Game review
ENDLESS SCROLL
7.2 / 10
- Developer
- Cecile Richard (haraiva)
- Publisher
- Cecile Richard
- Released
- 1 January 2019
- Platforms
- phone, desktop
- Genre
- narrative,exploration
- Monetisation
- free
- Players
- false
The short version
A distinctive, well-crafted Bitsy narrative piece with a genuine branching dialogue-choice mechanic and a striking dual visual identity - retro computer-window framing giving way to dithered atmospheric landscapes - confirmed working with real keyboard and touch controls on both desktop and phone, including a real moving choice cursor rather than a single fixed path.
Biggest strengths
- Confirmed genuinely functional on both platforms - repeated key presses or real touch swipes advanced the title into a real instructional screen, and a real dialogue-choice cursor was confirmed moving between two options in response to directional input, with a further key press confirming the selection and advancing into a new scene, verified via direct screenshot comparison
- A genuine branching-choice mechanic, not just a walk-and-read narrative - the game explicitly teaches and uses "press up/down to choose, press right to confirm," giving real interactive weight beyond passive reading
- A distinctive, striking dual visual identity - a playful retro-computer-window title sequence gives way to genuinely beautiful dithered landscape art (bare winter trees, an arched bridge, a rippling pond), a stronger and more varied visual presentation than a single fixed palette
Biggest weaknesses
- On desktop, the title screen and dialogue only advanced via the actual arrow keys (matching its own \"use arrow keys\" instruction) rather than Enter or a mouse click, which took some experimentation to discover; on phone, a real swipe gesture was needed rather than a stationary tap - both are minor but real discoverability quirks worth knowing before writing off a stuck title screen
- Still fundamentally a short narrative piece - the choice mechanic adds real interactivity, but this remains closer to a single extended reading than a game with deep replay incentive
- This review's testing traced the opening sequence through its first branching choice and into a new scene, but did not have time to explore how far the branching narrative extends beyond that
Who it's for: Fans of short, visually inventive narrative games who enjoy a genuine dialogue-choice mechanic rather than a purely linear walkabout.
Our recommendation: play
7.2 / 10
Opening
ENDLESS SCROLL opens with a playful conceit - a cluster of overlapping retro computer windows spelling out its title - before settling into a genuine dialogue-choice narrative with a striking, atmospheric visual style of its own.
Real controls, confirmed on both platforms
Testing dispatched real input on both platforms rather than assuming the title would simply advance. On desktop, the game's own instruction ("use arrow keys to move + interact") turned out to be literal - Enter and mouse clicks did nothing, but repeated arrow-key presses genuinely advanced the title into a real instructional screen explaining its dialogue-choice system, and further arrow presses were confirmed moving an on-screen selection cursor between two dialogue options before a final press confirmed the choice and advanced into a new atmospheric scene. On phone, stationary taps alone didn't advance the title, but a real touch swipe gesture did, reaching the identical "back in 2007" dialogue screen the discovery pass had found - confirming the same underlying interaction works via touch once the right gesture is used.
A genuine choice mechanic
Unlike a purely linear walk-and-read narrative, this game explicitly teaches and uses a real branching-choice system - up/down to select between dialogue options, right to confirm - giving the player actual interactive stakes in how the story unfolds rather than just advancing text.
A distinctive dual visual identity
The playful, retro-computer-window title sequence gives way to genuinely striking dithered landscape art once the story proper begins - bare winter trees, a fence line, an arched bridge over a rippling pond - a more varied and considered visual presentation than a single fixed palette throughout.
Final Verdict
A distinctive, well-crafted small narrative game confirmed genuinely interactive on both desktop and phone, with a real dialogue-choice mechanic and a striking visual identity that together give it more to offer than a purely linear walkabout.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Confirmed genuinely functional on both platforms - repeated key presses or real touch swipes advanced the title into a real instructional screen, and a real dialogue-choice cursor was confirmed moving between two options in response to directional input, with a further key press confirming the selection and advancing into a new scene, verified via direct screenshot comparison
- A genuine branching-choice mechanic, not just a walk-and-read narrative - the game explicitly teaches and uses "press up/down to choose, press right to confirm," giving real interactive weight beyond passive reading
- A distinctive, striking dual visual identity - a playful retro-computer-window title sequence gives way to genuinely beautiful dithered landscape art (bare winter trees, an arched bridge, a rippling pond), a stronger and more varied visual presentation than a single fixed palette
- No unstated third-party asset licensing concerns found for its bundled audio, and it loaded cleanly once its three external music files (fetched from the same itch.io CDN as the page) were confirmed present
Cons
- On desktop, the title screen and dialogue only advanced via the actual arrow keys (matching its own \"use arrow keys\" instruction) rather than Enter or a mouse click, which took some experimentation to discover; on phone, a real swipe gesture was needed rather than a stationary tap - both are minor but real discoverability quirks worth knowing before writing off a stuck title screen
- Still fundamentally a short narrative piece - the choice mechanic adds real interactivity, but this remains closer to a single extended reading than a game with deep replay incentive
- This review's testing traced the opening sequence through its first branching choice and into a new scene, but did not have time to explore how far the branching narrative extends beyond that