Review of "Another Earth, Another Sky"

Another Earth, Another Sky is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2002 by Paul O'Brian. At the 2002 XYZZY Awards, it won the Best Use of Medium award; it was also a finalist in the Best Game, Best Individual NPC, Best Puzzles, Best Setting, and Best Writing categories.

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Review by David Welbourn

Easily my favourite game of the competition. Although I have yet to play the prequel game, Earth and Sky, I hardly felt like a late-comer to the party. In a remarkably short period of time, I felt right at home in my super-suit, and the easy give and take between me and my sister Emily felt like I'd known her for years.

The suit itself is a kick. Your primary superpower is strength, and gosh, it's fun to hit things and see the huge cartoon KA-POW! sound effects. It's so cathartic.

Most of the game takes place on an artificial planet, not unlike Small World, where you can meet many interesting creatures (like the squid, we mustn't forget the squid), and of course, solve a puzzle or two. The puzzles aren't very difficult, although they might give you pause for a short while. I also suspect that under Andrew Plotkin's cruelty scale, this game would be rated as Merciful; I don't think you can get stuck or die.

After finishing, I tried to think of anything I didn't like about the game, and I couldn't. I liked it all. Much later, I thought that I'd've liked to interact with the creatures more. And maybe have more scenery stuff. And I'd definitely want Emily there with me. Hopefully the next installment will let the super siblings act as a team, and not split them up too often. That would be fantastic.

Rating: 10.