Further

"Further" seems like a fairly simple exercise, the sort of thing one puts together to learn the basics of the programming language. From a technical standpoint, it is actually a few cuts above the merely basic, utilising coloured text and changing descriptions; but from a design standpoint, I don't think that much has been done. It is as if the design is based entirely around the exercise of learning and implementing these elements.

There's really not much story, not much discovery. You're dead, and you have to move a few things around before you can move on. There is not much conflict pushing you forward, and not much in the way of interactive engagement to pull you in. A game can get by with nothing in one or more of these categories, but there has to be at least one area where it exceeds expectations.

All in all, I suppose it does succeed in being put together fairly well. It's a perfectly presentable breakfast of plain pancakes, competently put together -- that's not as easy as it looks. But there's no salt in the batter, and there's no butter, and not much more than a drop of honey. To drink: skimmed milk.