Author: Michael Thomét. Play online

The first play is straightforward. You should look for the “But…” link on your second playthrough. That’s what the game is about, and you can miss that link easily if you’re not paying enough attention.

Technically it’s a standard gamebook but it tracks some variables across the playthroughs to break the fourth wall.

The game has a weird trouble with tracking your choices. I thought it was a clever hint at the puzzle but then I read the source code. Turns out it’s just a lack of beta-testing.

It looks like “A Figure…” has some sort of a puzzle where you try to find the perfect choice combination. But then again — I read the source code — and I can say: this is not the case. It just tracks the loops. Really, that’s all: just a counter how many times did you try to beat the game. And this counter is ignored after the 8th try. All these images in the folder? A cruel meta red herring, never actually shown to you in-game.

Turns out the most frustrating ending is no ending at all.

This game has intrigued me. The writing is good, the idea is clever and it has enough choices to be interesting even on ninth try. Hell, it intrigued me enough to crack the source code (not that it was hard but still). So I’m frustrated and I can’t recommend this for playing. It tricked me.