ADRIFT 2003
by Various

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2003 was pretty much a hit and miss year as far as games went. There were some great games - "To Hell In A Hamper" and "Three Monkeys, One Cage" - and some downright bad ones - of which the fourth version of "Jason Evans 4" was the undisputed king. There were lengthy periods of time during which no games seemed to be written at all. Back in 2002 when Mel S' "The Lost Mines" spent 6 weeks at the top of the main ADRIFT page, it was quite unusual for so long a period to go by without a single release (it even prompted a lengthy debate on the forum). Unfortunately the same thing happened quite a few times in 2003. Indeed, no new games came out in January, May and July at all, and only a single game came out in February and September.

And then, of course, there were the competitions.

Competitions - mini or otherwise - were pretty much the lifeblood of ADRIFT throughout 2003. In total, 45 ADRIFT games were released in 2003 which sounds like a great figure and an indication that ADRIFT is growing more and more popular as the years go by… until you consider that the majority of these were smaller games written for one competition or another. Indeed, take away the comps and the grand total of ADRIFT releases drops down to a rather disappointing 7. Of course, you could always argue by with some justification by that if not for the comps people would still have written their games so the total for 2003 would be quite a bit higher than 7. But the total of full-sized games written in 2003 was just 13, compared to almost double that amount in 2002. If the trend continues, we might be seeing less than double figures in ADRIFT games for 2004. A depressing thought…

But onto the games that were good, and bad, in 2003:

January
An unusual month in the world of ADRIFT: no games were written. Indeed, none had been written the previous month either which was even more unusual.

February
Black Sheeps Gold by Driftingon - The first new game for three months and not a bad one at all. Let down by a sudden and unnecessary twist in the tale partway through (imagine The Mr Men getting invaded by South Park) and some atrocious guess-the-verb which turned relatively simple puzzles into nightmarish episodes. All in all an impressive first effort.

March
The Dead Man by 30otsix - Winner of the One Room Comp. A detailed and interesting game packed into a single room. Aside from a few annoyances with an ongoing event which moves all the player's items to the floor every few moves, this was a worthy winner.
Dreamland by Echo - One Room Comp entry. Not a terrible game, just an incredibly small one. Just two tasks are needed to complete it although guess-the-verb problems meant that you might have to type variants of the commands a dozen times before you hit upon the right combination.
A Day At The Office by Davidw - Runner up in the One Room Comp. My own game so a review would be naturally biased but I liked the way it turned out (minor bugs notwithstanding).
Everything Emmanuelle by Milestyle - One Room Comp entry. Well written but I couldn't help feel this one was a little pointless. Very little happens and while there are multiple endings it's often difficult to figure out if you did well or not.
I by Christopher Cole - One Room Comp entry. An interesting idea - a game written from the viewpoint of someone lying dead in a coffin(!) - let down by the fact that there was precious little to do. Indeed, one command is all the game has to offer; everything else plays out after that whether you do anything or not. It passed five minutes but little more.
Escape From Insanity by Mel S - One Room Comp entry. A fiendish little game made even more fiendish by guess-the-verb problems that pop up in most commands. There were some genuinely decent ideas here but they were pretty much swamped by the GTV problems, not to mention the annoying bug whereby the player is alternatively referred to as "you" and "I".
Montahue Scott & The Mobius Belt by The Mad Monk - Third place in the One Room Comp. Despite adding an unusual take on the "one" room idea, there was a neat game packed into the slightly-more-than-one rooms. A few hard puzzles and some comical humour added to the enjoyment.
Trapped With A Girl by Schoolsinger - One Room Comp entry. My least favourite game in the One Room Comp due to some appalling spelling errors, an NPC whose name seems to be spelt differently every now and then and a frustrating event which runs every single move. My enthusiasm just died after reading the same piece of text for the sixth time in as many moves and any hint of a decent game just died with it.
City In Fear by Davidw - Another one of mine. It seemed to go down better than the first game in the series and although being three times as big was actually written in less time.

April
Lara Croft: The Sun Obelisk by Christopher Cole - An amended (i.e. most of the sex was taken out) version of the writer's earlier game of the same name. Well written for the most part and with puzzles that were potentially lethal for the unwary. Certainly an improvement on "I" and a good indication that C Cole can write decent games outside the AIF market.
Cowboy Blues by Davidw - Runner up in the ADRIFT Spring Comp. I was never that satisfied with the end result as I felt I had to rush it to get it done for the comp deadline, hence the town of Stonetomb was quite a bit smaller than planned and contained less characters and replay value. Maybe one day I'll remake it the way it was originally intended.
The Merry Murders by Mel S - Mel S' first full game since The Lost Mines the previous June. For a writer who had churned out a game every couple of months for a year or so this was quite a lengthy gap. Unfortunately TMM wasn't as good as The Lost Mines and contained several annoying flaws in that the player was referred to sometimes as "you" and other times as "I", not to mention the times when parts of the text were in present tense and other times in past tense. Not a bad game but it took some getting into.
To Hell In A Hamper by J. J. Guest - Winner of the ADRIFT Spring Comp. A devilishly clever game contained in a single room but still managing to be quite a bit bigger than most full size games, THIAH follows the efforts of an eminent Victorian "balloonist" to prevent his balloon from crashing by throwing items overboard. Not helping the situation is his companion, a strange fellow by the name of Hubert Booby, who seems to have a waistcoat capacious enough to hold pretty much anything. My favourite ADRIFT game of 2003.
House by Matthew Wiltshire - Third place in the ADRIFT Spring Comp. I have to admit I wasn't a fan of this. The opening locations were devoid of description and while the game was fleshed out later on, I had lost interest long before then. A few nice touches - the screen changing colour at various times - didn't make me like the game any more.

June
The Sage Of Percy The Viking - Joint runner up in Woodfish's Minicomp. I don't know where I got the idea for this one (no biggie, I never know where my ideas come from!) but I quite liked the setting: no exploring, no items, no descriptions; just a conversation system that changes the way the game plays and leads to multiple endings. Definitely one I'm intending to rewrite one day into a full size game.
Forum by Woodfish - Winner of Woodfish's Minicomp. As bizarre as anything by Heal Butcher this is one of those weird little games that you either love or hate. I loved it and even though it beat me in the Comp I felt it was the better game.
Dance Fever USA by Mel S - Joint runner up in Woodfish's Minicomp. Almost as strange as the game that won the Comp, DFU had the kind of madness that was ripe in The Evil Chicken Of Doom. Though not as good, it was still well worth playing for a game written in an hour and contained some truly unusual puzzles involving peeing and a wrench-swallowing cat.
Neighbours From Hell by Davidw - Winner of Davidw's Minicomp. I finally won a Comp! Pity it was my own but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it. I got the idea from the name of a computer game although whether there are any similarities between the two I couldn't say as I was put off my poor reviews and didn't buy it.
Thorn by Eric Mayer - Runner up in Davidw's Minicomp. My favourite game in my Comp and the one I would have picked to win if I had any say in the matter. Thorn was well written and atmospheric but ultimately confusing. Even after finishing the game, I couldn't really say I had a clue what it was all about.
Monsters by Tech - Entry in Davidw's Minicomp. A game I felt should have done better than it did. A minor annoyance with your mother showing up and ushering you back into bed every few moves let down a nice idea.
Diary Of A Stripper by Christopher Cole - Third place in Davidw's Minicomp. A decent standard of writing couldn't hide the fact that there was a definite lack of storyline here. This coupled with the game often telling you what you needed to type made this too easy and took away any kind of challenge.

August
Crimson Detritus by Mystery - Originally intended for the ADRIFT Summer Comp but withdrawn at the last moment, I actually preferred this to the game Mystery did enter. It was surreal and quite playable for ten minutes or so but there isn't enough of a game to really get your teeth into.
Jim Pond & The Agents Of F.A.R.T. by Davidw - Runner up in the ADRIFT Summer Comp. My homage to James Bond and the first of a series (which I may or may not get around to writing one of these days). Several people seemed to think it had guess-the-verb problems which in hindsight it probably did. Chalk up another for the best-testers.
Sun Empire by Tech - Winner of the ADRIFT Summer Comp. One of the few science-fiction ADRIFT games. Complicated in parts, with some overly awkward tasks, but a decent back story and high standard of writing. A worthy winner.
ADRIFT-O-Rama by Mystery - ADRIFT Summer Comp entry. Not a game I could say I liked much. The premise was straightforward: two commands in each location move you on to the next location; type the same two commands there and move to the next; and so on. A few amusing set pieces along the way didn't help what was a nice idea but not a very good game.
The Worst Game In The World… Ever! by Davidw - ADRIFT Summer Comp entry. My joke entry into the Summer Comp. Surprisingly it didn't come last. Clueless Bob Newbie made his first appearance here in a game that was a lot better received than I felt it had any right to be.
The Leviathan Labyrinth by Cheryl Howard - ADRIFT Summer Comp entry. TLL had a neat idea of starting the player in different locations each time; unfortunately this idea wasn't enough to save a game with this many flaws. The labyrinth was a nightmare to map and often locations seemed to have exits that led back to themselves. Frustration hit me hard when playing and I didn't play for long.

September
Asylum by Mel S - A tried and tested idea - waking up in a mental asylum with no knowledge of how you came to be there - but a good one. Guess-the-verb was a lot less severe than in the majority of Mel's games though the task involving the television was nightmarish. One of his better full length efforts.

October
The Revenge Of Clueless Bob Newbie by Davidw - Third One Hour Comp entry. One of my three entries into the Third One Hour comp. Suffered from the usual problem with one hour games: not enough time to make it into the game that you really wanted.
The Revenge Of Clueless Bob Newbie, Part 2 - This Time It's Personal by Davidw - Third One Hour Comp entry. A kind of follow up to the previous game. Shorter than Part 1 but harder (at least in my humble opinion).
A.S.D.F.A. by Davidw - Third One Hour Comp entry. A kind of interlude between ONNAFA and ALDFA. I felt it was better than CBN 1 and 2 but as it came lower in the rankings I was clearly in a minority.
The Curse Of The Revenge Of The Ghost Of The Evil Chicken Of Doom… Returns! by Mel S - Third One Hour Comp entry. Every bit as strange as its predecessor, and possessing the longest title of any ADRIFT game to date, this was sheer lunacy from start to finish. A smattering of guess-the-verb problems let it down but the humour was top notch.
That Crazy Radioactive Monkey by Mel S - Third One Hour Comp entry. A good idea and some good jokes. I wasn't too sure about the subject - beating up, mutilating and killing your sidekick to garner laughs from the studio audience - but I was too busy chuckling at the decidedly over the top humour to worry about that.
Quest For Flesh by Tech - Third One Hour Comp entry. A remarkably small game but well written. Alas there was next to nothing to do here and while this might have worked quite well as the introduction to a larger game, it didn't succeed very well at all as a one room game.
The Pyramid Of Hamaratum by KF - Third One Hour Comp entry. KF's first game but, unfortunately, not one I liked or, considering where it came in the Comp, a favourite with anyone else either. Too small by far and ridiculously easy but it was nice to see him finally get around to writing a game.
Just My Imagination, Musings Of A Child by Mystery - Third place in the Third One Hour Comp. A nice enough idea let down by what I felt was an over the top introduction. Interesting for the time it took to place and some good puzzles for a game written within an hour.
Forum 2 by Woodfish - Third One Hour Comp entry. Personally I preferred the original. This lacked any of Forum's humour and had an ending that left me wondering if I was missing something.
Saffire by Woodfish - Third One Hour Comp entry. A decent introduction which then led to… not much really. The game made little sense and left me baffled for the most part.
The Farthest Shore by Stewart J. McAbney - Third One Hour Comp entry. Certainly well written but might have worked better as the introduction to a larger work than a game in itself. Nothing that happens in the game affects the ending in any way and, ultimately, I felt this was a bit of a wasted opportunity.
Doom Cat!! by Eric Mayer - Third One Hour Comp entry. The strangest game in the comp but downright hilarious. Your cat is ticking and you have to get rid of it before it explodes! The twist at the end was particularly amusing.
Apprentice Of The Demonhunter by The Mad Monk - Winner of the Third One Hour Comp. My favourite of all the one hour games. While not a particularly original idea, it was nevertheless very well written and had a remarkable amount of depth for such a short game. A tendency towards jokiness let it down in the end but it was still definitely worth playing.
Three Monkeys One Cage by Hanadorobou - As far as puzzlefests go, this game is a killer. It's one of those games whereby the player seems unable to progress more than a few moves without death unexpectedly striking. That said, it's also an amazingly addictive game; often you seem to reach slightly further into the game with each play and discover interesting and unusual things to try out that you didn't discover before. If this is indeed Hanadorobou's final ADRIFT game it's a crying shame.
Halloween Hijinks by Davidw - Originally my entry for my aborted Halloween Comp. The game was rushed to make it ready for the comp deadline and I missed several annoying errors in my haste (as people seemed only to eager to point out). One day I'll re-write it the way it was originally going to be.

November
The Hornets' Nest by Scuey - Games by newcomers are something I generally approach with a mixture of glee and expectations of disappointment. This one veered sharply towards the latter. Poorly written, lots of errors and showing definite signs of someone so eager to get his first game out that he didn't even bother submitting it to the most cursory testing beforehand.
Sophie's Adventure by Davidw - My entry to the IFComp 2003: it came 16th. Not as high as I would have liked but not a terrible showing by any means. A sequel is planned but not for at least a year.
A.S.D.F.A. by Davidw - An enlarged version of my entry in the Third One Room Comp. This was more the game I had intended to write but a lot of the original premise had to be cut to make it within the time limit.


So in conclusion a hit and miss year for ADRIFT games. Some very good games, some very bad games. By far the most alarming aspect - for me anyway - was the lengthy gaps between releases; a sign that people are taking longer to write their games? Or that ADRIFT doesn't quite hold the level of interest that it once did? Added to that was the fact that quite a few of the long-standing members of the community - Milestyle, Cannibal, Mystery, DuoDave, Mad Monk, Matt Dark Baron, T. Mulkerrins, Cowboy, Eric Mayer, Campbell himself - didn't produce any full-size games despite assurances (from a certain one of the ten in particular) that they had products they were "working on". Hopefully 2004 will see a flourish of new games from them…

(For anyone left wondering, that last sentence was written with sarcasm in full flow.)

And for anyone's who interested, my top ten games of 2003 were:

1. To Hell In A Hamper - J. J. Guest
2. Three Monkeys, One Cage - Hanadorobou
3. Apprentice Of The Demonhunter - The Mad Monk
4. Sun Empire - Tech
5. The Curse Of The Revenge Of The Ghost Of The Evil Chicken Of Doom… Returns! - Mel S
6. The Dead Man - 30otsix
7. Black Sheeps Gold - Driftingon
8. Doom Cat!! - Eric Mayer
9. That Crazy Radioactive Monkey - Mel S
10. Lara Croft: The Sun Obelisk - Christopher Cole