IF Comp: Blurbs and Intros

Every year, before I get started on my in-depth game playing for the IF Comp, I like to take a bit of time to ponder the blurbs (on the game info/voting page) and the introductions or openings to all the games. Here's my thoughts after doing this initial overview...

Blurbs: As usual, it's a mixed bag with the blurbs. Some authors don't provide any text, and yet I'm still intrigued (like with Mite, I'm excited just because it's Sara Dee, or Pen and Paint, because it's subtitled An Interactive Scribbling). Others totally suck me in with their titles and/or intros: How can I not want to play The People's Glorious Revolutionary Text Adventure Game? Or Flight of the Hummingbird? (These lighthearted entries are especially appealing in a year that seems loaded with heavy, life-or-death survival games). Also, what's with all the non-English titles? (Some seemed made up to me, but then turned out to be real, like Aotearoa and Erebus.)

Intros: I like to play the openings and just a little bit into all the games to get a better idea what they're about and to whet my appetite for what's to come. This involves checking out cover art (if any), reading the opening screen(s) and typing a command or two (or ten). Usually I try ABOUT or INFO whether prompted to at the beginning or not; I also do a quick X ME and I(nventory) and maybe a fun command like JUMP or SING to test for non-default responses. If I'm feeling so moved by the opening stuff, I may try a few more commands, examining or getting or going.

Playing the intros is always more informative than just reading the blurbs. Two games warned me they are for mature audiences (thanks for that, I'm not your audience so I won't be playing or voting on these). There were three games I played to an end (obviously not the ideal ending) in just a couple of minutes! (I quickly managed to incite a mob, have a flight mishap, and wet myself.) I'm most excited to return to Aotearoa (even if tutorial mode is a bit agressive in its helpfulness) and Death off the Cuff (which makes much more sense than how i first read the title as Death of  the Cuff). I liked Oxygen's intro way more than its blurb and am more interested in East Grove Hills now that I've seen the beginning. I'm still looking forward to Hummingbird, Pen and Paint, and Revolutionary.

So, on to the in-depth playing!