The LCPANES Terminal

Name: The LCPANES Terminal

Developer: psy_wombats

Story: This is a text-based game played in the browser. You awaken in a cell on a stone floor. There is a desk with a computer and notes littered all over it and books who's contents seem to have been used to create code ciphers. There is also a bathroom with a shower, a medicine cabinet, and a "magic" cabinet. As you examine the computer, you discover that you are not the only prisoner here, and it seems your only purpose for being captured was to crack a series of codes to escape.

Well written and detailed, the game capitalizes on the fact that the player and the player character are both essentially playing the game by staring into a computer monitor. It's very nicely executed and kudos to the dev for brilliantly establishing the atmosphere of being trapped in a room with nothing but a computer to make contact with people who may or may not be real, but unfortunately, with the game only being an hour long (of reading, exclusively!), it is simply too short to really cultivate this atmosphere.

Speaking of the shortness of the game, I was a bit disoriented by how abruptly I reached one of the nine endings (I assume the best ending). I only played the game once, but there is a character that is talking to you through the computer called (I think) AVBRANDY. No characters can directly talk to each other. It's on a pass along cycle, but some time in the game, you can enter a code that let's you talk to any of the other characters, and chose to talk back to AVBRANDY. Up until this point, the game had been building up a potential conflict between, you, two others, AVBRANDY and KUHOOK, and username called LICOZY. Unfortunately, the moment you establish contact with AVBRANDY, LICOZY decides to hand you the key to ending the game. Now, I'll be honest, the moment comes with a great twist, I won't deny that, but it undermines everything the story was building up to. I feel like a huge chunk of the story went missing. My only thought is that upon reaching this point, the story was simply rushed. By not following through on the potential of conflict with LICOZY, I feel the story skipped a significant step.

Now, this isn't to say that the game is bad. Quite the opposite. This game is very well done. I'm simply saying there was a lot more that could and should have been done with this story.

We never meet the villain of the game, and it seems strange that someone would capture people just to see if they could escape before being terminated (via gassing). So, it's impossible to know the motivation, adding to the menace of the game.

Gameplay: Very straight forward and simple. You are given a series of choices, affecting the course and outcome of the game. Once you collect the notes, your only options will be to read them, recheck the books, work on the computer, or go to the bathroom and use the options there. Like I said; simple.

Conclusion: Unfortunately, since this is a text game, my review is going to have to be short. No music, no graphics, or anything else to cover, so there's nothing really left but my conclusion. Although I think the story lacks a great deal of material, what is there is well executed and thoroughly engrossing. The long strings of text between LCPANES, AVBRANDY, and LICOZY add to the genuine feel of being trapped in the room with nothing but a basic computer screen. I highly recommend the game, and do hope that the dev might expand the game, and round out the story a little more. Score: 4.