Fake News

"Fake News" is a madcap romp through a madcap storyline drawn together from the headlines of 19 July 2017. These headlines either directly inform the action or indirectly inspire the details of the story. This makes for some pretty wild plot twists as the very disparate plot elements come together. (I thought it was funny, but your mileage may vary.)

A lot of the action in-game comes in the form of choosing a communication option with an NPC. For instance, we may be told that we can "remain silent, ask him about the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874, or pretend to know more than you do about cheese." (This specific choice isn't actually in the game; I made it up as an illustration.) It's quite impressive that the game should recognise these non-standard sentences at all, but, unless you happen on the one keyword that identifies a unique option (perhaps "pretend" or "cheese" is all you need to type for option 3) you're better off typing out the whole option ... which makes one wonder why we weren't simply given a three-option menu.

(I seem to recall this same criticism being levelled at "Alabaster", so this game is in very good company.)

The purpose of these choices seems to be almost entirely about how much in the way of madcap antics you want to see from beginning to end. They don't actually change anything. There are one or two puzzle hurdles, many perhaps too simple to be called puzzles, though that one thing from when we're disguised as the Duchess of Cambridge (don't ask) is a pretty cool little set-piece. The bottom line is, we're wending our way through a crazy adventure, and it's mostly about the sight-seeing.

It may not be 100% coherent, but it's coherent enough to qualify as a story. If it were breakfast, it might be a couple of blueberry and banana muffins (if it's good then throw it in) and a large paper cup of commercial coffee. Great for eating on the go, and you'd really better go
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!