Forums » The Parlor Room » Read Thread

“And He walked the path trodden by a thousand boots, and gazed upon fruits that grew of seeds planted by a thousand hands, and wondered: Which shall He savor next?”

In my chosen goal of actually reading some of the games available on the site that aren't panic scribbled entries for the most recent contest and getting some writing practice in the process I'm continuing my plan to review CYS games monthly. February's title is already chosen and I'm hoping to read it through this weekend, but it'd probably be a good idea to find a better way of selecting what to read than the equivalent of blindly chucking a dark at a map so I'm opening this thread as a way of gathering suggestions (and feedback on reviews because why the fuck not, and I know I should've proofread my Heavenspire review better but I wasn't exactly sober when I wrote it and then forgot to till it was the 31st).

There's no real preference in terms of genres, themes or even quality so feel free to throw whatever you feel like at me and I'll start compiling a list. Only real exception to this is probably length. While I won't set a hard limit on it I won't at least for now do stuff that'll take more than a few days to a week worth of afternoons to read and review. As much as I'd like to see how many words does it take to break the comments feature by properly reviewing Eternal I do (allegedly) have a life and other stuff to do with it.

To keep the schedule semi consistent I'll be posting those reviews on the last day of the month, and to avoid repeat suggestions this top post will for the time being serve as a list of games I've already done.

Games reviewed so far:
Heavenspire (5.5/8)

Also a question to peeps who actually read reviews: Do you prefer them to be spoiler free, or do you not care? I'm curious if I should try to avoid spoilers, or give more detailed explanations that will spoil the stories.

CavusRex, you have to read Basement Rats. That story is one of the weirdest and trippiest stories I've read, yet it's also really good. Despite its strangeness, it's a really interesting story, and if you're going to review a story, I highly suggest you follow up Heavenspire with Basement Rats. Do that one first, it's really good.

Add Basement Rats to the list and review that one for sure.

I already have a game picked for this month, but I didn't start it yet so why not. Especially since the reason I even started this thread was because my next pick was on the surface a bit too similar to Heavenspire.

Yeah do Basement Rats this month as well, it's completely different from Heavenspire. It's also really cracked, in the best way possible.

I'd also recommend these stories. This list is from DaWarrior145's profile. He's a really good reader on here. I just randomly click on his profile one day when I was bored and clicking on all the random profiles of the users online, and I found an absolute treasure trove of stories to read. His ratings list is literally a curated list of some of the best stories on here to read. Good job!

Stories:

Secret of the Grass Planet
What a Terrible World
The Daemonologists
Breaker
Apocalypse Yesterday
Father Leofwine is Dead
A Prayer for Destruction
Polaris
Reborn
De Milite Inprudenti
A Fiery Winter
Homo Perfectus
Cows vs. Aliens!
Fake It 'Till You Make It
A Chosen Hero
Degenerate
Goldbird and Whispers of Snow
It's a Boy!
American Outlaws: The James Gang
Through Time
Death Song
CYBERMONKEY
A Tale of a White Lie
Marooned on Giri Minor
The Path of Death
The Tower of Rowena
Sterling City
Creatures of the Snow
Life In The Fast Lane
Aphrodite's Orphan
Sheol's Passage and the Fallen
Undead Persona
Saoirse
The Sanguine and Blackbeard's Cutlass
Slavic Pagans
Winter, After the Harvest
In Moonlit Waters
Suzy's Strange Saga
The Book and Devil's Altar
Necromancer
Hastings, 1066: Aftermath
Dead Man Walking (Zombie Survival)
Rogues
Tales From The Basement 2
Eternal
Rockstar
The Devil's Fire
Nameless
Silver Horn, Silver Hooves
The Knight Order of the Golden Sun
Fear the Psyker
In the Pale Moonlight
Siren
When The Music's Over
The Price of Freedom: Innocence Lost
Frameshift
The Tale of the Foolish Princess
Gunslinger
Safe
Spell of Slumber
Unbroken
The Pure, the Vile and the Deadly

Thanks to @DaWarrior145. He has great taste, these are all stories he's rated and read, and I'm working through this list myself. My goal is to have reviewed all 77 of these. Thank you man for having such great taste, at this point if I click on that dude's profile, and see a story he's read/rated, I'm reading that one!

I'm working through this list myself. So far I've done Rockstar, Eternal, Winter: After the Harvest, Sheol's Passage and the Fallen, Polaris, Degenerate, It's a Boy!, A tale of a foolish princess, Cybermonkey, tower of rowena, sterling city, Life In The Fast Lane, Reborn, and A Prayer for Destruction in this list.

List seconded. Proper stories over there. Though you can skip homo series

But those will take him five years.

Honestly seeing that long of a list with no explanation as to what and why is not really what I hoped for, but I guess it beats shoveling through a list of 1053 games with just as much context.

That makes sense. I didn't think about it that way and I apologize for overwhelming you. Here, let me make a further curated list with the stories I finished reading so far, and I'll include why I recommended them as well. That way the list gives you actionable information.

Eternal: One of the best stories on the site. An epic tale of as super soldier serving a dying empire. The choices you make can alter your destiny in the most fantastic of ways, and at the end of it, you will feel like you have lived hundreds of years.

Rockstar: This story is a must read because of the way NinjaPitka writes. It's really captivating, and even though it's on a much smaller scale than Eternal, it's still really good. The story is about a Christian Rockstar who performs with his band at his local church. Through the main character's thoughts, we not only experience the events of the story, but also aspects of the narrator's life, what he thinks about religion and church, as well as how his complex relationship with his father affects his life. It's stylish and really fun. It's also set in Sterling City, which is the setting for many of NinjaPitka's stories.

Winter: After the Harvest. This is Malk's story. It's a fantastic grim dark story. You play as a wizard making a road trip from his college to his manor in order to receive his inheritance and learn the truth about his family's shady past. It's fun, violent, and gets really dark at times.

Sheol's Passage and the Fallen: Another Ninja story! This one, you primarily play a vigilante fighting to rid his city of evil, but there are several shifts in POV that flesh the story out well. It's a really good story and you need to play through all the branches to get an idea of what's going on.

Polaris: By MHD. It's a mystery story, set in the floating city of Polaris. You play a private eye in this one. It's a really strange and cool sci-fi story, and as you explore the city trying to solve the mystery, you also learn a lot about this strange world. Highly recommend!

It's a Boy!: This is an "interesting" take on The Red Riding Hood story. It's really well written and interesting. It's a horror story that gets really visceral at times, so be warned.

A tale of a foolish princess: This story is by Thara. You play as the youngest princess fighting her siblings for the throne when her dad and mom die. There's lots of great grim dark elements in this story, and I really like the character of the princess.

Cybermonkey: This story is a cyberpunk action story by Malk. It's shorter than a lot of the other stories on here. It's very action packed and at times makes you feel like you're watching a movie. You play a cybernetically enhanced ape, and you have a special briefcase that you need to get to the right people while avoiding the wrong people. I'm not going to say more than that, but if you're looking for CYOA that gives you a movie-like feel, I'd recommend this one.

tower of rowena: This is an open world exploratory puzzle game. You have to find items in a witch's castle. The witch hides her treasures trickily so you got to be smart about it. Great game! It's a puzzle game where the fun is more the puzzles rather than the story, so it's different than many of the other entries on here.

I'll stop here for now.

Since you said you don't want to be overwhelmed, start with these for now. Now I actually included my reasons for recommending the games and didn't just give you a large list. The reason why I included the large list was because that's the list I was working from, but here is a more curated list for you to enjoy.

That does work better as a recommendation, thanks.

Just pick things that are featured in a category you like. Then go see what else the authors have if you find something you REALLY like.

Oh, you listed length as a limiting factor. I suppose that means I can't recommend Eternal. There are plenty of other (less) good stories on this site, though.

Here's a list:
Reborn (though I'd suggest reading Warden and Monster first, just so you get the added pleasure of all the hidden references). It's really twisted and the descriptions are delightfully terrifying.
Secrets of the Crag, a complex dungeon crawl. Less story than game, but still very, very good.
Necromancer, and then Death Song when you've finished that. The way they tie in together is satisfying and heartwrenching at the same time.
The Book of Vanishing Tales is underrated. It's cute and unique.
Dreamtruder is one of the first storygames I ever read on this site. It's definitely awesome and worth the time; lots of creative variable use.
And how could anyone forget Mercer Gang?

Also, if you're going to include spoilers in your feedback, just put a warning first. Happy reviewing! :D

With something as big and loved as Eternal I would like to make it a proper critique rather than a simple review which would take a lot of work while probably not providing much value to the community. If I like it it'll just be another few paragraphs of praise drowned out on the ocean of it and if I don't the next eternal thing in my life will be explaining why it's actually bad. I don't mind being the contrarian and there's plenty of beloved things I went on record bashing (AoT, Arcane, Elden Ring, everything R. R. Martin ever wrote), but instead putting that time into providing feedback to smaller projects that not as many people gave proper feedback on seems more productive.
I do want to read it because of how acclaimed it is, but I don't know if it's the right fit for this whole review thing. At the moment at least.

Thanks for the other recommendations though, I'm sure I'll find something there.

I like Sabbatical Report Presentation.

I'm also, obviously, fond of my own games. 

That one's fun.

I do not know how you people do not have Boobs!!! on your lists!

Also, as a note, I don't mind spoilers in reviews at all.

Just moved this to Parlor Room since it’s talking about the stories on the site.

Anyway, what Mizal said, just pick one of the top ones that seems interesting to you and have at it.

But I suppose if you want to narrow it down somewhat, here’s some examples going by authors rather than specific stories

Read something by Bill Ingersoll or the one story by JohnX, if you want scifi,

Read something by Sherbet, if you want horror

Read something by HeteroMalk, if you want grimdark

Read something by Celcini, if you want grimdark, but also want to help out a fellow slav (Or more likely, kick a fellow slav).

Read something by Will11, if you want something in a historical setting.

Read something by MadHattersDaughter if you want a mystery/thriller

Read something by BerkaZerka, if you want a story that has more game like elements.

Read something by Gower or Mara, if you’re homesick for CoG (Lol)

Or ignore everything I just said and make your own choice!

As for anything of mine, you’re either going to like it or hate it, there’s typically not much in-between. But if you do get around to anything of mine, I don’t care about someone leaving spoilers in the comments. Pretty sure there’s some featured comments that have spoilers in them.

Hell I don’t even care if someone just leaves “I liked it” or “It sucked”. It usually saves time anyway since I rarely pay heed to any advice that may be given and just do what I want for the next story regardless. Of course feel free to do it for fun anyway. I know others around here like that sort of thing. (And on rare occasions I might actually ponder points made in the comments for a hot minute!)

But in any case no need to fear of negative comments getting banished to the shadow realm! In fact even outright abusive comments that aren’t “constructive” at all aren’t usually deleted. If anything they're a source of amusement. It’s the just retarded “Skibidi” zoomer/alphie spam speak that gets deleted.

What in the rizzler skibidi toilet is that dogwater, biased ahhhh cancel culture, that's so Ohio, ur mom lol

I'm going to pretend I didn't see that.

It was painful to write.

That is probably a good way to recommend games. I already wanted to delve into Gower's work because I do enjoy his style of comedy and MHD's as well because the premises do sound interesting.

And I'm not really worried about my negative review being deleted, but rather dealing with the comments of people who will inevitably feel the need to defend something they like because those always exist. Also thankfully I don't understand half and don't use pretty much any zoomer speak despite technically being one so I'm safe on that front.

Nobody's going to actually burn you at the stake, even if you deserve it

Besides Ben, I don't think anyone here would seriously attack you for disliking any storygame, unless you had a dumb reason like "too long". I'm sure by the fact that you've been around for a bit that you can take a few derogatory jokes.

Also holy smokes people are so much younger than I thought

Adding to the author recommendations, if you liked Heavenspire read more things by ninjapitka just in general. It all trends towards dark/cynical but it's good shit.

Orange also has released a couple of really good stories recently.

Genre (that I'm in the mood for) --> Rating (I usually wouldn't read stories that are too lowly rated) --> Title (catches my attention or compelling) --> Description (the additional info still makes it sound like something that I'd enjoy) --> Shorter length (preferred)

My storygame reading selection algorithm.

When I do sit down to read stuff, I usually focus on reviewing newly created storygames for two reasons:

1) They are usually the storygames that are most in need of reviews.
2) I like seeing the blue ticks :]

One story that really stuck with me was Project Anafabula. I loved the meta level storytelling it employed.

February comes to an end and thus a second review from mine now joins the site. Didn't realize I can't just edit the top post here to include the games as I go so instead I'll just mention for the future that I stumbled my way through Basement Rats and even now almost 2 weeks since I played it first I have no idea what's up with it.

You can add a reply to hold that list and then request that no one comments on it so it doesn't lock

A list of the games reviewed so far:

Heavenspire (5.5/8)
Basement Rats (4/8)
Eyes on a Moon of Blindness (2.5/8)

I'd appreciate if people didn't comment on this reply so that I can edit it over time and expand the list as it grows. If you want to let me know I'm very wrong about something do so by replying to the main post. Also thanks to Anthraxus for the suggestion.

So I saw a lot of arguing in the IFC about how badly some CoG game sucked about a rock band and besides the usual Cogite thing of turning every fucking game into a dating simulator, you specifically mentioned some themes don't lend themselves well to a text medium.

https://chooseyourstory.com/story/rockstar

Well another band/music theme story to test your idea for you. It's another one by Ninja.

I was mostly referring to settings because of how you can't really leave certain things like music to an average person's imagination, but I was thinking of trying another one of Ninja's games because I did like the writing aspect of Heavenspire so I'll put it on the list. Looking at the amount of interesting games one a month will barely scratch the surface if I'm going to keep writing actual reviews, which was the point of this exercise

What would you require for a 6/8, if neither Basement Rats nor Heavenspire hits that mark

Heavenspire would probably be a 7/8 as a full length novel, it just loses out as an interactive storygame because it's trying to fit a lot in a relatively small word count.
For me a 6/8 or higher would be something with a solid story, but also with a proper weight behind the choices. Doesn't have to be all of them because that'd be expecting too much, but whether it's a branching paths game or a more linear story with endings based on previous decisions you can't really call something choose your own adventure if the choice is very surface level.

And march is coming to an end. Good thing I prepared this month's review way ahead of time because I don't think I'd find the time to read anything in the last few days. Also a good thing I decided to not read EMB in february as was the plan originally because I postponed having to slug through something that genuinely caused me pain by the last few routes.

Good job on the review Cavus! I did disagree with it, but it's a really well-written and well-argued review. Which story are you planning on reading next?

Thanks. I can totally see how some people would like it given the prose is solid and the world building was interesting, but as a story it falls very flat to me. I'd like to read something of Gower's next since I like to alternate between dramatic and comedic works if possible, but I also have a little review planned for tomorrow, but that one probably won't be included in the list here.

If you're reading Gower, then you should check out Private Game for Natalie. Sabbatical Report Presentation is also good, but I'd have to recommend Private Game first.

I definetly think you'll give Private game for Natalie a 6 or above. Not gonna lie, I'm really hoping you enjoy this rec, and I hope it'll be the first 6 you give. This is fun, definetly keep this going!

Which story are you reviewing tomorrow?

I'm split between that one and Sabbatical, I might end up flipping a coin over it. I had a blast with Tally Ho despite its Monty Python-esque style of comedy not being my usual thing.

I'll have to check out Tally Ho, thanks for the rec!

$8 on Steam.

Would also recommend the sequel Cakes and Ale. They're over a million words each and just pure fun.