Equator City

This was a treat to play through and incredibly well written. As others (and the author himself) have mentioned, the story definitely doesn't lean into the "sci" of "sci-fi", but it handles the genre well in a toned-down version of itself. The "sci" in the story finds itself in some advanced forms of technology and transportation, but they are fairly believable advancements and fit comfortably in an environment not too unlike our current one (honorable mention to asking a church for help and being given an e-book Bible, which was amusing). The focus on a human experience takes precedence over flashy futuristic elements, creating a unique narrative. I can also appreciate a science fiction story told from the "third world" (so to speak) perspective.

The author immerses readers in Nairobi orphan Joshua's world with a carefully crafted setting and a well-adopted tone. I felt immediately engrossed in the environment, feeling the protagonist's discomfort sleeping in a hot alley from the very first page. Each description skillfully draws me more and more into the story and develops my understand of not only where I am and what I'm looking at, but also how Joshua is feeling at a given moment and his reflections on the world around him.

My only nitpick regarding descriptions was concerning the very first sentence at the beginning of the story, which felt a bit clunky and like it could have been separated into a paragraph on its own. Thankfully it was overshadowed by just about everything else on the first page, so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I think the voice of a 14 year-old was excellently captured in this story. The narration sounded believable, as did the dialogue. I really felt like I lived in this city as Joshua - he knows the streets very well, and some of the small anecdotes about certain locations including in the narration add to my understanding about the protagonist's world. The stark contrast between the rich (or "big-money" as occasionally referred to) and poor is also palpable, a given considering Joshua's living situation, and raises the stakes for survival alongside his primary quest of finding his friend.

I want to commend the use of items and variables in this story alongside the open-world structure that the author has created. Admittedly, it took a bit for me to realize that opening the backpack let you access some other items (notably an item that let you check the status of your character), but that was a very dumb oversight on my part. The usage of variables to represent different systems like hunger, the passage of time, and item states (ex: your flashlight being on/off) is a nice touch. Having to manage Joshua's physical state as well as gather money, food, and other items adds a layer of complexity to the game. Being a malnourished, homeless African child is fucking hard and sucks ass. Who knew?

Throughout the story, you're working against the clock (literally) to locate your kidnapped friend, fellow malnourished African teen Joseph. With the way the open-world aspect works, there are many different approaches you can take to accomplish this arduous task. If you can't figure it out, there's even an option to basically "give up" in the exploration screens. A lot of the endings lead to you failing at your mission. My first run, I got caught trying to sneak into an off-limit Spaceport building and got sent to jail without ever finding Joseph. This is a story where the reader would absolutely benefit from multiple playthroughs to get the full experience.

With that being said, the systems in place are not exactly perfect. Some glaring issues that I noticed were a few places where I would get "stuck" in a choice loop, unable to exit from a certain moment or action. One was the page at Kirinyaga Road (stuck between begging for money and rock juggling with no way out of the loop except for the back button), and another was at the fence by the Spaceport (stuck in a loop of "I think I'll keep walking around the fence"). I'm not sure if this was intentional and I was just really, *really* missing something, but it was a bit annoying to deal with.

Additionally, the open-world feature sometimes has the reader backtrack in the story a little too far. One notable example of this is when you go back to the alley in the original street near Habib's, and some of the choices send the reader back to the very beginning of the story, where they just discover that Joseph is missing and have to talk to Habib. Again, not really a big deal considering the overall scope of the game, but it does interrupt the flow of the story a bit.

I wouldn't call myself a sci-fi person at all, but I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It isn't without its faults, but Equator City is a strong entry in the CYS science fiction section and is worth a couple playthroughs. 6/8.

I felt very immersed in this storygame. The author did an excellent job of establishing the setting and motivating the player to engage with the story. It's definitely a bit subdued for a science fiction title, but it still does its job. After playing for a bit, I still wasn't able to achieve a "good" ending, but the routes I was able to find were still interesting nonetheless. I was very invested in the trafficking angle, and I would love to see this world explored more.

I also have to commend the inclusion of the e-book Bible. The author didn't have to add that level of detail in the world-building, but it's really cool to see that amount of effort directed to something most players might miss interacting with.

On a technical note, I did manage to come across some pathing issues related to object interactions. One particular "hack" I found involved buying bread at the first market. After buying bread, I was able to immediately teleport over to Muthurwa Market in Central Nairobi without going through any of the other pages. It made catching up to Joseph a lot easier. I also found another pathing issue where turning off a flashlight in some sections of the Spaceport also immediately teleports you back to the Muthurwa market. That's some true sci-fi elements for you. Jokes aside, it's a little jarring, but not game-breaking.

6/8

The story is pretty interesting, with some open world elements you get into eventually. However, the end of the game came unexpectedly, at a point where I had finally managed to get some money to buy some food at the market and eat it. Just when I had eaten it, I fell down on the floor. Surprisingly, "End Game and leave comments" didn't take me to the end right away, but there were two more chapters where something was happening, but no more option for me to do anything. The third attempt finally got me to the actual ending. This is a bit puzzling. I didn't manage to end the open world in a way that would have led me towards the proper ending though, before I apparently died of exhaustion.

This kicked ass. A lot more involved than I expected.

The writing's full of character and certainly fits the tone of a child well. Equator City is pretty ambitious, making good use of items and scripting meshed with solid storytelling. Certainly missing a little bit of the "sci" in the "sci-fi" as noted in the description, but it isn't really an issue. Good work!

I commend the effort here--it's not easy to make a game with so many options and interesting text for the random variants. There's a lot to explore here, and it would obviously reword many replays to find the best paths through. Keep it up!

I'll have to come back to this for a proper review later, but it was pleasantly unexpected to see a game of this size and complexity just out of nowhere from a newcomer. I'm pretty excited to have somebody writing quality sci fi on the site, it's one of my favorite genres to read and aside from a few standouts it always seems like it's lacking a big presence here.