Sins Against Mimesis
                  An Interactive Theosophy
            by One of the Bruces (Adam Thornton)
(Inform text adventure, part of Disk 1216 (PC) - ST and Amiga
               versions available on request)

           Review by Dorothy Millard (PC Version)

Pain, unceasing pain.  Every since your lover Black left,
something to do with a mysterious stranger and a time machine,
your days have been a dull blur of gray loneliness. You've been
abandoned and you are depressed - you could eat something or take
a shower, but really you need to get out of the house.  Perhaps
you'd feel better if you got out and did something.

In this 1998 Competition entry you start in the living room of
your rather squalid apartment, where the huge compass rose on your
floor reminds you that your bedroom is west (not sure why but
never mind).  Your Mimesis plant, from which the game takes its
name, squats in its pot in a corner of the room slowly
photosynthesizing.  Examining said plant tells you that it is a
prize winning specimen of the species Mimesic Variegans which
thrives in low light and needs occasional watering - some hints
there on how to "sin against this plant."  Going north to the hall
you meet the devil who is guarding the front door and when you try
to leave he giggles nastily, saying "Not until I see some sin".
The devil is described as a jolly little fat devil, with thick
glasses, a Moe haircut, short but sharp looking horns, a long tail
with a barb on the end, a pink T-Shirt reading "IETF 28 Terminal
Room," Birkenstocks (which look particularly silly on his hooves),
too tight corduroy pants and a pocket protector.  His complexion
manages, through the mysteries of the supernatural, to be
simultaneously firebrick red and pasty white.

As you were told in the opening scenario you must do something,
you must commit each of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, wrath,
sloth, avarice, gluttony, envy and lust), with or to the Mimesis
plant.  If you think about it these aren't too hard.  Every time
you commit a sin you receive another diskette in your inventory to
put in the case which holds seven (one for each sin), each one
relating in some way to the action you have just taken.  For
instance eating a leaf you get Planetfall, kissing gives you The
Incredibly Erotic Adventures of Stiffy Makane, etc.

Once you have appeased the Devil the front door swings open
allowing you to go north into the Scrapple Factory.  From here the
game gets a little weird.  Anyway, going through a hole, I met
Kunkel who is small and troll like, sitting at its computer,
twitching occasionally as the virtual reality mittens on its hands
control some action in the game going on in the VR goggles plugged
into the computer.  After a nifty swap of CDs the next scenario
takes you into the text world but there is nothing to do here
other than to have a look around.  Replacing the text CD with the
Stiffy one you enter the world where the Ultravixens are waiting
for you.  It is here that you must rescue Black in order to
complete the game.  Anyone who has played Jigsaw will understand
Black's reference to White not allowing him to wreck history when
you rescue him at the end.


When the game is complete you are presented with a number of
things to try, just for fun, such as asking the devil about
himself, saying magic words and putting objects in the microwave
other than the food.  The game can be played in Lewd, Racy and
Tame modes.  I would recommend Lewd as there really isn't anything
there to offend and it adds to the fun, but if you are
particularly sensitive tame mode is available.

Reading, for example, the description of the devil above, you
will, I am sure, agree that the game is well written.  It exudes
atmosphere and this adds greatly to the game.  However, I found
Sins Against Mimesis to be a little bit weird for my liking but
this is my personal taste. On the positive side I found most
things could be examined and the responses were witty and well
written, as were the location descriptions.  Written with Inform
the game understands X for examine and all the usual adventuring
commands we have come to expect from that utility.  To sum up,
Sins Against Mimesis is fairly short (a pre-requisite of
competition games), well written and fun to play.  Recommended.
                              - o -