Ryan Veeder's Judgment of "Upon the Spooky House"

At first glance, this Entry does not seem to have been composed with a view toward creating beautiful source code text. I know that Ben Poisonor found the Event structure somewhat confusing. We must bear in mind the possibility that Ben was not following the prompt.

The game is written with enthusiasm, which I appreciate very much. The subject matter is right up my alley. It's my kind of game, and considered qua game, independently of the brief of Event One (but keeping in mind it was written in the timeframe of Event One) it's pretty nice. I like the pacing quite a bit, and the transition into the final scene is crafted well. The ending doesn't work, which is too bad.

But I'm supposed to consider the source code text. Here's the thing: The source code text really enhances my appreciation of the game. The comments are great! It's like I'm watching Ben Poisonor write!

This is a lot of fun, but I don't really consider it beautiful. What a difficult situation for me, the Judge! I like the Entry, but I must enforce the parameters of the Event. I cannot award a high score to this Entry.

Before I award a score, I will make this incredibly generous offer: Perhaps Ben Poisonor composed this Entry with a view toward submitting it to the nonconstrained Event of the Exposition, but got Events One and Three mixed up, thinking that Event One was a free-form Event lasting one weekend and Event Three was something else. It is in Ben Poisonor's best interests neither to confirm nor deny this hypothesis. If Ben Poisonor wishes to spend his time before the 29th revising "Upon the Spooky House," and submits his revised version as an Entry in the free-form Event Three, I will waive Rule 7 of the Exposition and consider the revised game just like any other Entry in that Event.

For now, though, I will stretch the definition of beauty until it is just barely contiguous with being fun and funny. Therefore I award Upon the Spooky House 5.7 points out of 10.