(Not-)Oktrollberfest 2025

[RT-55J]

October is slated to have a pretty major Life Event for me, so instead of Oktrollberfest I'm going to be making this for the Insert Credit 2025 Art Jam (theme: "Back To").

I'll probably be pretty busy with IRL stuff too, so no guarantees about the scope of this.

(Don't worry, Samantha Arantes superfans. She Will Return.)

[RT-55J]

I've had the idea for the beginning of this project ever since finishing my previous big ZZT game. I even had vague ideas for scenarios in the middle of the game.

But I did not have any idea for what the player's goal or ending should be.

Now, after starting the project, I think I finally have an idea for how it should end.

[RT-55J]

Drink Bugsi

[RT-55J]

despite (or perhaps because of) Life Events, i should have something presentable by the end of the night

[RT-55J]

It is finished: https://rt-55j.itch.io/sam-sis

[RT-55J]

I guess I should post the page to all the other submissions for your perusal pleasure:

https://itch.io/jam/oktrollberfest-2025/entries

[RT-55J]

Gonna be reviewing some Oktrollberfest games that I've played so far, in lieu of streaming:

PART1 of ZZT by Charbomber (ZZT)
https://charbomber.itch.io/part-1-of-zzt



The author of the critically acclaimed GIRL QUEST (the critic: me) brings us some pure, undiluted trolling for her Oktrollberfest debut. Charbomber shows a good understanding of player psychology, makes clever use of various engine quirks, and caps it all off with perhaps the single greatest centipede in the history of ZZT.



Recommended.

[RT-55J]

Minecr☺ft by "Enqqnx" (ZZT)
https://enqqnx.itch.io/minecroft



Minecr☺ft, by some newbie who is almost certainly just WiL smurfing yet again, translates all of Minecraft's innovative and exciting mechanics back into the prebuilt ZZT world. Craft items in your inventory! Talk to villagers! Explore caves, mountains, forests, and the nether! Defeat the ender dragon!



If you can imagine it, you can make it!

[RT-55J]

Cyber Punk Janitor by Jeremy W. Kaufmann (Unity)
https://whydoisay.itch.io/cyberpunkjanitor



Here we have the jamrunner's entry. It's a short visual novel made in Unity, full of lovely, grimy textmode illustrations.

As a game, it's very, very simple, but that's not why you play it. You play it to see the variety of terrible fates that can befall your poor, unfortunate schmuck. And in the regard, it delivers in spades.

[RT-55J]

Daryl F. Bates' Police Quest by PogeSoft (ZZT)
https://pogesoft.itch.io/daryl-f-bates-police-quest



Fun Video Game Fact: Daryl Gates, the person responsible for things such as DARE, SWAT teams, and the LA riots, was involved with Sierra's Police Quest series after resigning from the LAPD for being such a screw-up. Whether or not this fact makes that series more or less interesting to play is an exercise left up to the reader.

Now, subject matter aside, this game is actually quite similar to the previous game. You play as a very unlucky bloke who just can't seem to make it through his day of work alive. The operative difference is that Cyber Punk Janitor has you playing as a hardworking member of the working class, while this game has you playing as a pig. This difference changes the emotional timbre of the whole "iteratively try to find all the ways to die in the game" process, and at least partially makes up for the lower production values.

(The initial versions of this were a bit buggy, but I went back to it today and it's pretty functional now.)