IFCOMP 2006 - The Bible Retold

     XYZZY Response:
     Did you really expect something to happen? Collossal Cave Adventure won't be written for many years yet.

     This is shaping up to be a year in which I don’t play and review all the IFComp games. I’ve made it through this, the ninth game, and am only now getting around to the review (five days later). Seventeen more days before the voting ends means... I may not make it. With my current work schedule, I probably can’t make it.

     The first installment in the Bible Retold series (they’re planning another) is pretty interesting. It’s full of anachronisms, religious humor (sort of), and playful depictions of biblical events. I use the word “playful” because this retelling seems to be in good fun. It could be really offensive to those of a staunch Christians faith, if viewed as something that merely mocks the Bible.

     The beginning part is pretty smooth, but rushed development starts to show part-way and through to the end. The bugs are nothing a good post-comp update can’t fix (I’m going to skip the bug report for this review), but a couple of the puzzles left me confused.

     One requires looking up Bible verses and following instructions there. Somehow, I just never made the connection. I had assumed that one area in the game was a sort of model for part of a book in the Bible, and I remembered the notice at the beginning to either have a Bible handy or be prepared to look it up online. It just didn’t occur to me that I was in a puzzle that might only be solved by doing exactly that. I thought the Bible references would be handy for understanding the story itself, not for solving the puzzles, which may be how I failed to make that connection. I got the solution from the walkthrough.

     The other has to do with the geography of Mark’s Village. It’s one of those puzzles that probably seemed like a great idea to the author. During it, I kept flashing back to the cups puzzle at the pavilion in my own Trading Punches (2004). This elaborate system has been worked out, and it’s a pretty easy system to use, but it’s just not fun to repeat the same actions over and over, trying to figure out how to make it line up just right. I can’t say much more without giving a spoiler, but it involves Mark’s personal chariot and the intervals between houses.

     In terms of review size, I’m afraid I’m going to shortchange The Bible Retold. After five days, and even with my transcripts, I don’t find much else to comment on. I did like the writing, and the conversation between Yonah and Mark is interesting. It’s a good game of puzzles, but the competition release lacks polish. That’s why I’m scoring it a “7” on my scale. I expect good things as the series continues.