed the lives of millions, the early days of the pandemic seem like a distant mirage of a time. Stuck at home (some of us), away from loved ones, crushed under the uncertainty of recovery... there was a lot do deal with. And this entry manages to capture a raw snippet of those early days, when there was more uncertainty about the virus and how to deal with it than known knowledge.
Set in the Pageant universe as some sort of sequel, we catch up with Karen, who obviously is not handling being cooked up at home well. From her characterisation in the previous installments, this truly feels like the correct continuation of her personality: still depressed, still a mess, still unable to communicate her feelings (or just period).
Unable to sleep, she meets up with Emily, her somewhat-girlfriend-but-maybe-not-really - Karen is always questioning labels when it comes to her relationship with others (case and point: Miri). Even with Emily's reassurance, Karen does not shy away from falling into unhealthy choices (well, you can't affect that part of the story). Honestly, she's a bit of a dick there.
I've also noticed how similar Karen and Em are, especially when Em unloaded her worries about relationships in general, the want to both be present around people and disappear without leaving a trace, or struggling with her feelings at time and what they mean. It is interestingly very similar to what is expressed from Karen throughout the text, though Em handles it probably more healthy by actually communicating all of this.
Removing player agency from the game is not new in Autumn's Games, often used to depict the character's inability to perform a certain task, whether it be because of external forces (e.g. friend is asleep), physical health (e.g. can't hug your girlfriend during a pandemic), or mental reasons (i.e. Karen is a mess) - with those reasons often styled in a self-deprecating manner (a Karen's guarantee).
Half-way through the game, there is an interesting point made about choices. While you only have a small choice at the end, the story refers quite a bit to past actions, and how they affected others. There is a heavy sense of regret from having done some actions or failed to do those, with hindsight and time adding onto those guilty feelings. It feels so... real, and human, and it hurts.
Got to say, studying viruses and immunology during the pandemic must do a number on your mental healthy, and affect your faith in humanity...
Play the game
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See other games by Autumn or follow her @cyberpunklesbian
============= Synopsis
Your name is Qiuyi (Karen?) Zhao, and you’ve just been signed up by your parents for a beauty pageant. You’re not ready, not even close, but you don’t have a choice. But perhaps you can make the best of it. Maybe it’s the one opportunity to create a “hook” for your college application. Maybe you can reinvent yourself, get rid your anxiety and become someone new. Or maybe you can find true love (or some approximation thereof).
============= Other Info
Pageant is a Dendry* game, first published in 2018 and completed in 2020.
*Autumn is also an unofficial maintainer of the Dendry format.
Status: Completed
Genre: Dating-sim, Slice-of-life, LGBT
CW: /
Note: homo/trans-phobia, talks of suicide, passing out from exhaustion, anxiety.
============= Playthrough
First Played: Some time in 2022?
Last Played: 27-May-2023
Playtime: around +2h(-ish) - two proper playthroughs
Rating: 5 /5
Thoughts: Winning the pageant is not everything, but the journey is worth the anxiety.
============= Review
Pageant follows Qiuyi (Karen) Zhao (mentioned as Karen below), a Chinese teenager living in the US, as she navigates through school and extra-curriculars, relationships and identity, family expectations and community, and the pageant her parents signed up for. Through limited storylets choice, you can carve Karen's priorities and relationships.
Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.
Did I once again read the Post-Mortem before writing this? Yes. Couldn't help myself. Also this is a bit more eclectic, tried hard to put my thoughts in order, didn't workl...
Pageant was created with Dendry, a storylet narrative program, where the player get to experience linear side-stories in fragmented way. Every week, the player can pick up to three options from the storylet lists to start or continue a path. As the list is often longer than three options, the player is forced to make choices and prioritise a certain path (a recurring gameplay type in Autumn's games). This makes for great and interesting replayability!
The story start with Karen being summoned by her parents, revealing that they signed her up for a pageant, happening in three months. There is no bargaining no quitting (it's good for college apps!). In three months, Karen will be on that podium*. During that prep period, she still needs to balance school (a full AP curriculum), the Science Olympiad, doing an understudy with a college professor (also set up by your parents), having dinner with your family, going to bible study on the weekend, and etc... Doesn't this sound like too much for a high school student? And was it yet mentioned that Karen is a socially awkward mess, who has trouble making relationships, is full of anxiety and self-loathing, struggling with her identity as a Chinese teenager in the US (her used name not being her birthname, and having the option to butcher your name's pronunciation) and a closeted lesbian (or something like that says the game).
*well, there is a way.
Along the way you are introduced to a handful of characters: Emily, a trans woman still in the closet, Aubrey, a girl Karen had a crush on also part of the Science Olympiad team, and Miri, Karen's only friend. There is also Karen's parents and her little brother, Kevin; Professor Chen and his grad student; the rest of the Science Olympiad Team; and the other families attending the Church. Through out the game (and your choices) you get to learn more about these characters, like how Emily deals with her family's trans/homophobia, or Miri's feelings towards you, your family's history...* The storylets really shine here, giving you crumbles here and there, forcing you to piece those back together (and forces you down a certain path to learn everything).
*Even after playing multiple times, I have yet to found all variations.
And at the centre of it all, Karen, the very flawed teenager. Yet, even with her self-deprecation and anxious spirals, with the awkward way she interacts with other people, with dealing with different cultural values and expectations about her life, or with her inability to stand up to herself (partly because of her guilt of "having it easy" compared to older generations), Karen stays a character you want to root for. You want to help her win that pageant and be more sure of herself. You want her to be more confident in her identity (and get a girlfriend). You want her to find her passions (in science?) and win accolades. You want to pluck her from her stressful world, wrap her in a blanket, kiss her on her forehead, and tell her that everything will be ok.
The whole game is filled with such genuine interactions, with teenagers blurting out their deepest secrets to strangers, declaring their love to one another even after but a few meetings, being self-loathing with a self they don't recognise or don't want to be anymore but unable to leave that shell, trying to handle the stress and anxiety of the expectations of others and not being able to reach those. And those are made all the more vibrant through Karen's inability to react "properly". Faced with bad and worse choices, you get to experience that anxiety of what would happen if I say or do the wrong thing. It feels genuine, because it feels real and lived through.
As the ending came around, and you get the rundown of Karen's actions, it felt like, while winning the pageant is definitely one/the goal, the journey was much sweeter than the destination. And that's what keeps making me want to come back to it...
Some other notes:
The visual of Dendry is quite reminiscent of ChoiceScript games, with its simple and contrasting colours and choice box or its achievements list; as well as Ink games in the story/storylets parts, as the text linked to the chosen option is appended to the main body, breaking only when the storylet ends and you need to pick another one or the story needs a break. It's honestly fun to see how two program can be merged (visually) and work this way.
There's kind of a fun parallel between Pageant and Great-grandmother and the war in the way the characters of Karen and Emily are portrayed similarly to Zhang and Yan. The first is socially awkward, introverted and filled with anxiety; the second is out-going, harbouring a secret, and yearning to live their truth. But this is only obvious if you do interact with Emily in this game.
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============= Synopsis
A collection of anecdotes about a troubled Kickstarter production
============= Other Info
All or Nothing (1973) is a Dendry* short game, submitted to the Goncharov Game Jam**.
*
**Autumn was also the organiser of this jam.
Status: Completed
Genre: Unreality, Goncharov, Slice-of-Life, Meta
CW: /
Note: cheating, mention of violence/death
============= Playthrough
First Played: December 2022
Last Played: 3-Jun-2023
Playtime: around 20mins
Rating: 4 /5
Thoughts: Give your All and get Nothing...
============= Review
Adding to the Goncharov craze of November 2022, All or Nothing (1973) takes on a meta commentary approach on internet trends, the cashing out on said trends*, and artistic creation. Set during an undefined present, we discover through snippets a group of four adults are putting together a trailer for a Kickstarter project to create a Goncharov movie, competing with other crowd-sourced project on the same idea.
*which, lol, considering the jam
Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.
The game starts as a rendition of a scene for a Goncharov movie*, being shot, formatted like a script and with a dark edited picture. You get to choose some options about where the scene goes until one of the characters yells CUT, following one of the actors fumbling his lines. The scene moves to real life (change in background and font), as the crew bickers about the production. The game will continue flipping between the dark setting while the scenes are shot and the brighter background of real life, announcing the transitions**.
*which is not a real thing, just to be clear...
**until... movie and reality are but one.
We are introduced to a four-member crew shooting materials for a Kickstarter campaign: Arash - playing Goncharov - the director of this whole enterprise and maybe a bit too obsessed with the project, Vivian - playing Katya - the scriptwriter who is disillusioned with making it in the industry, Tony - playing Andrey - looking for a paycheck, and Sofia - playing Sofia* - also here mainly for a paycheck**.*This made me laugh so hard.
**I think? It's not as explicit as Tony. Maybe some connection or support?
Like most of Autumn's games, All or Nothing (1973) takes a storylet approach to the storytelling of the downtime of the crew (about 2-3 scenes). You can follow two groups: Arash/Goncharov and Tody/Andrey, or Vivian/Katya and Sofia/Sofia. Each will discuss their view on the production, their worries and dreams, and what is happening in their lives.
Arash's method acting is worrying some of them or getting on their nerves, but he only cares about making art and be remembered*
*this is an interesting conversation between Tony and Arash on the subject, where fame doesn't seem to interest Arash if behind it there is no creative output to show for...
Vivian is starting to resent telling Arash (her boyfriend) about the meme and letting him string her along the production, while she questions whether she still want to even pursue this.
Sofia lives in a shitty studio with a baby, Tony looks to get paid* (and maybe more?).
*Unlike the other three characters, it didn't feel like there was much to Tony. Maybe being paired with Arash made him more of a background character...
By the second storylet, lines between the characters in the real world and in scenes start to blur. Vivian and Sofia comment on events being similar to struggles the Goncharov characters suffer through, while Arash and Tony lean more and more into the method acting (with Arash being much more into it). Like their movie counterpart (according to lore), both couple have the option of potentially leaning into the sexual tension in the air (with Vivian/Arash cheating on the other*).
*Funny thing, in the lore it is unclear whether either party knows about the cheating, condones it, or resents the other for it. Still they don't see each other separating because of it.
The line fully disappears when the real world characters embodies their scene counterparts so much during the height of filming, that neither Arash, Vivian, nor Tony realise Sofia's cries to stop the scene (even her holding her child do not phase them). At this point, the background does not even return to "real-life" mode.
While Tony and Vivian do manage to come back to their senses, Arash still stays in character, ending the game with I am Goncharov...
I really enjoyed figuring out that the characters' lives mirrors the ones they portrayed (though the exact lore is unclear one the specifics), with Vivian and Arash being a couple and playing Katya and Goncharov who are canonically together, Katya's dalliance with Sofia, Goncharov and Andrey contrasting identities (light/dark, naive/serious, free/taken...)... as well as trying to find the Goncharov themes (the clock, the gun, the boat...).
A final note: the game references two works: All or Nothing (which is incidentally the name of the game, paired with the fictional release year of Goncharov) and Miss Officer and Mr Truffles, two crowdfunding campaigns which started from a meme post on Tumblr making the rounds on the website. Neither managed to deliver an end product (the second never reached its goal). A bit of a wink to A Paradox between worlds there... Is it also foreshadowing the future of this project?
