There once was a game about limericks
That was told entirely in limericks.
It’s also about a heist
To steal something highly priced;
I’m not good at writing limericks.

Gameplay: “Limerick Heist” is exactly what the title proclaims it to be: a choice-based game about a heist, conducted entirely through limericks. It goes through the standard heist movie beats: gathering the team together, launching the heist itself, dealing with the inevitable unanticipated complication, and dividing the spoils. The main attractions of the game, though, are the limericks themselves. They’re consistently fun and clever throughout, and the game is short enough that the very repetitive meter and rhyme scheme of limericks don’t grate on the reader. 6/10.

Mechanics: There’s not much interactivity in the game. In old-school choose-your-own-adventure format, most of the branches are immediate dead-ends that come without warning, and part of the appeal of the game is to find all of them. I was hoping that the mechanic for finding the correct path would relate to continuing the meter or rhyme scheme of the limericks, but— with one humorous exception— that doesn’t seem to be the case. There aren’t many decision points, though there are some that significantly affect the plot (e.g., the numeric code puzzle). The overall experience is certainly enjoyable, but it feels more like reading a well-crafted children’s book than playing a game. 5/10.

Presentation: Both the idea and its executation are clever and charming. There are truly funny points in the text, including the footnotes (my favorite being the one about the difference between positive and nonnegative) and many of the bad endings are truly funny (my favorite being the one involving ‘chutzpah’). There’s even a convenient post-credits list of them with hints on how to find them. It’s a polished, well-designed game. 7/10.

Tilt: I love heist movies. +1.

You might be interested in this game if: You like limericks.

Score: 6