mAIn COMPetition

mAIn COMPetition is a sci-fi graphic adventure game with puzzle elements, set in a futuristic detective/mystery narrative. Players navigate a 1st-person perspective through fixed/flip-screen environments, solving puzzles and uncovering secrets in this commercial title developed by Lunar Shuriken and released in 2019 across multiple platforms.

mAIn COMPetition: Review

Amidst the blockbuster releases of 2019—The Outer Worlds, Control, and Resident Evil 2—a quieter, more enigmatic title slipped onto digital storefronts: mAIn COMPetition. Developed and published by the elusive Lunar Shuriken, this first-person graphic adventure promised a cerebral dive into a dystopian future, blending point-and-click puzzling with sci-fi mystery. Yet, buried beneath the year’s AAA giants, mAIn COMPetition remains a footnote in gaming history, its legacy obscured by obscurity and a paucity of critical attention. This review excavates the fragments of its existence—piecing together its vision, mechanics, and cultural context—to assess where it stands in the annals of interactive storytelling.

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1. Introduction

In an era dominated by sprawling open worlds and cinematic RPGs, mAIn COMPetition dared to be intimate, its flip-screen vistas and detective narrative harking back to the golden age of adventure games. Released on April 5, 2019, for Linux, Windows, and browsers, it arrived with the whiff of a passion project: a self-published commercial title built on Stencyl, an engine rarely associated with hardcore sci-fi narratives. Its premise—investigating corporate intrigue in a “futuristic” setting—felt both timely and anachronistic, a relic of 1990s adventure design reimagined for the indie-digital landscape. But does mAIn COMPetition transcend its limitations, or does it vanish into the void of forgotten curiosities? This thesis argues that while it failed to capture the zeitgeist, its unpolished ambition and thematic daring offer a fascinating microcosm of the year’s broader trends: the resurgence of narrative-driven indies and the tension between experimentalism and accessibility.

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2. Development History & Context

Lunar Shuriken, a studio with no prior documented credits, positioned mAIn COMPetition as its inaugural statement. Built on Stencyl—a drag-and-drop engine favored by hobbyists for its low barrier to entry—the game defied the AAA development trends of 2019. While studios like Obsidian (The Outer Worlds) and Respawn (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order) leveraged Unreal Engine 4 for photorealism, Lunar Shuriken embraced Stencyl’s constraints, crafting a fixed-screen world reminiscent of Broken Sword or Gabriel Knight.

The timing of its release is telling. April 2019 followed a wave of celebrated sci-fi RPGs but preceded the year’s indie darlings like Disco Elysium. Lunar Shuriken’s vision likely emerged from a confluence of influences: the cyberpunk resurgence in media (Blade Runner 2049’s 2018 release) and the adventure revival championed by titles like Thimbleweed Park. Yet, with no public roadmap or developer diaries, its design philosophy remains opaque. Was this a labor of love, or a calculated pivot toward the booming casual market? The absence of post-launch updates or DLC suggests the former—a self-contained, unpretentious artifact of a creator’s singular vision, constrained by the era’s independent publishing realities.

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3. Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

mAIn COMPetition’s narrative is a patchwork of sci-fi tropes, filtered through a detective lens. Set in a “futuristic” dystopia, players assume the role of an investigator probing a corporate conspiracy—a premise echoing the themes of The Outer Worlds’ anti-capitalist satire. However, where Obsidian’s work layered nuance through faction systems and moral gray areas, Lunar Shuriken’s story appears more linear, emphasizing puzzle-solving over player choice.

The core mystery likely revolves around AI ethics or corporate malfeasance, given the game’s title and genre. Dialogue, inferred from its “detective/mystery” classification, probably favors terse, noir-tinged exchanges over verbose exposition. Characters—perhaps a rogue AI, a conflicted executive, or a whistleblower—would serve as obstacles or clues, their interactions unraveling through environmental storytelling. Thematically, the game seems to interrogate technology’s dehumanizing potential, a common thread in 2019’s narratives (Death Stranding’s isolation, Control’s paranormal bureaucracy). Yet without playable content, its execution remains speculative: was it a sharp critique of Big Tech, or a pulpy pastiche? Its flip-screen structure suggests a focus on atmosphere over grand lore, with each screen acting as a tableau for a mini-mystery—a bold, if simplistic, approach to worldbuilding.

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4. Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

As a “point-and-select” graphic adventure, mAIn COMPetition’s gameplay would have revolved around inventory puzzles and environmental interaction. The Stencyl engine likely facilitated a classic adventure loop: observe a scene, collect items, combine them to unlock new areas, and interrogate NPCs for clues. Its “fixed/flip-screen” design implies discrete, handcrafted environments—a throwback to Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle.

Innovation seems minimal, but the game’s sci-fi setting offered potential for unique mechanics. Perhaps hacking terminals required pattern-based minigames, or AI “competitions” involved strategic dialogue choices. The puzzle design likely favored logic over trial-and-error, though the absence of save points (common in casual adventures) could frustrate players. Character progression, if present, might have been tied to uncovering lore rather than stats—a narrative reward system.

Flaws are inevitable without polish. Pixel-hunting in low-resolution screens and obtuse solutions could mar the experience, as is typical for the genre. Yet, mAIn COMPetition’s brevity (common in indie adventures) might have mitigated these issues, offering 4–6 hours of focused, self-contained storytelling—a stark contrast to the 40-hour epics dominating 2019.

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5. World-Building, Art & Sound

The “sci-fi/futuristic” setting suggests a world inspired by retro-futurism or cyberpunk. Flip-screen environments likely included sterile corporate headquarters, neon-drenched cityscapes, and glitchy digital voids—all rendered in Stencyl’s pixel-art or vector-based style. The art direction, while unconfirmed, probably prioritized mood over detail, using limited palettes to evoke tension. Sound design, a critical component in adventures, might have been sparse, with ambient drones and minimalist clicks enhancing isolation.

Visual themes would reinforce the game’s themes of technological decay: flickering monitors, corrupted data streams, and sterile corridors contrasting with organic decay. If mAIn COMPetition embraced dieselpunk (as The Outer Worlds did), it might have featured riveted machinery and analog-digital hybrids—a visual shorthand for a world in transition. While no screenshots survive, its browser/Linux release implies scalable assets, catering to both low-end systems and retro enthusiasts. This artistry, though rudimentary, could have created a cohesive, haunting atmosphere—a testament to Lunar Shuriken’s resourcefulness.

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6. Reception & Legacy

mAIn COMPetition vanished into the void upon release. MobyGames lists a “Moby Score” of “n/a,” and no critic reviews or player testimonials exist. Its obscurity is partly due to timing: launched months after The Outer Worlds and Control, it was drowned out by hype cycles. Commercially, it likely struggled to compete with $0.99 Steam darlings like Untitled Goose Game or Celeste. Culturally, it left no ripples—unlike Disco Elysium, which redefined RPG storytelling that same year.

Yet, its legacy lies in its niche. Adventure game purists might appreciate its return to form, while historians note its use of Stencyl for hardcore sci-fi—a rarity in an engine known for casual games. It reflects 2019’s fragmented landscape: where AAA games dominated headlines, indies like mAIn COMPetition explored micro-genres, keeping adventure traditions alive. Lunar Shuriken’s failure to follow up suggests a one-and-done project, but its existence underscores the accessibility of game development in the late 2010s—a testament to the “bedroom coder” ethos enabled by digital storefronts.

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7. Conclusion

mAIn COMPetition is a ghost in gaming’s machine—a fragmented curiosity from a year defined by giants. Its narrative ambition and retro mechanics hint at a passion project, hampered by obscurity and lack of polish. Where The Outer Worlds and Control offered polished critiques of corporate power, mAIn COMPetition whispered similar themes into the void. As a historical artifact, it embodies the double-edged sword of indie development: freedom from industry constraints, but struggle for visibility.

Ultimately, mAIn COMPetition is less a game than a question: What stories remain untold in gaming’s shadowed corners? It may be forgotten, but its fragmented DNA—fixed-screen puzzles, dystopian detective work—resonates in titles like Inscryption (2021), which similarly fused genre conventions with experimental design. For historians, it’s a footnote; for adventurers, a curiosity. In the grand tapestry of 2019, it’s a single, frayed thread—but threads, too, can hold worlds together.