Comments on: I Had to Burn the Park to the Ground to Clean It http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2009/10/01/i-had-to-burn-the-park-to-the-ground-to-clean-it/ Culture, Politics, Academia and Other Shiny Objects Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:26:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Laura http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2009/10/01/i-had-to-burn-the-park-to-the-ground-to-clean-it/comment-page-1/#comment-6849 Laura Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:20:58 +0000 http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=1016#comment-6849 I'd like to see what Nietzsche does. Can you bring in Kafka or somebody, too? Maybe Sartre. We tried a hot air balloon, but it was in the way. We couldn't get in it, then couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. We also killed the fireman with the axe. It is definitely a fun game. You know you can make your own levels, right? Just think what you could do with God and Nietzsche and Sartre! I’d like to see what Nietzsche does. Can you bring in Kafka or somebody, too? Maybe Sartre.

We tried a hot air balloon, but it was in the way. We couldn’t get in it, then couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it. We also killed the fireman with the axe. It is definitely a fun game.

You know you can make your own levels, right? Just think what you could do with God and Nietzsche and Sartre!

]]> By: jliedl http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2009/10/01/i-had-to-burn-the-park-to-the-ground-to-clean-it/comment-page-1/#comment-6848 jliedl Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:00:09 +0000 http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=1016#comment-6848 I'm getting a copy of this for my autistic daughter's birthday. She has liked other games from the same company (esp. Drawn to Life) and, as you say, the incentive of getting what she wants will help her with her spelling (she's a prolific reader but lags behind on actual writing and speaking). I would never have thought of apocalypse, though. That's an impressive game to accommodate that at the same time as my choice of "ladder" for cleaning up the garbage in the tree. I’m getting a copy of this for my autistic daughter’s birthday. She has liked other games from the same company (esp. Drawn to Life) and, as you say, the incentive of getting what she wants will help her with her spelling (she’s a prolific reader but lags behind on actual writing and speaking).

I would never have thought of apocalypse, though. That’s an impressive game to accommodate that at the same time as my choice of “ladder” for cleaning up the garbage in the tree.

]]> By: Timothy Burke http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2009/10/01/i-had-to-burn-the-park-to-the-ground-to-clean-it/comment-page-1/#comment-6847 Timothy Burke Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:24:35 +0000 http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=1016#comment-6847 Yes, though the game will ask you if you meant that word, correctly spelled. If you pick a word that has multiple definitions, it'll also ask which of the type of item you meant. The frustrating thing is that there are quite a few objects which will appear but then have no active properties within the gameworld. One of the Amazon reviewers points out, for example, that you can summon a muzzle for a dog, but that you can't put the muzzle on the dog--the muzzle is essentially inert. I've noticed already that many things which should allow you to fly or climb don't really work in a predictable or reliable way to solve puzzles which involve getting something out of the air or a tall object. ("Jetpack" is so far pretty functional for those purposes.) You get extra points for solving puzzles with novel objects or strategies, but given how many novel solutions that should work don't work, I suspect that as the game goes on, you end up relying on a much smaller number of highly functional objects. But ok, still, it is very good fun to mess around and see what you can manage to get working. I've already been told that the next time I summon God, I should also summon Nietzsche. Yes, though the game will ask you if you meant that word, correctly spelled. If you pick a word that has multiple definitions, it’ll also ask which of the type of item you meant.

The frustrating thing is that there are quite a few objects which will appear but then have no active properties within the gameworld. One of the Amazon reviewers points out, for example, that you can summon a muzzle for a dog, but that you can’t put the muzzle on the dog–the muzzle is essentially inert. I’ve noticed already that many things which should allow you to fly or climb don’t really work in a predictable or reliable way to solve puzzles which involve getting something out of the air or a tall object. (“Jetpack” is so far pretty functional for those purposes.)

You get extra points for solving puzzles with novel objects or strategies, but given how many novel solutions that should work don’t work, I suspect that as the game goes on, you end up relying on a much smaller number of highly functional objects. But ok, still, it is very good fun to mess around and see what you can manage to get working. I’ve already been told that the next time I summon God, I should also summon Nietzsche.

]]> By: Simon Shoedecker http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2009/10/01/i-had-to-burn-the-park-to-the-ground-to-clean-it/comment-page-1/#comment-6846 Simon Shoedecker Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:08:14 +0000 http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=1016#comment-6846 Do the desired items fail to appear if you misspell them? Do the desired items fail to appear if you misspell them?

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