Alice and the Wishing Tree by Craig Dutton

Review by Male Annabelle Doll 96

Awesome game! It feel like I am the real Alice and traveling inside the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll. Thank you for your effort on making the story.

Review by KyuJones

What an enjoyable world. What enjoyable poems and riddles. ^____^
I must say I needed help from the comments, as these were quite tough tasks to figure out sometimes. But the writing is splendid and once you get through the trickier bits, it is very satisfying.

Review by the_ringmaster

I am a big fan of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, so the first thing I'd like to say is that I'm glad you included both aspects in your game. I appreciate how you kept the literary style of Carroll, who is known for his wordplay, riddles, and puns. When dispersed with the original illustrations and rhymes, the game made it seem as though I was reading another installment of the Alice series. I really enjoyed revisiting the Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and the ever-bickering twins.

The puzzles were entertaining and challenging enough to keep the player thinking in terms of Wonderland logic. However, the focus on wording and syntax made several of them needlessly frustrating. They were overcome by the helpful comments though, so no harm done.

Kudos and thank you for the fun.

Review by MisterPibb316

In terms of heart/spirit and imaginative puzzles, this game is worth 5-stars. I very much enjoyed playing it--though I needed a fair share of help, despite being an avid text adventure player--and that makes up for a good chunk of the development-related issues.

AatWT is very true to the the classic Alice universe, and the whimsical story it tells is likely to satisfy most, if not all fans. However, there are some syntactical and design issues: the first being that the game's help does not mention the 'LIFT' command, which is requisite for some solutions, and another being that solving the game's first puzzle requires you to examine yourself to find your first item (something I would never think to do on my own).

Regardless, I would rather stress the fun I had playing this game with all of the clues supplied by the comments section, though on my own I never would have gotten far. In fact, although the technical issues lead me to wanting to give this game a 3, the sheer fun factor bumps it up to a 4. And I'm usually a stern reviewer!

Review by danaburgerrr

this game is exquisite. you are such a talented writer! love how you captured the world and tone of Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, down to how the characters speak and interact to the puzzles that are just the right amount of wacky. incredible world, good hints in the text, and just fun all around. and by now you must know how I feel about those damn item limits, but this time it wasn't all that difficult to work with. fantastic fantastic fantastic.

Review by silverstormgirl

I love Alice in Wonderland, so I was really excited to see this text adventure. It really does have a wonderfully Victorian feel to it - riddles and nonsense logic and wishes and demands, with a strain of Alician naughtiness through it. The writing is great, and the riddles are very riddlish. The only fault I can find is in the Wizard's justification for creating a puzzle that could only be solved by disobeying conventional rules - which, contrariwise, are conventional rules in the world of text adventures and video games. if someone gives you a box, it's meant to be opened, regardless of whether it's fair to the recipient or not.

The problems I had with playing it were problems of syntax and newbieness. Text adventures can be really challenging to people unfamiliar with their logic and rules, and this is...maybe the third game I've played in the last two weeks? I'm also unfamiliar with Craig Dutton's work prior to this, or after.

However, the first puzzle was really rough, for a couple of reasons. 1) for the specificity of the commands needed. you have to figure out how to find the farthing in your pocket, and then commands are use farthing on water and make wish. 2) you couldn't get away from it. There wasn't a way to go away, look at something else, let your hindbrain figure it out while you explore. You're stuck on a screen staring at a puzzle.

honestly, without the comments section, I probably wouldn't have figured it out. the specificity of commands needed is a problem that keeps surfacing throughout the game - you have to say the right words in the right order, and there's very little in-game hints as to what you're supposed to be doing. that and the inventory limit were things I personally found difficult.

however, it is solvable. it takes time and patience, but the game does reward you.

Review by Father

A definite five. I wish I could write like this.

Review by Nathaniel.Spence

A great little game, with well thought-out puzzles and lovely descriptions (especially the verse scattered throughout). The puzzles are just hard enough to be interesting, without the gameplay becoming frustrating. There are a few typos here and there, but not enough to distract from the overall experience. Good stuff!

Review by BeautyvsAshes

This was so much fun. I have always loved the tales of Alice in Wonderland, and was super excited to see this. It was so well written and honestly, Craig Dutton did a fantastic job of keeping the style similar to that of the original stories. Congratulations on a fun and fantastical game. :)

And a thank you to Sarah and Craig who helped guide my steps here and there.

Review by Charles Scott

Another enthralling game from Craig Dutton. I'm working my way through his back catalogue and, like Sarah, haven't yet come across a game that is less than excellent. This one has some fiendish puzzles (thanks again for your help Sarah) and intriguing characters: hard to believe it was written in just a couple of days. Thank you, Craig, and please keep the games coming!