IFCOMP 2006 - Sisyphus

     XYZZY Response:
     That's not a verb I recognise.

     Hmm. Just... hmmmm.

     I chose this game next (I only needed to skip one more on my randomly-ordered list), because it has already been identified in other reviews as a joke game. I’ve tried to just skim for scores (so as to maybe minimize the influence of these other opinions), but when the reviews of Sisyphus are only a line or two, that’s not easy.

     Still, I hoped to find something more here – something the others overlooked. I have failed in that, and I can only agree with them. I see three possibilities, though, instead of just two. It’s either a joke game, or a larger game that fails in its very first puzzle so as to appear as nothing but a joke game, or it’s neither. In that case, maybe it’s exactly what it appears to be. Maybe it’s intended to show the endless futility Sisyphus endures as his punishment in Hades, by hinting that Sisyphus believes himself clever enough to escape from just another unfortunate encounter.

     In my brief quest to answer the question posed by the game’s blurb, I tried a number of actions. Most don’t work or give default responses, but a few pay off. Since none of this seems “spoilery” in a game that goes nowhere, here is most of what I found to work: x hill, search hill, x me, die, x boulder, look under boulder, push boulder, pull boulder, wait, pray, get boulder, n/s/e/w/etc, help.

     I also tried looking to the story of Sisyphus (I searched the internet) for the details I lack in my prior understanding of this Greek myth. Plenty leads up to Sisyphus and the boulder, but nothing comes after it. Sisyphus doesn’t weasel out of his predicament. This is his final, everlasting punishment, and as such, it suggests no way out.

     I want to believe, even now, that maybe Theo Koutz (an alias, I think) has built a bigger game that just hides behind a hard-to-guess introductory puzzle. I think it’s unlikely, though. Even though not much is implemented, what is here seems solid and well-written to the point that it would be an unbelievable lapse in judgement for the author to have designed this in such an unhelpful way. Also, the actions that might hint at alternatives don’t, instead suggesting that Sisyphus resume his toil. Doing this (even dozens of times) offers no variation. It’s all worded in such a way that the task seems unavoidable and inescapable, yet the idea of escape lingers.

     It could be a “1”, and it might be a “2”, but to me, it has a peculiar charm. It’s a little like looking for buried pirate’s treasure where thousands have failed before you. It’s almost certainly as pointless as it seems, yet the possibility that the author has devised some way for Sisyphus to escape is a tough idea to shake. Eventually, somebody will probably decompile the .Z8 file (if such a thing is possible, and I don’t know why it wouldn’t be) to find out for sure.

     My theory, as absurd as it might be, is that this is a joke, but a very particular one. I think the author hopes to make a point in wasting our time. Maybe we keep hunting for an escape that doesn’t exist, or we write scathing reviews. Either way, the joke’s on us. I think the author knows the community, and Sisyphus is his middle finger. If so, I don’t mind that. It’s not an enjoyable game, but I’m not offended. It’s oddly fascinating, but still just a “3” on my scale.

     I hope the author, whoever he may be, claims it after the competition.