 Club" awarded it a B and stated that ""The Shivah" fits a compelling moral conscience over a tight decision tree, and compared to sillier interactive fiction like "" or "", its rewards are subtler, and more satisfying", while "Faithgames" stated that it is "not only an excellent indie adventure game, but also one of the best examples of portraying faith through a game that I've ever seen"  Much of the media coverage focused on the unique choice of a Rabbi as the game's protagonist.In 2006, "The Shivah" won an AGS Award for "Best Dialogue writing" and Gilbert won the Lifetime Achievement Award.