#ConfigurationUploader

[manonamora-if-reviews]

ConfigurationUploader by Autumn Chen

IFDB - Game - @cyberpunklesbian Note: this was a La Petite Mort entry, and submitted to the Bare-Bones Jam

Summary: ConfigurationUploader is a program for uploading configurations.

When I saw the game pop up on my feed, I honestly thought Autumn had built a new program and had just uploaded a legit but bare documentation for it. But now, this is an actual IF, pure science fiction (I hope...) bundled up in an unusual format.

The whole gameplay feels like going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole (you know the ones, where you open links on the current page into a new tab to read later, because who knows if you'll find them again, and now your browser is lagging and it is 5h later) mixed with an incomplete and obtuse documentation for a program that doesn't exist (at least here) and doesn't seem to have a clear use (by going from the starting page/game blurb).

As you go deeper into the pages, finding that this program was lead by a university professor and eir students (some of which have left the projects in suspicious ways), it is possible to piece the mystery together (or the big picture at least). The implications of what is afoot is quite frightening, and bleak.

An impressive amount of content for just 4h!

[adz]

The other games I've played that were recognized in the IFDB awards are also terrific and well deserving of the spotlight: Manon's DOL-OS and Autumn Chen's ConfigurationUploader both feature bespoke computer interfaces you must puzzle through to uncover their stories, but they're otherwise quite different, with incredibly cool and novel plots (revealed via totally genius playstyles).

aside from basking in the reflected glow of all the awesome art my friends are making, and the inspiration it gives me to keep grinding away at my own work, these awards have also shown me how much great stuff i've totally missed over the last year. i hope I can set aside time soon to give the other awardees the attention they deserve. congrats yall!!!