In this shortish, branching choice game, you play as “Hayley Weir, one of the greatest street magicians in the whole wide world“. I played through half a dozen times and reached a variety of endings – some of which I would term ‘bad’, a couple of which ‘good’.
The game takes place during a single night – Hayley wanders the streets after a hard day performing illusions for passers by. The first significant choice is where to eat, and this choice takes you into a number of main branches, each of which is sufficiently further branched out to make replays worthwhile.
Through the various stories that unfold during the night we learn more about Hayley – some serious topics about her past are introduced but not really expanded on. The game tends to end just as it’s getting interesting. Or it gets interesting and then devolves back into one of the main plot lines. It feels sometimes like a superhero origin story, but Hayley’s past deserves more exploration. A ‘bad thing’ happened and, X years later Hayley is on the streets performing magic – there’s a wealth of material there that could have been explored.
The writing is strong and light, but I will say that, despite its multiple endings, this game feels too short. I wanted more. 5/10
