KOBOLD KEBABS

Holy Upton Sinclair, I did not expect this story to go the way it went. Anyway, for anybody with poor judgement who is reading a review to get an idea of the content of a story, I would describe this as a zany dark comedy set in a charmingly cliche fantasy world. Cooking and comical misunderstandings will ensue. All the following paragraphs will likely feature SPOILERS, so read no further if you have not completed the story.

First, I want to examine the narrator, because that was one of the most interesting parts of this storytelling process to me. Firstly, an argument could be made that this story would also fulfill the requirements of a "literally retarded protagonist." The protagonist definitely seems to be the perfect comedy protagonist in that they miss social cues when it's funny, but are fully capable of recognizing them elsewhere. The fact that the protagonist is completely unaware of greater kobold lore, or even the types of mushrooms in his own forest seems legitimate as a result. I suppose he was the target of a serial killer for a reason.

I think the thing that would set this story apart from most CYS stories is the inclusion of foods. I don't think that anyone would feel taken out of the world by the recipes. Assuming kobolds cook, the recipes you used were very kobold. The only thing I was curious about was if chicken blood pudding was a childhood staple, why was chicken not on his mind at all when cooking for foreign dignitaries. I suppose kobolds could just be sticklers for private property.

I also like that the meta humor with links and things was not prevalent throughout, but was only presented when it was funny. The downside to that was it made it seem like those paths were maybe less developed and humor was being used as a camouflage. Obviously this was most apparent with the "previous page" link on what I have to assume is the 'canon' path.

The only real downside to this story was that many paths felt underdeveloped compared to the one or arguably two paths that really got a lot of love. Granted, playing a cannibalistic serial killer of a kobold traveling from place to place and never outgrowing being a ridiculous charlatan is the best path. All in all, very enjoyable story

An absurd in the best way ride with a lot of twists and turns backed by really solid writing.

KOBOLD KEBABS decides to grab a random, crazy premise from the back shelf and just kind of runs with it while butchering whatever once culturally relevant song it can currently remember at the top of its lungs. And despite being so wacky it also maintains a surprising level of consistency in its writing alongside a very unique, immersive style of narration that leans into the game’s vibe quite well.

All of that combined makes it very easy to immerse yourself into the story and root for the protagonist, who in his inherent simplicity becomes an endearing centerpoint of the whole thing. The other characters mostly stay out of the way as they don’t do much beyond serving as foils or simple supplements to his story.

There’s a notable amount of branching to the story considering the word count and plenty of good, bad and questionable endings. Even those few that are quite obviously a rushed patchwork to get the whole thing out the door maintain a certain level of charm to them. There’s a few minor typos in places, but nothing that pulls the reader out of the story.

KOBOLD KEBABS is a blast to read and should definitely make its way onto the to-read list of anyone who enjoys going on a goofy adventure filled with objectionable shenanigans.

Final score: 7/8

Interesting storygame. Definitely creative and witty

Entertaining, a great comedic premise and well executed. I'll definitely reread this later to find anything I missed. It did seem a bit rushed at parts, especially that second to last page where it says 'previous page' when you choose to climb out the window. It feels like another Epilogue was supposed to go there, and Mizal ran out of time.

Mizal has the rare ability to put something decent together at the last minute. And this one was a fairly boring prompt, but she managed to make it whimsical and humorous.

And that's really what this story is: just whimsical fun. At first I felt cheated that the white mushrooms killed anyone but non-kobolds. Why? What was the logical reason for this? But then I remembered the point of this story, that there is no point, that it's random and completely embraced the madness of anarchy—something quite logical given the race of the creatures.

So, overall, if you enjoy nonsensical consequences whose value arises from the humor of their complete batshit randomness, and you enjoy Homestar Runner-style humor (which human among you does not?), you'll enjoy this.

Well what can I say? "Macabre", "Hilarious" and "Inventive" are three of the words that spring to mind. I won't tell you the others.
I think I thoroughly explored the major branches of this storygame and appropriately shuddered, giggled, winced or grinned in triumph at each one.
Rather than pen any spoilers, I'll stop here.

Good st

I'm so ready for KOBOLD SAUSAGE FACTORY.
Funnily enough, it was the first ending I got before moving on to seek out all the other endings. I only really have an issue with the length of this game, but to be fair, there will be a sequel. 8/8, 10/10, greatly enjoyable.

Fun concept, although some of the endings feel rushed. No SPAG issues that jumped out at me, just an occasional incorrect word choice, almost certainly due to the deadline rush of the contest.

The concept of the story and the characterization of Scratch is just so good. Especially towards the nigh-cliffhanger sequel tease I genuinely laughed out loud once or twice, which is not a very common reaction for me when reading things. If you can't tell, I really enjoyed this story more than anything else I've read recently. I hope it sets a precedent for the quality of the other contest entries, as this is the first one I've read.

Great job, Mizal. This should be recommended to noobs as an example of well executed, relatively simple, and thoroughly engaging storygame.