Player Comments on Spy Mission

An excellent entry for the Summer Slam Contest, and arguably one of your finer works. The story was captivating with extensive branching and good use of items in innovative ways, and I managed to find 20 of the endings in all. The probability rolls were a nice touch and really added to the immersion factor.

My favourite path by far involved avoiding the spy mission altogether, where you ended up settling in another country where the agency would never find you. It was a breath of fresh air to have such a route and I'm glad you implemented this. It felt as if the real spy mission was only half of the storygame.

I found that the first chapter was a little drawn-out for some reason. There's an awful lot of sentences detailing "first you did this, then you did that, then you got out of your car" etc. However, this contrasts with the action and intrigue that follows once the plot gets rolling, so this isn't really much of a criticism.

I encountered a few bugs in the storygame, which is unsurprising considered how much scripting was involved. For example, I attempted to use my hotel keycard (in the wrong place), chose another option, and was directed back to the previous page...which forced me to return to the same page I was on.

Also, there was a section near the end where I wanted to shoot someone, only to be told that there was nobody to shoot. I guess I wasn't supposed to use the gun there, considering that the other option was to BECOME MAYOR OF THE CITY. (With a 10% success rate, no less! I don't know how I managed that.)

I didn't find a use for all the items, which explains why I may have missed a few endings, although I found great delight in randomly firing my gun at the airport and causing chaos. Also, I like that some endings were only possible if the player chose only to pick up SOME of the items available on the page. That's not something I see very often in item-heavy storygames. Taking the gun, for example, would ensure that you would never get through airport security. You had to choose to pick up every other item instead.

Now, the main criticisms. Why on earth was I chosen as a spy in the first place?

No, seriously. Why? Why is this organisation so keen to hire me? Did I miss something? My character is apparently some random guy with a crummy job with no experience of fighting or anything. Yet these agents and assassins seem so desperate to recruit me at every available opportunity. I can't even go into a coffee shop without some shady bloke turning up in a taxi and demanding that I follow him.

Even when I do accept the spy mission, the agency gives me some really limited training. Only two training sessions? How do they know I won't break under torture? What if I don't have the guts to kill someone? Isn't there a more conventional way of hiring a secret agent than randomly picking a guy at random off the streets?

What makes my character so special that I have to be singled out for this kind of thing? Did they call a lottery of every random bloke in the city or something? Man, they'd be recruiting every bum on the street at this rate.

I once read a book which was a parody of a spy thriller. It was about a guy who accidentally found himself taking upon the identity of a ruthless assassin (who had recently died), and doing so with much hilarity. This felt a bit like that, except that it apparently wasn't an accident.

Also, what's up with the airport security? I attempted to board a plane without a ticket, and they throw me in jail? How about they just deny me passage and send me back home?

How did my character get killed by three 13-year olds? I know I didn't take combat training on that route, but come on. Not only did I get beaten up by these 13-year olds, but they killed me as well?

A few other minor issues are the lack of any significant characters or relationships (I didn't know anyone's name except for that drug lord), a passage where your character guns down police and apparently feels nothing about it, and a lack of closure in some instances. I know that your writing is based more on action and plot, which is great, but some emotion and imagery wouldn't go amiss.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this storygame overall. It feels like most of the enjoyment is in discovering all of the different endings in store - pretty much every good ending involves settling down in another country. I loved exploring Prague and all the various cities you can go to.

All in all, a really well-written storygame which deserves the commendation you received for it.

This is a really ambitious and well-designed game.

There are a few mistakes here and there, though.

For one, in the Czech path, when you already hand off the SD card to the man in the car who pulls up to the Lithuanian Embassy, in the ending, you again hand over a nonexistent SD card that you don't have. Also, that same ending is reused in the Cuban path where the SD card is confiscated if you go back to the States. The only difference is there it actually makes sense, since you had the card on you.

The item-use game mechanic is slightly inconsistent. For the mailbox, I had to use the key, while for the hotel key card, I just opened it up. Some items are merely there for show, like the money

But those are minor nitpick, because overall I loved the game. I also understand it was made in a short time, so I would say just fix that.

I thought it was really creative to incorporate skill-training into the spy training in the Cuba mission. I enjoyed the Cuba mission more than the other one because the other one felt a bit more like an afterthought. You don't really do much. I feel like you could have fleshed that mission out more.

The Cuba mission on the other hand was fantastic. You really made an effort to have the "stealth training, charms training, weapons training" not be cosmetic, but actually have a relevance to the story. Depending on which skill you choose, there are tailor-made options to win, but you could still win regardless of which skill you chose, you just had to choose the actions that suited the skill the most. The encounters were good, and this path was fun to play. I enjoyed the Argentinian path as well, where you get away with the money.

There's also a Swiss path which was fun, but of the "escape to a different country with your ill-gotten gains" branches, I enjoyed the Argentinian ones the best.

Other notes.

I loved the variety of endings. There are so many endings. Seriously, this is a masterclass in branching, you can either go home, complete the mission, steal the money, get caught, put in TSA jail, get robbed.

I thought it was really creative and well done to have picking up the first gun be the reason for your undoing in the Czech mission. That was a brilliant subversion of our expectations and a really good use of item mechanics to enhance gameplay. Obviously, TSA wouldn't let you through with a gun, but in the excitement of going on a mission, we don't really think of that, so obviously we pick up the gun, because we'll probably have to shoot bad guys. And then we get thrown into TSA jail, a natural consequence to our actions. I got a chuckle out of that one.

Ogre is seriously a good writer, he makes the spy mission really engaging, and I never really knew what was going to happen next as I played. Kudos man, this was really fun. I felt like James Bond as I was playing, although it was have been cool to have some flirting

I'll give this one a 7, it's a really solid and wonderful game. I see evidence of good branching and detailed masterful storytelling. Just a couple of things that I would like to see done better.

Nothing beats a rich retirement by living in a large mansion in a country with sun, sand sea for after an exciting, near-death spy mission at Havana and hours of adventurous flights.

men

Good gub

Tu escritura es magistral como siempre, Ogre. La historia del juego en sí está llena de contenido y opciones, y me mantuvo entretenido hasta el final. No pude evitar sentir curiosidad por todos los posibles resultados y decisiones que están tan clara y maravillosamente ubicadas en esta historia.

Disfruté cada minuto de esta historia. Me siento tentado a decir que te has superado a ti mismo, pero tu escritura siempre es consistente en lo buena que es. Gracias por otra lectura maravillosa. Anticipo con impaciencia el próximo juego de historia que puedas crear. Ya sea una secuela inspirada de esta o algo completamente diferente. El nivel de cuidado y atención al detalle que pones en cada una de tus historias siempre es un placer para leer y disfrutar.

Gracias una vez más por escribir esta maravillosa y apasionante historia.

Kinda good...

Ending 19 is a huge bruh moment XD.

Fun adventure!

hard

OUCH MAH RIBS but this is super good

its fun! but i picked the safe options XD

Vary good

It was too wordy for a game

make me really immersived in the story

A really nice game. I like the fact that there are a lot of paths and ending. It would be nice if it was longer but it's also very well made so it's quite good as is.

An enjoyable read with multiple branching paths. Solid writing and creativity.

asdasfasffsa ficuaskcka epnis sus bad gamgae

It was decent. The choices I made were the choices I would make realistically. And in the end, I didn't die. That's good. I don't like dying.

Fun read!

cool way to quit boredom

It was really fun, I do wish it was a bit longer though lol

Nice Game

I seriously enjoyed this mini storyboard game! I myself selected charm training and enjoyed using my charm to get the box! I might try out the other two in the future and select different options to seek out the rest of the endings!

game really cool

It was a good game, It was a cool spy game, but it ended to quikly.

A kind of a meh... too short

It was good but rather slow, it was very confusing but at least the ending was unnexpected.

this is really boring could you make this better i found it really boring and i do not suggest this to anyone who want a really good choose yer own adventure

Good job. You did great. VERY well written!

I wish I didn't die after doing all that work and basing my answers on my stats

This was a very exciting adventure. The only thing I didn't get was why some rando like me was sent to steal from a drug lord. That agency is gotta have some real genius right?
Also I didn't know that police chucked you off a balcony.
Everything else was great, though, and I (nearly) thoroughly enjoyed it.

I wish the agency didnt betray me

Used the story with my students during online/corona lockdown classes.

10/10 would fall off a balcony again.

I like this!! No complaints here!!

love it.

Is pretty good

Too easy

I liked this story, but it lacked excitement. It was fun and interesting, but it got boring that some of the paths ended in an unsatisfactory way.

good, but why do they have to go back to their old life? they just risked their life for that agency. you should make them get a new life with the agency, awaiting his next mission

Too many good endings. there should not be an option to go back. I got the one with teh bank and lived filthy rich. Still kudos to the designers. Hope you have a good day. If you would like to become a spy, call 425-674-1224. Bring a fully loaded gun. JK. if you call that, i dont know if it is real. they probably won't be pleased. Okay Game-KING

Eggh

Its more fun than i thought it would be, i like that you can get many different endings based on what you decide. I was never bored and it kept me intrigued the whole time. Great game!

A really well written story, and a breath of fresh air. I like the way the notes work, aka the 35% or 70% in battles. It’s nice knowing that I possibly threaded a needle. If you enjoy a nice story, this is a nice game that uses the code element pretty well.

AMAZING GAME PLEASE MAKE MORE

It trash

A nice and tidy spy thriller. Too easy and to short for my tastes.

i liked this one but i haven't played it all the way through yet

I like the story, it is very entertaining and exciting to play. The story is pretty short but it's able to branches out a nice amount of options for the readers to decide. It's nice and all but there are quite a few flaws throughout the story like how the hell those three 13 year olds can beat and kill me eventhough I already took a combat training from an agent. Well, anyways it's enjoyable to play and I am comfortable to give it a 7/8.
P.S: I know this is a pretty old game and maybe right now nobody even read it but I like to give my opinions and criticize as a reader.

It was a really fun game. I had a lot of fun with it. I love spy things and choose-your-own-adventures, so put them together and BOOM! Instant awesomeness.

I do want more choices!

I liked this spy mission game

35/40

10/10 for game mechanics
9/10 for story line
9/10 for art and details
7/10 for grammar, characters, etc

I really like the game. It was nice and short with a good variety of options. I will play again for different endings. I look forward to seeing more from you :D

very fun and interesting story.

Fun I got hit in the chest and died I was a rebellion.

cool

it was really intresting but didnt make alot of since

Loved it!

I really loved this game got really into it and found lots of different endings

Just letting the writer know, I was on ending 19 and I blew up the car I never grabbed the SD card but in the ending once I got off the plane I handed two men the SD card... Just a little bug I thought you'd like to know.

I liked the story and it was suspicious at each moment of time I was thinking will be next!!!!

This story has lots of different endings, however I think this story could have been longer. Why are some endings so dull and others exciting? I got 10 million dollars but the story ended at that. An extra few pages with a few more choices would have been more exciting.

Very good. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Again, with a different ending, the decisions were great.

I enjoyed reading this story, the decisions were very different and clichès were never used.

I give up. Got 20 endings where I either return home/ set up in another country or get shot by the police or the agency. Good game though.

Good but hard to find a good ending. I keep getting shot by various authorities or spending the rest of my days in an apartment, on a ranch or returning back to my boring old life.

To be honest, it's quite good. I only did it twice, with two different endings. The first ending I got was boring and gave me a bad impression of the story. (i picked the boring logical choices) But the second time it was much better. (I became a spy!) I'd highly recommend this to anyone, especially those who like reading spy novels, like me.

Amazing! Got ending #19... lots of effort!

I fun way to kill a half hour.

It is a short but sweet game. I would love to see a sequal.

it was awesome but the ending for me was a bit weird

I didn’t really like how greedy and one track minded the POV was. I did the route with an honest and open mind, didn’t betray any morals but didn’t take the obvious risks without the obtained skill set I had.. it ended abruptly and left me thinking that I wouldn’t much like to retry this story.

BEST STORY EVER :D

maybe it was because i didnt pick the crazy exciting choices, but it was very boring. pick the fun stuff if you play!

Pretty good

It took a long while, but I finally did it. . .


I got the Mansion.

5/8

truly the best

cool plot but neaver bring the gun

Good, died quickly, but still good. :)

cool

:) You’re stories are awesome!
P.S. I can’t log on for some reason. It says “website not secure”

:) Wow, this is awesome! It should be made into a video game! This is so impressive, and it has so many paths and endings... I’ve still not found them all. Wow!

it was nice but I just chose the boring options.

Amazing!!Loved It!!!

I really wasn't drawn in to this. Maybe I should have stuck it out longer, but there didn't seem to be much in terms of character development or intriguing plot points.

I'm chilling out on money this time hehe

Hehe lol, i finished my first mission and i get sent back home ??? Hilarious !!! But i did expect more missions to come though.

Pretty cool game with a loot of cool features that other games tend not to do 10/10 good story line and interesting plot!

its so funny how you can just keep shooting

This was very fun to do. I received the good ending

it was scary but cool

The only thing I disliked about it was the paragraph length. Separate them and this will be grade A!

Thanks for an exciting game that captured the essence of the spy genre. It was a fun challenge!

"Ending #25: Apartment Life
You find it quite easy to locate an apartment building with empty apartments. You simply walk into the rental office, sign a few papers, and are given a key to the apartment. Since you really didn't specify, you get an apartment on the sixth floor, with a view of a neighboring office building. You walk into the apartment and wonder what you should do next. You're now in a completely empty apartment.

You wander back downstairs and over to the grocery store, figuring you should at least buy some food. When you enter the store, you notice a person standing just inside the entrance to the grocery store, staring directly at you. You quickly turn and head out the side door and almost run around the side of the building. You look back but do not see the person following you. You run back to the apartment building and quickly head to your apartment.

You get inside and slam the door, locking it behind you. Then you notice all the windows and move so that you are not in view of any of the windows. There are no blinds or drapes, so you cannot cover them, but there is a room that has no windows, so you can slip into that room and stay out of sight. You sit down on the floor in that empty room, panting. You are relieved when no one appears to pound on your door.

A bit later you notice that it is getting dark outside. Apparently you have spent some time in the room. You think that you might be able to slip out in the cover of darkness and get some food, so you head down the stairs of the apartment building and sneak across the street again. You carefully check the same location and you do not see anyone there watching you this time. You wander through the store, picking up simple, ready-to-eat items.

As you step out of the store, you think you see someone in the shadows at the corner watching you. You take off at a run and almost get hit by a car crossing the street. You run up the stairs to your apartment and again slam the door behind you. You sit down in the dark room away from the windows and dig into your food, wondering if this will be your last meal. Apparently the agency has spotted you, and they are just waiting to catch you. Well if you stay in this room, they won't be able to pick you up off the street, will they?

And so goes your life. You live happily ever after hiding in the back room of a rather nice sixth-floor apartment in Bern with occasional trips in the darkness to the store across the street for food. Congratulations."

Well, the last word seem to indicate that this is a good ending. With 28 possible endings available, I cannot help but feel the need to share a couple endings in the comments. ;) 8/8 for this game! =)

thats a magick experiance I really like it

It was like a spy mission

well written and fun

This is the first time I've played this game / read this story, and it's short and sweet (Well, probably cos I clicked the return home option :) Thank you for making this game/story

I like it but got locked in jail quickly

very detailed and lots of options! awesome work.

Eh, this was pretty underwhelming to be honest. The mechanisms are well done, but the plot itself lacks suspense and gets boring very quickly. The protagonist's choices are also illogical, and his thought process is poorly explained. 3/8

good

I enjoyed it, but it demonstrates pretty well how shit my luck is.

80% to succeed yet I die in a fireball during my first mission.

It can get too descriptive at times with details that aren't relevant to the story. Other than that, it is good. 5/8

I really like this game! Had a lot of fun and would love to see the concept flushed out even more.

Fun stuff! Well done!

Another fantastic choose your own adventure game by a great writer showing what multiple choices are all about :D Good use of Items and Variables and excellent writing throughout :) Happy to see more good stories on the site again.