Mother Loose
      An Interactive Nursery Rhyme, part of Disk 1290
           (1998 Interactive Fiction Competition)
                  Written by Irene Callaci

       Review by Dorothy Millard (PC Inform Version)

Mother Loose was so named because it is loosely based on several
Mother Goose nursery rhymes.  Typing "Who am I" tells you that you
are seven years old and in trouble a lot. You try to be good and
to do as you ought, but nothing, it seems, goes exactly as
planned. For instance, today things got quite out of hand: you
poured your own milk, but it spilled on the floor; the cat wanted
out just as you slammed the door; you didn't remember to turn off
the faucet; your brother, poor thing, is still locked in the
closet.  But that wasn't all. No, indeed. Did I mention that
things got much worse? They did. Pay attention: you're lost and
alone and nothing's familiar. You wander around for a while until
you're ready to panic. Then, out of the blue, an egg on a fence
asks for help--and from you!  Examining the egg you discover it is
Humpty Dumpty and you must find a way to get him safely down from
the fence.

There are some original puzzles in Mother Loose.  I really enjoyed
the puzzle of how to get the kitten out of the well.  It was well
thought out and logical.  Another interesting puzzle was the end
puzzle where you rescue Mother Loose from the bell tower.  Despite
the topic, Mother Loose is more difficult than some other
competition games I have played and I even resorted to the hints
in order to persuade Mary to open the door.  I never was any good
at Knock Knock jokes!  There is plenty of help available with 
hints in the text and a help should you get stuck.

I found the spelling, punctuation and writing to be excellent.
The only thing I didn't like was the score, whereby the total
possible is 29 out of 50.  I would have preferred to get full
score, ie 50/50, on completion.  But this is a minor point.  I
enjoyed playing this game and recommend it, especially to those
who like great puzzles.
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