Player Comments on Don't get distracted!

Spoiler-free review

Don't get distracted! gives a creative spin to a somewhat basic premise and then proceeds to make the most it can out of in a very limited word count.

The story centers around our protagonist: a professional assassin, who despite having a few quirks and quite severe ADHD gets assigned the job of terminating a target. This simple setup offers plenty of opportunity for some hilarious hijinks and misunderstandings, and the game makes full use of the options presented to the reader with entertaining outcomes resulting from whichever path they take.

And branching really is this storygame’s strongest aspect right after the general strength of its comedy. Choices are plentiful and they all impact the course of the story in ways both expected and not. The general quality of what is here does make me wish for more distractions and a longer word count, but I can’t say I’m disappointed either way.

The limited word count also works well enough in terms of keeping what the game currently offers well paced with everything happening and changing quickly. This pairs itself well with the protagonist’s state of mind and helps with immersing oneself into his role. The other characters get minimal to no development, which isn’t a problem considering there’s no time to notice it while actually playing.

Writing quality is solid, and I didn't notice any serious errors with the exception of one minor plot-hole stemming from connecting one specific branch to one particular ending the reader can reach from multiple directions.

As a whole Don’t get distracted! is great fun, and I almost wish there was more of it to read, but as it currently stands it’s a great short comedy of circumstance that does a great job presenting what it’s like to live with ADHD and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick laugh that doesn’t require them to reach the limit of their attention span.

Final Score: 6/8

Okay, this was actually a lot more fun than I was initially expecting. I was a bit disappointed not to get too many opportunities for distraction, considering the title, but after I followed one path that ended with a double assassination, I then found myself no longer planning an assassination but...cooking. And just like the player character, I managed to forget what the initial purpose of the whole story was.

There were some nice moments of humour in this storygame. The whole assumption that Latham had swapped places with a body double was a little jarring, though. I assume the player character was something of a professional, which left me wondering why it was an assumption automatically made and not a choice the player could make - which is something I felt would have worked better.

I did like the fact that most of the assassination paths I finished were more accidental than deliberate, at least regarding the actual target. Breathing in the poisonous dart was enough to make me cringe (I saw the result of that coming almost straight away) and forgetting that the dart was there and shaking the target's hand just seemed like an accident waiting to happen.

On the whole, I did enjoy reading this storygame. It was a lot of fun, even if there were a few jarring moments where the tense slipped from present to past. It would have been great if the storygame had been a little bit longer, with perhaps more mishaps for the player character to find himself involved in.

This was a funny game. It was written like a comic book action-comedy with 4th wall breaks and a very vocal narrator… but it seemed intentional as the whole story was a series of jokes in super-spy format. I have this a 5/8, although I think that’s a bit generous for the length and issues that were present, but it got the rating because it entertained me on every branch and made me laugh quite a bit. After this come spoilers, so read the story before continuing if you have not already.

If this story wasn’t a comedy, or if it wasn’t so funny, or perhaps if I wasn’t in a good mood… the rating would drop a lot it’s possible that the time constraint from this being a contest entry and the comedy style selected led to some of these issues… but I’ll point them out so you can hopefully improve your writing for the next time.

First of all, this story switches tense… a lot. It’s distracting and I dislike it. The first page is present tense, while the second is past tense. This switches several times in several places. I’m not sure if it’s intentional to be part of the “comedy” but I thought the present tense worked way better than the past tense for this style of story. I would stick to one in future stories… just decide if this story happened in the past or is happening now and make sure it stays in the same tense across the whole thing.

I can also say the choices were fun and satisfying, even though they were random. One thing I noticed was that choosing to stab the victim basically just put you on the same branch as shooting while pretending to smoke. While I can appreciate the illusion of choice, I was a bit disappointed there weren’t more unique branches from this choice. The story was so short and I would have enjoyed more time with this super assassin! This isn’t a huge deal, but it would have been nice if this led to something a little different.

The narrator had a really active voice. It was like a character with lines like “Oh boy…” and “well, you see…” this works in a comedy like this, but it’s a 4th wall break. The narrator is talking to the reader. If this wasn’t a comedy just be aware that this would be distracting and break immersion… however, I’m pretty sure it was intentional here so this may be redundant to you. I’m just saying it to make sure it was intentionally done and not a happy accident.

You do a lot of telling and not showing. It’s more fun to see things happening and know what them mean or feel them than to read “this happened and you feel this way.” For example, on the first page there is a part that reads “‘Okay,’ you say, slightly dejected that your book had been confiscated. It was just getting good.” Rather than tell us that we feel dejected, you could say something like “‘Okay,’ you mutter as you sigh, cross your arms and slump into your chair. ‘It was just getting good.’” This is the character acting dejected (slightly) rather than the reader just being told. Again, this may be intentional because of the active narration and comedy format… but if it’s not intentional just be aware that this won’t work as well in something that isn’t slap-stick comedy.

Last I’ll touch in grammar. I thought the grammar was okay. There weren’t huge mistakes (other than switching tense) that affected my read. However, there didn’t seem to be a lot of complex sentences to control the pace and flow of the prose. Once again… this isn’t a huge deal in a super story comedy that reads like the narrator talking to the reader anyway. However, in any other type of story you would want to mix up sentence structure and control the pace with advanced grammar. The basics you have down pretty good, but I believe Gower has an article in the help and info tab that is specifically more advanced grammar for those who have the basics but want to improve. I highly recommend checking it out!

Again, thank you for a laugh in this fun still story. I’d be interested to read something with a more serious tone to see how much of the comments above were the style and what you actually need to improve, but I’m crazy and like critiquing stories. I hope you had as much fun writing this as I had reading it!

If you haven’t already, you should totally go and read this! But if you aren’t convinced, here goes:

The shining star is you, Adam, an assassin who constantly gets distracted, yet somehow always manages to end up victorious, which only adds to the comedy. Your objective: assassinate Litham. Or is he Fakeham? And are those fireworks I hear? I simply must see their brilliance with my own eyes. Ah, yes, the brilliant blue, the sparkling yellow, the blood-red red. Blood-red? Wait, what was I doing here? Oh yea. So goes the delightful decisions you get to make.

The plot is simple, but its execution (pun intended?) is not. Surrounded by superspies, blackmail, impersonations, and more, your progress will wind wildly, take twists and turns, and end with a mission accomplished, one way or another.

The amount of endings and variety of decisions, combined with the amazing writing interspersed with sudden comedy will have you smiling and laughing to the end. I know it did for me. I’ve never before had a smile on my face the whole way through a story-game, and very few other works of entertainment have achieved the same for me.

So what are you waiting for? Go out and save a retiree, become a chef, or accomplish the mission!

Very witty. Enjoyed the playful nature of it

Goated

Pretty good

Short but very well-executed for what it is. The descriptive writing style works well for this kind of storygame, and the subversion of that with the story's wacky hijinks makes its jokes land more often than not.
The grammar/spelling mistakes are pretty much nonexistent, which in my experience is a rarity on this site. Word choice was never an issue. If you like Bond-parody slapstick, you'll like this storygame.

It's not a thought provoking, philosophic manifesto, but goodness, I thought it was hysterical. Good job overall. I'd love for this to become a series, I would really like reading more of Finch.

This is good stupid fun. Not much by way of deeply moving story, but it's got some humor and some choices that can keep you occupied.

My one complaint is how the so-called "Assassin extraordinaire" managed to kill the wrong guy in my branch, but then again, maybe that's the point?

This reminds me of a Steve Martin film (for you poor Gen Z kids, go watch Pink Panther; or just google the hamburger scene from it).

Overall, not bad. Fun to play.

Obviously this is a quick game but, I really enjoyed it. The humor worked well. In the beginning I had to force myself a little bit to care about the protagonist. While the scene with the book certainly made me smile it also make him seem a little bit incompetent. I think seeing him also being good as something at the same time (or first) would have given me a smoother start. But this wasn't a big issue. The story progressed very well and the writing was fine. Would recommend.

Well written and engaging. No significant SPAG errors or incorrect word choices that I noticed. The branching is nicely handled and each ending is fun. In particular the slapstick Kiss of Death was a pleasant surprise. I will be looking at your other storygames.

The Kiss of death ending was the best. This story is hilarious. I loved how silly it was.

Short. Definitely short. But I loved this.

There’s something endearing about how oblivious Mr. Lee is. It borders on slapstick comedy at times, which honestly works in the story’s favour. He’s a borderline super assassin with the odd quirk of barely taking his job seriously, clumsy, aloof, and entirely too casual for someone so lethal. But that actually gives him a kind of humanising charm that really works. He’s not just a weapon; he’s a character.

There’s also a surprising amount of hidden depth in the outcomes. You can really feel the butterfly effect taking shape based on the choices made. It gives the piece a quiet realness and choice beneath the humour.

Stylistically, it's just well written. It's immersive, engaging, and genuinely fun to read. My only real critique is that it felt too short. I think there was room for more worldbuilding, some extra space to let the setting breathe and unfold. But for what’s here, it’s rich, clever, and really well executed.

Great job. Would love to see more stories from you to be honest.

I cannot say I was expecting a love story between an assassin and a knife.
This story branches wonderfully, and as it is a short read, it's 100% worth it to read through all the endings. Adam's general silliness contributes to the chaotic nature of the story.
Adam is a very consistent character, just wanting to do things in his own way. He's not evolved on much, but that does feel in character.
The writing style reminds me of an old comic book, if a comic book had no pictures. By that, I mean not very serious and action packed. This is one of the settings I feel like this works. The dialogue feels natural for a majority of the story, although corporate-speak has always seemed gibberish to me.
I thought this was overall a very funny story, and it gave me a sense of nostalgia for Bond parodies like Austin Powers. I still wonder about the logistics of the knife romance, but I don't particularly want it explained either.
My only real issues with this is that it's too short, and even though we know a bit about Adam, we don't get too much about him, or anything from other characters.
In general, a great story, very funny for a quick read when bored. I did knock a point for the characterization, but I still give it a 7/8.