Festival of the Larps 2015 con report, part II - Sky No Longer Blue
The first of the two games I played at Festival was Sky No Longer Blue, a science fiction amnesia game by laura47, ocelotspots, and Peter Litwack. There's not a ton I can say about it without spoiling it, but I was very impressed with it.
It takes place on a spaceship (well, not actually in space, but it has that kind of feel) with a high level of attention to making the space feel diagetic. The ship has workings and dimensions, often that need to be interacted with and maintained in order to travel from place to place. It had a lot of atmosphere, kind of like the Alien movies-- there was a sense of threat coming from somewhere, but you didn't fully understand where it was or what was causing it. I was impressed that they were able to achieve that.
I liked my character, and I very much enjoy having an in-game challenge where I need to manipulate others and lay groundwork so that I can do the thing I need to do. In life it's not acceptable to be like that, but I kind of get a kick out of knowing I'm capable of it in a safe context. I liked that they gave you enough information in the environment to make deductions and get information; that aspect was very well designed. The beginning of the game was a touch slow for me, as the ship required fixing, but I had no relevant skills. Also I knew what I needed to do but needed to wait for certain things before I could do anything. That was a bit frustrating, waiting for other people to do things so I could act on my ideas. But other than that, the game is well-designed, really atmospheric, and I enjoyed it.
It takes place on a spaceship (well, not actually in space, but it has that kind of feel) with a high level of attention to making the space feel diagetic. The ship has workings and dimensions, often that need to be interacted with and maintained in order to travel from place to place. It had a lot of atmosphere, kind of like the Alien movies-- there was a sense of threat coming from somewhere, but you didn't fully understand where it was or what was causing it. I was impressed that they were able to achieve that.
I liked my character, and I very much enjoy having an in-game challenge where I need to manipulate others and lay groundwork so that I can do the thing I need to do. In life it's not acceptable to be like that, but I kind of get a kick out of knowing I'm capable of it in a safe context. I liked that they gave you enough information in the environment to make deductions and get information; that aspect was very well designed. The beginning of the game was a touch slow for me, as the ship required fixing, but I had no relevant skills. Also I knew what I needed to do but needed to wait for certain things before I could do anything. That was a bit frustrating, waiting for other people to do things so I could act on my ideas. But other than that, the game is well-designed, really atmospheric, and I enjoyed it.