A Day At The Seaside

By Matthew Hunter

This game is based on wandering around a tourist destination. Unfortunately the game looks very rushed and incomplete. This game uses photos, which are generally well done, and the writing is reasonable. However, more objects could and should be implemented in each location. Most of the locations are reasonably described, but the tasks are not. Carrying out point-scoring tasks needs to give players a reward, by an entertaining paragraph, rather than a simple sentence.

This game has promise, as an Art Show like entry, where you wander around trying out and looking at stuff. However, there isn't much to try, as not much is implemented. The aim of the game should have been better articulated. I would personally have started the game next to the council sign, so as to give some ideas of what to do. If this game hadn’t been a competition entry, I would probably have given up after a few minutes of aimless wandering.

It took me a long while to figure out anything, and I only solved the game with full points after a hint from the author. The biggest problem is the lack of error messages for close, but not quite right actions. An example (with a spoiler warning) is in the photo booth where "buy photo" only gives a message if you are holding the correct object. Otherwise you just get a standard error message. This made me think that it was a guess-the-verb problem rather than an actual puzzle.

With the photos and room descriptions being generally well done, I almost wonder if this was someone's attempt at showing off their home town, or where they went on holiday. The author shows promise, but needs to put a lot more effort into the game mechanics with more objects and tasks implemented. This game could really be improved with a bit more work.

SCORE - 3/10

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