URA Winner

I'm not entirely sure if the author is being serious with this one. The tone, for the most part, seems pretty earnest, enough that I wonder if the author takes these tests seriously. On the other hand, the delivery and the so-called "social studies" section feel just sufficiently "off" that it could be a parody.

If it is a parody, or a critique of the social homogenisation of standardised testing, it's missing a punchline. I'm not entirely sure what's supposed to be funny about these English and Math questions, or about the ending. Nor am I sure what the author is trying to say.

If it's serious, then I think we have a bigger problem on our hands. It's like Jarod's Journey from IFcomp 2000: an earnest attempt at proselytising, with only a paper-thin depth of understanding of how things work.

I'll assume it's a parody.

All that aside, the "interactive gameplay" aspect is, to be honest, pretty boring. That part is entirely about answering test questions, and I doubt if many people look back on that aspect of school as the highlight of their scholastic life. In between the tests, we have a few long-ish chunks of text story in which we might, perhaps, learn the information we need to answer the test questions. The entertainment value is pretty low, in spite of any subversive gentlemen lurking in dark alleys and nightclubs.

If this were breakfast, I think it would be a tomato ketchup sandwich on white bread. I look at it and I say, "Ooo-kay...? Am I missing something here?"