Have just posted a new game. It should appear in the fantasy category. Maybe a little Gothic! Please try it and let me know what you think.

Just a note here (I'll post in the real review section if I get further).

Two immediate thoughts:

1) It looks like you've put a lot of work into this.
2) I think the first step/puzzle is too hard.

The latter could just be me. Some people seem to be able to get past things that I can't (and I won't go into why for some games, becuase that would start a rant). But I even looked at the source and found the few possible things I could have typed, and thought, well, I would not have typed those given what I had been given so far.

(What follows here contains spoilers.)

GIven your description, I knew I was inside something. I even had a sense it was possibly a coffin. I wasn't sure what to do, so I tried some senses. I tried "touch". It said it didn't understand my command. I tried "smell". Same thing. After I learned what I had to do (by examining the code), I tried again, and just typed "feel", and once more, doesn't understand the command. It seems that if you are going to have a restrictive set of possible combinations, that you at least give the player some feedback when they get part of it right. If the user types "feel", you could at least let them know it is something valid by saying something like "feel what?". That would differentiate a partially successful command from an outright wrong one. It can constrain and guide the player by giving feedback.

Now maybe this is my mental block, but I could and would not use "coffin" in a statement yet. Why? Because it hasn't been presented to me or given even the slightest shred of proof so far. It's like waking up underwater and saying "exit pool". I don't know I'm in a pool. I might be, but I might also be in a lake or a bathtub.

What I had been given so far is that I'm in a confined space, and it's dark. That's all I know. Might be a coffin. Might be a closet or a crate. But I don't know for sure. As the author, you know where I am, but as the player, I don't know. I have almost nothing to go on, and even if I do have a sense of being in a coffin, I'm not going to use "coffin" because that is a logical leap that is not justified at the moment. So I start to seek something, anything, that will give me a clue, give me some sort of confirmation, some direction. But the only real input allowed at this point is "feel coffin". (Anything to do with the lid is premature, as I know even less that there is a lid. And I'm not even going to get into the obscurity of "feel around", as that breaks the usual "verb object" pattern of adventure input. I mean, you had to declare an object called "around" to allow that input, which should be a warning sign in and of itself. But again, maybe that's just me...) I think it's fine to start the player out disoriented and confused, but then you must give them ways to become less disoriented and confused. You can't assume that they will suddenly just type in the right magical phrase.

I hope you don't think I'm being overly critical. It's just my reaction to what I experienced so far. And I'm going into such detail because I see the level of effort you have put into this, and I get a sense that you care very much about your creation and would want the feedback.

One more little thing, and this might be hard to get across, but I'll try...

When it comes to the lid, the text that comes back is: "It's not screwed down. One good push should do it!" Now this is good, as it gives the player an idea about the next step (pushing). And I was quite grateful for that. (Though I'm still not sure yet what the "it" is that a good push should do. That feels like author intrusion,as if someone who knows what's going on is sitting there coaxing me, but not telling me much. It's encouraging, but it's also antagonistic.) It was the "It's not screwed down" part that felt out of place. For some reason, it felt like some omniscient narrator telling me something as opposed to something I had just discovered on own. FIrst, I don't know even know if coffin lids are screwed down (aren't they nailed?), but "screwed down" wasn't something that arose naturally from the scene, so it felt like a weird addon, like some extra off-the-wall detail thrown in. I think if you can keep it in line with what is going on, it will be better. Make it be tactile. Basically, you're inside this coffin, and you're feeling around. The text should respond in that way.If the text was more like, "When you touch the lid, it moves slightly. It seems to be loose. Maybe it will move further if you push it." To me that seems more in line with what is happening; it feels more organic. I hope that doesn't seem nit-picky, but it lost some immersion for me. It's like being in a dark room, and you're feeling the door (which you have never seen before) and the text that comes back says, "The security latches have not been engaged. One good push should do it!" And you're thinking, I have no idea what's going on, and I'm just feeling a door, and I didn't even know there could even be security latches! But clearly the author did, and he threw that detail in on his own instead of just telling you what you're experiencing. It's told to you instead of something you'd find on your own.

I do plan to work my way through more of this. It looks quite intriguing, and I'm curious to see what comes next. I hope you don't take the above the wrong way. I'm actually quite impressed so far!

First, I would like to thank you very much for taking so much trouble over my little game. I do appreciate it, and will certainly take your advice. I realise that “feel” on its own should have produced an encouraging feedback. Not sure how to do that. I’m happy to learn! I saw the expression “feel around”, not so much breaking the quest rule of “verb + noun” , as circumventing a restriction. It’s a bit of thinking outside the box(!)

I was interested that you sensed it was a coffin. It seems that my almost subliminal clue worked. (...not enough room to cough in here...). However, I do take your point.

Not sure what was wrong with “push lid”. Feeling the coffin gives you the message that there’s a lid.

I understand entirely your point about how information is passed on to the player. It should sound as if you’ve discovered the info yourself. I think the response to “feel lid” should have been “It's loose. One good push should do it, you feel!” (I've rather taken it for granted that you're trying to open the lid to get out!)

Please don’t think that I’m taking your advice the wrong way or am in the least offended. I’m genuinely grateful that you’ve brought these points up, and I have taken them on board. Please continue to give me what I do recognise as constructive criticism.

Actually, "feel around" is definitely creative and thinking outside the box (no pun intended ). I just don't know if others will follow you there. You could just as easily have "feel all", "feel everything", etc. "Feel around" actually makes sense, and is probably better than what I just suggested. I just wouldn't think to input something so... English-like.

But yeah, the coffin. Your description brought to mind that movie "Buried"... I'm not good with extremely claustrophobic situations, which is probably why they show up in horror so much.

Also, I think we got our wires crossed (probably my fault), but "push lid" was perfectly natural and fine for me. It worked like a charm. I think the part about "one good push should do it" is that, as the player, I'm not even really sure yet what I'm trying to do. Perhaps if you include some text like, "You need to find a way out" or "You can't stay like this much longer!", that might help.

I'll get back to the game after some (ahem) work.