♦ Livestream of 4 ZZT worlds created for the Summer 2000 24 Hours of ZZT [Metamorphosis]. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (1:25) "The metamorphosis of a musical" by Lord Igsel
• (17:21) "Twisted Fate - Metamorphosis of the Soul" by Lord Kadro
• (57:32) "Binary" by Kev Vance
• (1:13:07) "Witch's Curse" by Leamas
A rather shaky set of 24 Hours of ZZT games in this batch!
"Metamorphosis of a Musical" is a novel enough one. Rather than a traditional game, we instead get an essay about the history of the musical "Cats". How it was written, how it almost didn't happen, and how it continued to run for years and years. It feels like a proto-Wikipedia article, and I have no idea if the writing is original or lifted from another source. It's got some decent illustrations added so it's not just board after board full of text. Also some unusual piano engines that make it impossible to ever not be hitting a note.
"Twisted Fate" felt like it was going to be more action focused, with some a very overwrought introduction showing the protagonist being killed before they are reborn in some weird shadowy dimension in a new body that's ready to kill. While the game is indeed a touch-based action game, the combat is uninspired, enemies take too many hits, and the large bosses despite looking kind of neat, offer no real challenge either.
There is a story pieced togetger as the game goes on, about how you were a squadron leader that got himself and everyone else killed, and now they're in that same dimension and want to kill you. It sounds a lot more interesting than it plays, with constant grimdark writing that gets tiresome. Features a twist ending or six.
Worth noting though that while I couldn't stand it, the game got 3rd place at the time. This kind of game used to be more much popular. Oh, and the final boss takes like 50 hits to kill so good luck lmao.
"Binary" gives us some much needed levity. We've seen this one before as it was independently recovered a few years back and I remember enjoying it enough. You are a prisoner that serves his sentence pressing buttons on an otherwise automated spaceship (it's cheaper than full automation you see). When some space pirates begin to close in to capture your cargo, the ship's AI reveals that the ship is actually carrying a bomb capable of destroying half the universe, and that it needs you to press the self destruct button. After a narrow escape you head to a lab to try to save the universe and kind of become a god instead? It's weird, but definitely more playable than the previous two games thusfar.
Finally, "Witch's Curse" which opens with the author complaining about the topic. Despite the frustration, this one is a really creative game with a unique premise. You and your friends are bullies to everyone around you. When you make the mistake of harassing an old lady that's actually a witch, she turns your friends into frogs and scatters them around the town, barely agreeing to return them to human form if you can find them all.
Thus begins a strange frog hunt that involves sneaking into the home of a French family that plans on having frogs' legs for dinner, a clubhouse filled with kids playing tag to see who will take a frog home as a prize, and trying to convince a little girl who you recently put worms down the back of her shirt to give you the frog she caught.
There's a hint that it's going to be a morality tail, with the protagonist frequently having these moments of "this would be easier if I didn't make these people hate me", yet also a real lack of self-introspection as you continue to harass and think of ways to bully others. It gets weirdly violent at times, with you possibly killing a man by throwing glass at him and hitting him with a shovel! And it has a really good ending as well. No morals will be learned here!
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/24hoz-sum2000/
♦ Originally streamed on June 8th, 2025 ♦
