Read My Stories or Die!

My favourite part of this game was the beginning; I found it to be quite funny. I also loved how the discs were so easy to find – there was ample foreshadowing that something more might be required of the reader. I did happen to notice that although six of the discs were picked up automatically, the one in the engine room needed to be clicked on manually. Also, even though the discs were described as being multicolored, they all had the same appearance. I presume the protagonist was looking at the underside of the discs, but some differences would have been nice. I loved the description of the different locations on the ship (the "space-sounding place", for example, or the "radioactive red herring" in the engineering room). The dialogue on the first few pages of this section was also hilarious. Overall, the tone of this part of the story was excellent.

The premise of this game is that the player must find seven discs, each of which contain a short story written by the ship's previous captain (Marizal). Before blasting herself into the Sun, she decides to set the ship on a similar course. There is only one way to revert your direction: to *gasp* read through the seven short stories, and demonstrate basic reading comprehension. To the protagonist, this is a detestable task, comparable to meeting a burning demise.

I was a bit surprised that the stories took on a different tone than the rest of the game. Most of them took place in a fantasy setting, with one exception (which was more of a sci-fi dystopia). They were all extremely well-written. Grammar mistakes were rare, and the prose flowed very well. I did feel like the pacing was a bit slow in some of them: perhaps they might be improved by adding more suspense into their beginnings. However, the endings for each story were very well thought-out, and carefully foreshadowed by the titles. I've left some brief thoughts on each of these pieces below.

The Only Peace Possible: The premise of this story is interesting: Earth is war-stricken, and you – as well as several thousand other people – are travelling on a ship to a new planet. The captain of the ship begins by delivering a speech asking for its passengers to never again go to war, everyone having seen the tragedies that have struck their families and loved ones on their previous planet. (SPOILERS): The story made me sad, but I think that was the point. I wasn’t expecting that out of Carl, and I felt the betrayal experienced by the captain. The title was very fitting. This was probably my favourite one of the seven.

Little Things: The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning. However, the world-building and characterization was very well done. (SPOILERS): The twist at the end was quite clever. I especially liked the line about ‘details’, and how it matched up with the title.

All Aloft: Loved the quiz for this one.

A Dragon Comes Calling: I think the dragon was my favourite character. The dialogue was well-written. I liked the conversation between the thief and the creature, at the end.

Snow White, Blood Red: A nice title, again. The main characters in this one were just so innocent…

Bait and Switch: (SPOILERS): I really liked this one. The pacing was good, and I wasn’t expecting the double twist! Good job pulling that off in such a short piece.

Death’s Shadow: I really enjoyed this one, too. The ending was fitting, considering the premise. Including Death as a character in your story is an interesting premise. This was probably my second favourite of the seven.

The ending of your story (after the protagonist finishes reading through all seven short stories) is nice, too, but I really wish it had been longer. You’re really good at writing humour, and I was hoping to see more of it. I think you could improve this by adding a few more pages to it. It was still good, though.

Solid job overall. 6/8.

Even though it’s another tale in the wonderful world of CYStia, I’m going to comment like it were any other story. You’re going to read it... or die!

Well, nothing like a casual dropping of the “C” word to grab your attention in a story. At least for us Americans, it sticks out. Them Brits use it every other word in their sentences. The narrator in the story has a sassy voice. One might call them a “C U Next Tuesday” as well. Cunts aside, the tone fits the story perfectly. It’s sort of a mix between a reluctant groan (not groin) and belittlement.

I was wondering how conflict would be introduced in a mock story like this and it was done well. It’s no secret from the opening page that Captain Marizal is the primary villain. Her evilness knows no bounds as she expects the crewmembers of CYStia to actually read. Evil at its finest. What kind of ship does she think this is? Anyway, the title of the storygame becomes very real. You’re sent, well more forced, on a mission to find and read the Captain’s stories or you will explode.

It was hilariously easy to find all the disks. I think Captain Marizal made it that way on purpose. I guess if you want people to read your writing, you should make it easy to find. The realism checks out. Then comes the hard part for the reader. Actually reading it. I suppose a cheater could utilize the “back” button to easily go back and find the answers to the questions. Luckily, the crew members of the USS CYStia are full of integrity and would never do that, right? Also, you get the option to answer the question again if you got it wrong. Guess she really wants you to read her damn stories. I can’t help but think the outdated Data Reader is a metaphor for the site. Actually, I know it is. Fun(ny) storygame here. Even if Captain Marizal is kind of a bitch, her writing is top-notch quality.

This story was fucking fantastic! The first two pages had me laughing so hard my girlfriend asked me if I was high, the short stories were interesting and kept me captivated (at times I almost forgot I was hurtling towards the sun) and the last page honestly made me wish I had just said fuck it and let our impending deaths happen.

I like to envision we all mutinied and was able to kill the new AI captain, not even caring as she spent her final moments shutting down the life support and patching an audiobook reading of the stories 'for us to enjoy' in our final moments...

Ahem. 8/8 hands down!

Its good, the only thing i would reccomend wound be better paragraph spacing

Marizal... I wonder who that is... ??

You monster! Forcing people to read your stories or face their utter demise!

In a serious note, this was an interesting story, literally full of interesting stories. So, not bad at all. The questions certainly tested my memory of aspects that I've read, and that made this story-game something intricate and a closely read affair to say the least.

Certainly not a bad read, and certainly a good one is what I have to say about this at the end of the day.

Bravo, mizal.

Hilarious from beginning to end. I would actually like to see storygames made from the mini stories written by Mariazal because they were actually a delight to read. Overall, great game 8/8.

See now, we've come a long way from this ship to the mighty battlecruiser that is now orbiting Infinity!

So, this was hilarious from start to finish, and it reminded me of when I am trying to explain to students that it's *only three pages you can stay awake while you read them* and they just look at me with horror and a single drop of saliva pooling at the corner of their mouth.

I laughed at the space blow and space weed. But I lost it somewhere in the middle of A Dragon Comes Calling, and then I double lost it when I opened the supply closet.

It is not easy to write good comedy, but the tone of the narrative voice (weary, pissed off, sort of vaguely-amused-but-might-punch-you) and the can't-deal-with-this-exposition-shit of even the item descriptions nails it.

Liked it a lot
8/8 without thinking it.

I couldn't help but enjoy the main backstory almost as much as the short stories, plot twists included.
8/8