The Cardew House

There is definitely a "My First IF" feel to this. The implementation is really spotty, in terms of what is or is not implemented. I do not think the author has really figured out the coding language yet, and this has resulted in a number of rather odd design choices. For instance, rather than going to a "Restore, restart, undo or quit" ending, the game just shuts down completely. I think this is the author not knowing how to properly end the game, and forcing a hard shutdown instead. He's clearly still learning his craft.

The gameplay is pretty simplistic. Find the object, use the object. We're not going for clever brainteasing here. The story does make an attempt to go a little deeper than Very Old Old School standards, but doesn't reach the depths of, say, "Plundered Hearts". We're not shown much about the characters of the people in the backstory: Betty and Old Man Cardew are not much more than cyphers described in the opening paragraphs. Betty's diary doesn't tell us anything about who she is, though it does provide some oblique hinting.

As a breakfast, this would be one very runny soft-boiled egg, possibly a failed attempt at coddling, and weak instant coffee with sugar and powdered creamer. The author could certainly do better, but first he's got to practice, practice, practice.