Moonstone Falls by Craig Dutton

Review by Mataeus

I enjoyed the actual adventure and the setting, and I enjoyed the puzzles. Some people say they didn't find the puzzles intuitive, but I did - I especially liked the way you set off the alarm in the station, and what it results in. It felt logical, but very creative! I love that kind of thinking, a little outside the box, but in a way which makes total sense.

I just wish there was a lot more to the writing. Each room is pretty much a short sentence, without any colour to the locations. I wanted to feel like I was exploring the world, but it's hard when there's so little to examine or be immersed in.

I played this after finishing and publishing my own game, and I wanted to say here and now that any similarities are pure coincidence! Scarecrow, cave, light source, locked house, even a jack!

I noticed this was published eight years ago, but I'm glad I finally discovered it today. My mind had to fill in the blanks a lot, but the puzzles were good.

Review by DaNiX88

A very interesting game! I really enjoyed finding out more about myself as the character throughout the puzzles during the game. I got stuck a few times, and I didn't make observations sometimes when I needed to. I'm glad you announced that there were two endings which were randomized otherwise I would have never known to try to find the second one.

Great game, and looking forward to your next one!

Review by danaburgerrr

I'm a big fan of your games, Craig, but I've just started playing and have gotten into this game a bit, and this item carry limit is making me insane. I never understood why these exist and I apologize if it was a requirement rather than a choice for the design of the game, but it's quite cumbersome and sort of off-putting when it comes to becoming immersed in the game play. I'll post a true review when I've finished!

Review by CJ2

Nice twist with a good story. However I found most of the things you have to do aren't intuitive, and I just figured them out through trial and error, or by looking them up here. Personally I like it better when the game gives you hints (even if they're subtle) about what to do with items when you look at/examine them. (Like the picture frame in this game did, but then the plug hole in the sink didn't.)

Review by Vibhash Chandra

Thanks Sarah for your help. I completed my first text adventure game and it was awesome.

Review by Amy L. Cook

Geh! What do I do with the floorboard in the shed? I have tried every command I can think of... take, move, remove, slide, open, push, pull, pry, wiggle, etc... I have even tried using various objects on the floorbard... nothing seems to work. What am I missing here? Any help or hint would be great! Thanks! Very enjoyable game!

Review by Breeze

It was pretty hard, but a nice game

Review by Gary Binns

Brutal but brilliant.

Review by stella1

Ha thanks a bunch! I guess I don't like "dealing" with people when they're already down.

This is another awesome game! The things I needed to do felt pretty straightforward (except when I was stuck, haha) and really made sense after the fact. I guess the only thing personally I didn't like was that I had to use a gun. I didn't have any technical problems. Looks like I didn't get away at the end. I'll try it out again!

Review by sarah4

Thanks for your help as always Craig, managed to finish it quite quickly after your reply, can't believe I hadn't tried the command 'use jack on car'! Another great game with challenging but logical problems and a great storyline and atmosphere. I thought the way you had to build up your memory was very well done and made for a very suspenseful game. All in all another brilliantly written and planned out adventure that everyone should play. My only slight problem with the game was a purely personal one and is no criticism on the game or your skill as a game writer, and that is that I personally don't like too much violence in a game or story and so I was a little uncomfortable at having to shoot someone. Still, it is in character and an integral part of the game and I'm aware that most people are not as sensitive as me!