Enigma

This starts out in a void, but details get filled in gradually, one by one, as we examine things and think about them. It eventually emerges that we are holding a gun on our best friend Tim, and this is that one moment frozen in time where we are about to either pull the trigger or drop the gun.

It reminded me a bit of "Murder Off The Cuff", in that we're trying to piece together What Happened by observing the the environment and drawing conclusions. We're not trying to stage a denouement, though: we've simply blanked out from some traumatic event and now we're trying to pull ourself together. There is, as such, none of the humour of that other game, and rather more introspection and urgency. The entirety of the game takes place within a single moment in time as our hero tries to decide what to do. It's a split-second decision, and we have two hours to make it....

Well, I like the concept. I don't know if the execution is so hot. There's a good amount of identifying the nuts and bolts, the logistics of the situation: How did we get here? That's fair enough, and more than a bit of a requirement, but what I could have done with is a little more attention to the question of Why we got there and, especially, What on earth has been going on in Tim's head?

See, the final decision in the game is basically a life-and-death situation, and that demands a better examination of the motives and reasons. Even if we are no closer to a definitive "yes" or "no", it would be better to have a wealth of arguments to consider. And, without knowing Tim's motives, we can't really pass judgement. Our understanding is incomplete.

True, real life is much more nebulous, and split-second decisions like this are made on gut reactions that never really reach the brain. But a work of fiction wants something a little less messy than that.

I did like hunting down all the details there were, though. But one thing I'd like to know: if Gina was strangled, then where did those two drops of blood come from?

Buttermilk pancakes and wild berries. But no syrup, no butter, and nothing to drink.