Poolka has already declared that he's bored with it. The character-attribute system (which seems to model NPCs using the same data structures as the PC) is good, but the UI is rudimentary and the underlying simulation (demography/politics) is either too simplistic or poorly tuned -- it feels very random during gameplay. I'll take a look at the source code, but I expect that this particular project won't attract much additional development or modding.
One major problem is that the author's previous games have been focused on long (or indefinite) play sessions. This game's narrative framing device (Guardian Angel) theoretically makes it appropriate for very
short sessions. In theory, you might play through a few weeks of one girl's life, then get bored and switch to another girl for a few weeks, then switch back, etc... But the lack of save/load (or a persistent game-world) prevents this. And I'd argue that the 100-turn limit is bad; it's too long for "casual" gameplay, but not long enough to satisfy the "completionist" player who wants to get 100% in every skill and feel like a total badass.
The game also doesn't really use its framing device in gameplay - the Guardian Angel itself never gains any experience or abilities, and the girl herself
is the player character for all intents and purposes. Progress occurs as the
player masters the game mechanics (and unlocks additional cities by satisfying arbitrary checks).
The focus on social mores and politics is interesting, though, because it can potentially support a huge variety of playstyles. Imagine that you're dropped into a prudish society and you want to turn it into a hedonist paradise:
- be a normal politician in the majority party; work your way up the ranks within your party; deliberately sabotage your party's campaign work so that the opposition party wins elections; opposition party enacts sexy reforms
- be a street prostitute; flaunt the public-decency laws; get arrested frequently, but escape or bribe your way out of prison; people get upset that the government can't deal with your filthy ass; people overthrow government
- be a merchant; become wealthy; bribe politicians for favourable laws (eg. slavery); use slaves to become even more wealthy; bribe politicians for sexy laws
- be a sorceress; venture out into the dangerous forest to gather ingredients for spells and potions; fill everyone's minds with sex until they're running naked through the streets; everyone votes for libertine candidates
- setup a secret brothel; hire/train an excellent staff; attract a few powerful politicians and fulfill their personal fantasies; they change the laws on their own initiative
- oh shit - now everybody is opening up brothels! You don't need to pay off the guards anymore, but you need to deal with competition
- the populace is already pro-sex but the city is ruled by conservative nobles; become a courtesan and infiltrate high society; do seduction-intrigue-blackmail stuff for a while; shatter the aristocratic powerbase (or take control of it from the shadows?)
- build up popular support to invade a nearby nation; lots of conservative citizens volunteer for the army; change the laws while they're off fighting
The challenge is
"how do you make the political system complex enough to provide challenge and replay-value, without being so opaque that its outcomes seem completely random?"
