If there’s been a theme in the comp games I’ve played so far, it is “grimdark”. I’ve seen dystopias (multiple times), murders (multiple times), black comedy (multiple times) and a game where the objective is to survive by begging for as many days as possible (where you usually die in less than a month).
Sean M. Shore’s Hunger Daemon breaks the trend, by, … er … having cultists wanting to bring about the end of the world.
OK! maybe it’s not that different. But this one is funny.
Tonight’s a big night for him: after this ritual, he’ll be ready to eat the Heart of, um, Something? – it starts with a U – which will turn him into a Vessel for an Old One, whatever that means. That is, if we can ever get the chanting out of the way.
This is also the first game of Comp 2014 involving puzzles I was able to solve entirely without walkthrough/hint assistance. The design and writing are tight even if the whole thing has a “dude, where’s my Cthulhu?” vibe. (In practical terms, it means you use things like Ziploc bags and old wax paper to further the cause of Evil.)
Pingback: IF Comp 2014: Hunger Daemon (Sean M. Shore) | Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling
I’m stuck on getting the ziploc bag out of the cave, and I went walkthrough because I don’t really stick to pride or anything, but the walkthrough doesn’t seem to match what’s actually in the game? There’s a “rusty burr” in the pipe it’s meant to come out of, which isn’t addressed in the walkthrough and which I can’t seem to do anything about — can’t prod it, can’t grease the bag, can’t send ichor through the pipe first to clear it out, can’t put other things in the pool to knock it loose, etc. What am I supposed to be doing??
NEVER MIND I’M A DUMDUM
I was just about to get over here to reply I’m glad you figured it out!
Not without assistance, haha. I swear I overthink myself to death.