Cidney Hamilton (she/they/he) (@cidney.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy)

Playing through #ectocomp2025 . Getting some nice feedback on my game, so leaving my own reviews on other people's games. Here are five that have stood out so far that seemed worth blogging about. https://cidney.org/2025/11/13/dads-shiva-and-ectocomp

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Dad's Shiva and EctoComp I released an interactive short story called Dad’s Shiva last month, as part of the 2025 EctoComp. In it you play a character, estranged from their abusive father, who visits their sister who’s had him in hospice care for the last five years. EctoComp is a yearly Halloween-themed IF competition. There were some great entries this year, including: * I Got You by Kastel Complete with 1940s comic cover art and a smarmy narrator, this choice-based short story takes the structure of a dating sim and goes to explore transphobia in an uncomfortable and vivid way. * Kinophobia by Bruno Dias A deep, meaty parser-driven entry, this mystery/exorcism game lets you explore a haunted movie studio and try to put to rest no less than 24 ghosts. It took me five hours to complete. While ther are some supernatural elements that I missed on the first play through, most of it involves digging through old documents and online archives of the history of a doomed film producer couple between 1974 and 1997. * Beneath the Weeping Willow by Lamp Post Games I’m still astonished that this was created in 4 hours. The plot of the dead child needing to be laid to rest is familiar, but the polish and charm of the presentation made it memorable. Makes heavy use of Ink’s dynamic text. * Stage Fright by Dercomai Another parser-driver adventure, this one heavy on puzzles and comedic horror. You play a homunculus understudy at a theater company that recently had a tragic accident. Alludes to _The Phantom of the Opera_ , _Into the Woods_ , _Dracula_ , _Sherlock Holmes_ , and other theater staples. * Costumes and Candy by Leon Lin This one was cute. Very cute. You play a kid competing with a rival to collect the most candy on Halloween, while knocking on houses in a neighborhood block. Each house expands into its own minigame. I particularly enjoyed the Twine game-with-in-a game where you help your neighbors playtest their EctoComp submission. EctoComp is open for judging until the end of November, so take a look at all 63 (!!!) submissions here. https://cidney.org/2025/11/13/dads-shiva-and-ectocomp