By Katie Benson [Twine; IFDB link here; IFComp link here]
You’re on the train to meet your family for the weekend, and the thought fills you with dread.
The cover suggests a cutesy story aimed at younger readers. The blurb suggests something deeper, with a hint of unhappy family life. The actual game tells of a troubled family, but even that only forms the premise for the bulk of the action, which is set on the train.
Off the Rails treads the familiar ground of vague allusions to emotional baggage (at least in the branches that I played through) and a mundane beginning. Infrequent binary choices are sprinkled in the midst of linear text. The verbosity betrays the broad branching, and conciseness would have helped this game. The “good”, or interesting, option is often obvious, without rewarding the player for being meek, for choosing the safe option.
Off the Rails has some good ideas, but it was not developed as much as it could have been, and could be more compellingly presented.
what will you do now? 