<em>"It was five minutes before the end of the world. Well, the end of the world for us, anyway. Yue, Jenny, and I spent those five minutes trying to barely scrape by on some sort of presentation in AP Lit."</em> Now that's a hook: Three friends, the end of the world, and Advanced Placement Literature class. So begins<em> <a title="East Grove Hills" href="http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=y7wari1gdsklfyhy">East Grove Hills</a></em> by the pseudo-anonymous author, XYZ, and I was immediately drawn in.

The game is an autobiographical account of Thomas Wu, a 16-year-old boy who has survived a tragic event that occurred in East Grove Hills High School. You, as the player, travel in Thomas's footsteps as his narrative shifts back and forth through the times before, during, and after the event. Typical teenage themes overlay his story: Social exclusion, dealing with the loss of family and friends, awkward relationships, and his general boredom of it all. In addition, the genre of IF is prevalent among the themes. Thomas admits to spending many evenings playing "crappy text adventures", which, in turn causes him to think in terms of cardinal directions as we guide him through a walk to a park.
<blockquote>"The teacher was using the last ten minutes of her life grading us on our presentation."  <strong>--Thomas Wu</strong></blockquote>
Although the concept of IF plays a central role in the story, interactivity mostly does not. Player actions are generally limited to moving around (when possible), examining objects, waiting, or conversing with a person. in the meantime, the story gradually unfolds around the player, not exactly climaxing with what might be construed as a "twist", which unfortunately left me distracted and dangling. Did the events in the game actually happen? Or was this just an angsty game written by an angsty teenager? I wasn't certain how to interpret this major revelation. Or maybe that was the point. Regardless, it left me in a state of confusion rather than one of reflection.

Other gameplay issues are apparent, including basic IF implementation mistakes, such as mentioning objects that have already been described in a room's main description. Also, there is at least one major bug that I encountered halfway through the game. When ensconced in one particularly exciting scene, I was suddenly thrust back into a conversation I was having with a character from the previous scene. Upon finishing the conversation (again), the scene in which the bug originated started up afresh. Fortunately, the bug did not reappear, lest I would have been caught in an infinite loop.

These flaws took away some of the game's emotional impact. That, and I couldn't help feeling I was replaying a novice's version of Adam Cadre's classic game, <em><a title="Photopia" href="http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=ju778uv5xaswnlpl">Photopia</a></em>. For someone who has played both games, comparing<em> East Grove Hills</em> and <em>Photopia</em> is inevitable. Both rely on a linear narrative of flashbacks and forwards to tell a tale of teenage tragedy. <em>East Grove Hills</em> is less adept at the telling, depending on a solitary voice to recount the events, the prose of which is not as mature as any of Cadre's voices.

Nevertheless,<em> East Grove Hills </em>is worth a look to see how a tragic short story can be told in the medium of IF.