AS A PAINTED SHIP UPON A PAINTED OCEAN
The world has an end, bounded by crystal walls encircling all life in the sea below. It is said that the vast waters above admit no mortal flesh. This is all there is, then: lives anchored in a rough-hewn crystal chalice, wine-dark water, and a mirror above to another alien sea.
The leviathans that dwell in the waters above are worshiped as gods in the basin beneath, but they are as helpless as anything else in the face of decay. Is it unjust to demand that such beings accept the mantle of godhead?
Is it cruel to force worship upon them?
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THE SILENCE OF THE SEA
An engaging, uncanny setting populated by the strange beings which inhabit a sea bordered above and below by impenetrable waters.
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A HELLISH THING
Sacred Tides is a series of interactive narratives set in a world collaboratively built with O. James of Ghastarium.
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Originally released for the 25th IFComp in October 2019; post-comp final release: December 31st 2019 |
Weird Fiction / Fantasy / Ritual • 90-120 minutes • Choice-based • Web-based • Part IIEser is the only human left alive. Gods and monsters, blessings and curses, an island ruled by giant insects — and in their midst: a reluctant human priest. Grief-stricken and bound by oath to obey the Queen’s newest divine decree, Eser will seek advice, encounter strange visitors, draw the attention of powers beyond comprehension, and surely make mistakes. As a baby, they were brought to Achthoven to save their life. As an adult, they must decide what kind of life is worth living. |
FEATURES
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AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
XYZZY AWARDS (2019):
- Winner: Best Setting
- Winner (Tie): Best Use of Multimedia
- Nominee: Best Story, Best Setting, Best NPCs, Best Individual NPC (Pontiff Apocrita), Best Use of Innovation, Best Use of Multimedia
SCREENSHOTS
REVIEWS OF HERETIC'S HOPE
Heretic's Hope placed 5th out of 82 entries in the 25th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition.
In addition to the worldbuilding, it was a very well-written endeavor, and visually pleasing. The music was well-selected [...] I super enjoyed this game, and the technical polish was of a professional quality (as was the prose). It's one I could see myself playing again in the future, making different decisions, for the hell of it.
Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you?
Also, I got to give a benediction to some maggots at the behest of a face-stealing bugman. What more could I ask for in a game, I tell you?
Last Pylon (full review) |
[I]t’s well-paced, consistently interesting, and takes place in an original setting. [...] It’s difficult to anticipate exactly how the conversation branches will affect the development of the plot, but there are definitely branch points in the story and meaningful choices to make.
There are also three different mentors from which the player can choose, encouraging replaying the game.The custom interface for the game is both beautifully designed and easy to use. The polished and professional writing is consistently strong throughout, conveying the utter alienness of the world and its inhabitants. 8/10
There are also three different mentors from which the player can choose, encouraging replaying the game.The custom interface for the game is both beautifully designed and easy to use. The polished and professional writing is consistently strong throughout, conveying the utter alienness of the world and its inhabitants. 8/10
IF Comprehensive (full review) |
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[I]t employs its weird fiction tropes in service of a story that felt fresh and unusual for the genre. [...] I found it a well-written story that felt emotionally real despite the fantastical aspects of the situation, and while I can generally take or leave graphics and sound/music in IF, both the visual and sound design were well-done and helped to enhance the foreboding atmosphere. Quantum Survivor (full review) |
The visual styling is great [...] – I haven’t seen anything else like Baccaris’ games. [...] Music is used throughout, with appropriate music selected to raise tension or fill quieter moments. [...]Honestly, what I read into this game wasn’t about being a human, but about being made an alien. There’s a strand of imposter syndrome – being forced to fake it and hope you make it, feeling like an outcast, feeling like everyone mistrusts you. Comfort Castle (full review) |
“What is it to be holy?”, the game asks. What kind of question is that in a videogame? The game doesn’t compromise to make the subject more player-friendly. Hats off to anyone willing to do all this in such a coherent way. The story is fine, the aesthetics stunning, the interactions well thought. [...] It’s memorably written and illustrated. Both the story and the design follow the same principle: horror vacui. Pseudavid (full review) |
Originally released for the 24th IFComp in October 2018; post-comp final release: December 31st 2018
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DEVOTIONALIA
Weird Fiction / Fantasy / Ritual • One hour • Choice-based • Web-based • Part I |
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Music, darkness, melancholy, the unknowably alien, and the space to absorb them. That’s the mood which Devotionalia is after, and it skewers it like a moth on a specimen-board.
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— Sam Kabo Ashwell, reviewing Devotionalia
REVIEWS OF DEVOTIONALIA
It’s about struggling to come to terms with the inevitable loss of something dear to you, something that wasn’t ever really yours in the first place, while knowing that you won’t ever really be OK about it. 8/10
Sam Kabo Ashwell (full review) |
In a way, this game reminds me of the works of Chandler Groover and Phantom Williams. It has a similar rich aesthetic. A surreal, haunting feel. A sense that there’s more hidden below the surface. [...] The interface matches the ambition of the prose. The music is atmospheric and appropriate. The aesthetics of the design are completely aligned to the game experience.
It’s something a little bit special, this. 10/10.
It’s something a little bit special, this. 10/10.
McT's Interactive Fiction Reviews (full review) |
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Together with the glowing hypertext links and the echoing chants of the background music, the whole package is a hauntingly beautiful piece [...] As a breakfast, I think it's rice congee with a firm, white fish, topped with flakes of crispy fried onions and fresh chives. It has an ascetic look, but threads of ginger and sesame oil boiled in with the rice make it surprisingly flavourful. And then, piping hot green tea. Christopher Huang (full review) |
The pensive mood of the game supports its plot. The author handles the alien details of the world well, showing rather than telling and focusing on the story rather than belaboring the setting details. It’s a much more original setting and plot than most games have, and the author provides just enough details to make it comprehensible but still mysterious, befitting the priest’s uncertainty about his gods. IFComprehensive (full review) |
It mostly does one thing, which is ‘an evocative, doomed setting of a cultist tending to a dying ritual’, but it does that one thing very, very well. The music and design choices heighten the experience; it’s probably one of the most slickly-produced games this year. Cat Manning (full review) |
SCREENSHOTS
THAT IS THE ONLY GOD I COULD IMAGINE BELIEVING IN, A GOD WHOSE PASSION IS NOT REDEMPTION, WHO SAVES NOTHING, FULFILLS NO PURPOSE - A GOD WHO SIMPLY IS.
— Stanisław Lem, Solaris