Don't worry, this prologue is just a dream! The game will be far more cheerful from then on!
For eight months now, you've been a research intern on a slightly creepy Moon base dedicated to studying weird moon salamanders. That's... not the most interesting job in the world. To make things worse, out of the three scientists on the base, one is drunk, one is a dick and one is nowhere to be found. And you've lost a test subject.Great.
The Axolotl Project is a Twine
game by Samantha Vick. You can play it online here.
Oops, some tropes escaped from the holding tank! Better look for them:
- Ad Dissonance: SylioTM posters are all over the base. Vid screens show SylioTM commercials, SylioTM commercials-thinly-disguised-as-sitcoms, and not much more. It has an Advert-Overloaded Future vibe.
- Apocalyptic Log: Henry's notes. He also left a Video Will, but you only find it in the end.
- Benevolent A.I.: TOM, as much as possible in this slightly dystopian future.
- Catapult Nightmare: Casey, right when we meet her.
- Chekhov's Gun: Chekhov's salamander. And Chekhov's escape pod.
- Deadpan Snarker: You can choose snarkier and less snarky dialogue options, but Casey's wit is quite dry in any case.
- Dream Spying: Turns out, the intro was.
- Embarrassing Password: Casey does note that Bill Gallo has no sense of humour whatsoever and probably wouldn't see the joke, but his security measures tell a lot about the guy.
- It's All About Me: Bill Gallo. Very much.
- Healing Factor: The moon salamanders. SylioTM gives one to mammals, as well.
- Hive Mind: The salamanders. They need to be in sufficient numbers for this to work. This explains a lot about them.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Casey, as a researcher, wears one.
- Lock and Key Puzzle: Several, mostly Locked Doors, but not only.
- Mad Scientist: Bill Gallo, except he's not all that good at actual science. But he has Morally Ambiguous Doctorates pasted on every wall in his office and a Played for Drama case of Small Name, Big Ego.
- Monster Organ Trafficking: Salamanders (not really monstrous, but alien and a bit weird) are the source of SylioTM. And the company's new drug.
- Motherly Scientist: A Rare Male Example in Henry, who gave TOM a name and opposed to hurting lab animals needlessly.
- Never Suicide: It's not much of a spoiler to say Henry did not hang himself.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Crystal hides quite a formidable competence under a Glurge Addict sunny cowgirl facade. When you search this person's room, there's a copy of The Art of War on the table. Being underestimated and hidden in plain sight is a major theme.
- Phone Call from the Dead: You get several haiku SMS from Henry Adams, both before and after discovering his dead body. He's programmed the AI to do this, knowing he'd be murdered.
- Posthumous Character: Henry Adams, mostly - he appears in the intro.
- Psycho Serum: Discovered by Henry. Initially makes you smart. The Ax-Crazy comes later, followed by turning blue and death.
- Sanity Slippage: Bill Gallo, not that they've been very sane to begin with. It is stated that they're "smelling rotten", and it's probably the effect of Psycho Serum.
- Useless Security Camera: Fortunately, because it would lead the bad guy to you, but still.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Of course, the means might kill everybody within several years, in the meantime, though, won't it be worth it to lead mankind into a Golden Age? Won't it?
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Henry and Casey discover the alien axolotl may be sentient beings. The villain outright states the salamanders should be abused for human good.
- You Monster!: You can yell this at the villain during your final confrontation. Not that it helps.
