DELETE AFTER READING Reviews

Cute Game

Fun and clever game, puzzles weren't overly difficult but still brain exercising.

A really nice short story with pleasant puzzles. Its worth its price.

Super fun, silly, and wasn't terribly hard. It was a fun 2 hours

[URL=https://steamcommunity.com/id/CharlieLima79/recommended/1388860]After reading/playing Patrones & Escondites’ pulpy [I]Unmemory[/I][/URL], I was excited to see them release another interactive fiction. I thought that if [I]Unmemory[/I] was any indication of the developers’ craft, [I]Delete After Reading[/I] would be a fun puzzle game at the very least. [I]Delete After Reading[/I] pretty much follows [I]Unmemory[/I]’s formula and structure. It’s a short story with interactive text and pictures that function as puzzles. While the story of [I]Unmemory[/I] is a thriller with a mature audience in mind, that of [I]Delete After Reading[/I] is a wish-fulfillment children’s fantasy that seems to aim toward early- to mid-teens as well. The cute, brightly coloured, minimalist/mid-century modern art illustrations that accompany the story really bring out the whimsy and childlike wonder of [I]Delete After Reading[/I]. For the most part, the puzzles aren’t difficult, though there tends to be one or two in each of the first 4 chapters that will make you scratch your head a bit more. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3027978055 [I]Delete After Reading[/I] is delightful and fun – that is until the fifth and final chapter. The entire chapter, be warned, is filled with quick-time events that require you to read and respond within time limit. This gauntlet of QTEs was set to a two-minute charming song that serves as a timer for the series of tasks. No, it’s not [I]Song 2[/I] by Blur, though it would have been a sonically better choice to match the tension. Can this gauntlet of QTEs be conquered within two minutes? Yes, after some trial and error. Was it fun? No. Did the song get annoying by the end? Of course. Why not a real timer that you can see? Who knows? A major part of the frustration stemmed from needing to repeat the gauntlet from the very beginning upon failing a task. Fail enough times and any joy that you might have had initially from the challenge will inevitably evolve to annoyance, then aggravation, and finally dissatisfaction with the gameplay. Adding to the sour note that the gauntlet left on, the ending was also somewhat anti-climactic. I thought that there would be a bigger confrontation at the end. There wasn’t any. The protagonist also learned and earned nothing significant that would dramatically alter his life as one would expect from a wish-fulfillment fantasy story. It seemed like there was a hidden ending to be found. At the time of this review, I couldn’t find any, nor were there any secrets to be uncovered like in [I]Unmemory[/I] to enrich the experience. For the most part, [I]Delete After Reading[/I] is a decent piece of entertainment that offers mildly to moderately challenging puzzles to be solved. It’s just a shame that, given the quality of storytelling that the developers had demonstrated before, this interactive fiction didn’t end on a strong note. While [I]Delete After Reading[/I] is good, it’s hard for me to enthusiastically recommend. It may be worth checking out if it goes on sale or if you need something quick to pass time. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3027977996

A short puzzle interactive ebook, with the same puzzle mechanics but a much lighter tone than the previous game of the devs, Unmemory. The game felt like a step down compared to its predecessor. It had a lot less content (only 4 chapters), there was no subtitles, and the game only autosaved after completing a chapter which doomed the player to replay a whole chapter if he quits the game before completing it. But in all, despise its shortcomings, I enjoyed it. I really like the very innovative puzzle book mechanics that offer a very unique gameplay that I havent seen in other games.

This is such a good game! I loved all the puzzles and it's very family friendly! There are some tweaks like there is a chapter where we have to look at a pin for a number and the hints are saying it's a yellow pin when it's showing blue to the user. Other than that, the game ran perfectly and beautifully. I wish there were more like this! I would also critic that I think it's a little too short. I got through the story in 2.5 hours (and that's with stopping to eat my dinner in-between clicks). I can't wait to see what other stories may come out!

BEWARE, For those expecting a relaxing interactive fiction puzzle game, there is an infuriating and drawn out timed reflex event (with no way to skip) that will have you throwing your mouse against the wall.

Neat short interactive fiction puzzle game, all the clues you need can require a bit of backtracking, either within the same page or other pages but none of them are permanently missable. HOWEVER: The game has accessibility issues, most notably the audio-only cues which lack captions, and the final chapter, which features unskippable QTEs and a time based puzzle which may prove challenging to those with a poor sense of time, where if you fail any of them you need to restart the chapter. (At least said chapter is relatively short, especially compared to chapter 4) ALSO: There is no save system within a chapter, you need to play a chapter in its entirety in one sitting to progress. Overall, still positive, but keep those drawbacks in mind, especially if QTEs or lack of captions bother you

Family-friendly, cute puzzle game with unique style when it comes to everything – from gameplay to graphics. Lovely and short. Read/click/observe/figure out how to trick Destiny (that dude that makes your day EXTRA miserable sometimes – you know the guy) and change his plans to cruelly leave the most anticipated game in history (The Curse of Penguin Island) in the hands of a super-rich brat instead of sharing it with the world. In this IF/text-based puzzle adventure all the solutions are hidden in text or pictures you scroll through, as if you’d browse an interactive graphic novel. Some are easy, and some require out-of-the-box thinking that can stump you, but not for long – ultimately making it a nicely balanced (veering toward light) experience. Here are a few things that stood out for me: What worked: - Adorable story inspired by the best middle-grade fiction novels for kids. Part naïve, part adventurous, part crazy and funny. After long string of adventures that go between “dark -> extra dark -> so dark that you feel depression setting in” this is a welcome respite (and I love dark stuff, I just feel like “family-friendly” is an underrated category). - Puzzle element. Everything is hidden in text and pictures, but it involves more than just finding the right spot, but also “decoding” and solving rebus puzzles, which I always enjoy. - Graphics – brightly-colored, comic book-like 2D backgrounds and characters were a fantastic choice to carry this story. - The entire format of storytelling (and also a main gameplay mechanic) – scrolling through an interactive novel finding puzzles and clues – was a refreshing move amongst its more traditional adventure peers. What was “meh”: - The game autosaves in the end of each chapter (there are 5), so no manual saves. Again and again, I’m wondering why this is still in practice. Unless it’s survival horror – players should be able to save at any point. Especially in adventure game. What didn’t work: - There’s this song that’s a part of soundtrack of this game (I’ve heard it playing softly in the beginning – and it was fine, although not my kinda thing), but then it actually plays full on AS A TIMER for a puzzle that needs to be completed in 2 minutes. Literally - there’s no timer, so they offer you this song to make sure you’ll get done in time. The puzzle isn’t hard but requires timing/reflexes, and it’s built in a manner that you’d have to replay it several times to get everything right… Man, that song on repeat was something else! Although it was a part of the puzzle, I had to turn it off, otherwise my blood pressure would rise so high – I’d have to throw something at my computer, so I preferred no timer at all. This was a personal nitpick though, so if you’re a fan of this song – more power to you. I just couldn’t. - Really tempted to put “too short” in this category. But this would mean an oxymoronic “positive negative”. I liked the game enough to want to enjoy it a little longer. But you can finish it under 3 hours, no problem. Overall, short, sweet and entertaining. Good for a few hours of fun.