Posted 20 September 2001 to rec.games.int-fiction

Follows are my reviews for the games entered in Mark Musante's Toaster Competition. The reviews are a little short, but so are the games. Since you'll want to play them yourself, you can get them from http://www.ministryofpeace.com/if/toaster-comp/

Burnt Toast (by Josh Giesbrecht)
     A short, strange game. Apparently scientists have developed a new addictive drug to combat orderliness, distributed in bread. Withdrawal is usually fatal, and is preceded by the smell of burnt toast. Can you survive each morning?

Got Toast (by Jim Fisher)
     The formatting is a little wonky, but it promises a good story. I enjoyed the game quite a bit, but in the Medusa scene I had to cheat by reading the source a couple times. It's clever and at some points quite funny. Beth says, "Quite funny." Beth says, "Quite funny." Beth says, "Quite funny."

Spitting Crumbs (by Duncan Cross)
     An explosive look at minimalist description.

Firar Bacon's Secret (by carl@wurb.com)
     The most clever toaster game I've seen. A few parsing and weirdness problems but still enjoyable. The puzzles are a matter of perspective. Most have multiple solutions and a few don't need to be solved.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Too! (by David Dyte)
     A breathtaking tale of bravery and how AWWWK!!! Want toast!

Tommy The Toaster (by Coala)
     A demonstration that breakfast is a metaphor for the meeting and parting of two lovers. >take Brad That seems to be a part of Tommy The Toaster.

(You're) Toast! (by Gunther Schmidl)
     Obviously subversive propaganda suggesting that wonderful things such as Glulx are useful and yummy like fresh toast.

Masters of Toasting (by Leon Lin)
     Get a behind the scenes view into the work of great chefs like Biff Backowicz and 'Birdie' Stanton. The ingredients may be unappetizing, but if you can fix their broken toaster, these chefs can claim victory by the Power of Greytoast!

Mr. Remote Mom (by Lenny Pitts)
     I hadn't seen a "real-time" TADS game before. Either through game-specific hackery or problems in the Glk TADS port, backspace is broken, and it's generally hard to play. Other than that, a decent ToasterComp entry.

This is The Toaster (by Peter Berman)
     Arrrrr, will be toasty gecko! From deity plant will play game! Clebb, Os Esker, Plidi, will make big fun.

Toasterama (by Doug Jones)
     This is probably the most serious entry to the mini-comp. A tale of a man, his pain, and his toaster. It didn't go quite how I expected, though I had to restart when I couldn't get out of the bathtub.

THERE IS NO BREAD (by Mikko Vuorinen)
     I have no bread, and I must toast.