"event[0]" is a sci-fi first-person adventure that is cleverly paired with a text adventure.

You play the role of a space engineer during a time when space traveling agencies offer roundtrips from Earth to places like the Moon, Mars, or Jupiter in minutes or hours, respectively. At the start of the story there is an accident with your first mission, and you end up stranded in an unmanned retro tourist vessel run by an AI called Kaizen; a vessel that picks you up near Jupiter even though its presence there is a mystery to begin with. Lucky for Kaizen, because he needs your help with something on his ship …

You play in first-person and freely traverse 3D environments using the mouse and optionally WASD. You don't have an inventory, but instead a notepad of sorts that helps you keep track of all the clues you gather from the environments and story as you progress. But then you also use your keyboard to type actual commands or proper sentences into Terminals in order to talk with Kaizen – extensively. And that is where the core of this game lies: in the conversations with this AI.

I would say the developers did a fantastic job with the engine that drives this dialog system. Talking with Kaizen in full sentences and asking him real questions feels authentic and believable, and imo never dull or annoying. I can imagine real-life scenarios where the presence of an AI such as this in the loneliness of space can be a genuine help.

The "puzzle aspect", or the big scavenger hunt for the access password, makes total sense and doesn't feel too game-y, or like a series of abstract or unconnected puzzles at all. I could see why some people might argue otherwise about the minigames; but I don't count myself as one of them. I thought they were engaging enough and fitting to the circumstances of the programmers in the story who created them. Most of them, anyway.

I personally don't like this style of setting up a story – "This is you and you made these choices, out of these limited options" – because the devs describe the protagonist as "you" instead of a "third person", but then potentially give you a set of options that are all horrible to identify with for you. Fortunately however, it wasn't as bad and game-ruining as the experience in the game Firewatch.

The story itself was intriguing and short enough to get me curious and hooked for a new game or two right after having finished it, in an attempt to get to the alternative endings immediately. My guess is that this game – unlike other games that are unmemorable due to their short play time – will not be that easily forgotten. The unique experience of interacting with Kaizen is making sure of it.

But yeah, I got my achievements, I'm done with this now.

This is a cool game but it's very short, definitely play it but wait for a sale.