Shorts

Your good axe has gone missing. Reverd Pearson would say you're a careless lunkhead who'd lose his ear if it wasn't nailed on. You figure he's right, a man of the cloth, but that doesn't mean piskeys didn't steal the thing...

The story is a snack-sized piece about threatened love in the context of a supremely bizarre universe with zeppelins, archaeologists, savage deities and squid-men. The few locations we get to visit are vividly drawn and suggest an entire larger culture. (Possibly even the same culture as in "Walker and Silhouette"? Both feature an identifiable England continuous with lands of unidentifiable strangeness and fantasy.)

14 AD. Agrippa Postumus, grandson of the recently-deceased Augustus, tries to avoid death at the hands of the next emperor, Tiberius. At his disposal: a couple of old manuscripts, a lamp, and a recalcitrant slave. And a powerful knowledge of the Art of Venus Genetrix, of course -- the magic eventually known as the Lavori d'Aracne.

*You've been on your quest so long you've almost forgotten what it is all about, but now you are nearing your destination -- if only you can stay alive long enough in this frozen wilderness to reach it. *

*It's gloriously sunny outside, and you can smell the grass from in here. It's not fair. All the servants have the day off, and you can bet they're not cooped up indoors in their Sunday best. If only there were some way to escape.... *

Sunday Afternoon is a short but atmospheric game, set somewhere in Victorian England. It is both well-written and well implemented, but is a bit too short and simple to achieve greatness.

A distressing episode in the life of Rinaldo di Gorgonzola.

This is both dark and fun, and it's difficult to write a non-spoilery review, but suffice it to say that the type of fun that is had is not expected. It's also a relatively quick game to play.

Gardening for Beginners by Juhana Leinonen is a short speed-IF game describing the misadventures of a budding gardener.

What is supposed to be a peaceful and upbeat day of work quickly turns into a nightmare as the player is beset by the horrors of nature.

There is dissent in the ranks! One of your sheep makes a run for the next field, jumping gracefully over the hedgerows. You stand up quickly and collect your crook. You need that sheep!

The planning was easy. Committing the murder was easy. But getting away with it? That's another thing.

Keepsake is a short, surreal story about vengeance and its consequences.

An interactive re-creation of Monty Python’s Cheeseshop sketch, where you try to buy some cheese.

This is basically a one-joke game, but it wins over the player's heart by heaps of style, and flawless implementation. It also has a very satisfactory ending.