Assorted gems of retro gaming nostalgia
Written by Alfred n’ the Fettuc The English game development studio Core Design is first and foremost known for the Tomb Raider series, being the creator of one of the biggest franchises in video game history (and solely responsible for the rise of Eidos Interactive, their parent company, that would […]
By Ilmari Best thing about democracies is that you won’t have to worry too long about raving rulers You probably expected another Rome-post from Reiko, but unfortunately she has had to take a break from playing the game. Rome is now on hiatus, and we’ll return to it later, when […]
Written by Joe Pranevich From the earliest days of the company, Infocom had one tradition: a new Zork title released every fall. After Zork III, the baton was passed to the Enchanter series which, as patient and dedicated readers know was just the second Zork trilogy. October of 1985 was […]
Written by Reiko Rome: Pathway to Power is a bit of an odd duck. It’s a historical adventure set in Rome, of course, in AD 92, which was also its other sub-title. But its main screen uses an isometric perspective, and at least one level involves controlling whole armies rather […]
Written by TBD Rex is regretting his third wish, which seemed like such a fun idea in theory. Much like a previous game I’ve played, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, the title of this game has me forming an opinion on the type of experience I’ll be having before I even […]
by Will Moczarski Introduction A belated ho ho ho to you all! It‘s time to resume my Med Systems Software marathon that already brought us the goodness that was Deathmaze 5000. We‘re still in territory uncharted by Moby Games (their Med Systems list starts with The Institute which is two […]
Written by Joe Pranevich Merry Christmas! Can you believe it’s been another year? This one feels like it passed quite quickly. We have an especially good Christmas treat this year: Humbug by Graham Cluley. While previous years holiday adventures have been little more than vignettes, Humbug is a full-length shareware […]
By Ilmari In 1937, a young person, known only as a Junior, got into a fight with his mother over his future career choice. Like all mothers, she wanted him to get a proper education, grow up into a respectable citizen and follow in his father’s footsteps. But pleasures of […]
Written by Joe Pranevich I keep just missing all of the possible holiday tie-ins. Wishbringer, as it turns out, would have been absolutely perfect for Halloween with its child-friendly monsters and campy darkness. A Mind Forever Voyaging could have been an “Election Day Special” to connect with the recent midterm […]
Written by Reiko Who’s ready for another Dr. Brain puzzler? It’s been almost three years since I played Castle of Dr. Brain, and now it’s time to hit the Island! If the cover is anything to go by, the second game promises to be even crazier than the first. An […]
Written by Deimar I am starting to think I am the place adventure game sagas go to die. This is the fourth saga I am closing and this time we can even add the company behind it to the list of casualties. Well, it was more like a rebranding. But […]
Written by Joe Pranevich When Wishbringer launched, the writing was already on the wall for Infocom. Cornerstone had been thrashing in the marketplace for five months and a successful game launch– or two or three– was the injection the company needed to keep its feet on the ground and its […]
Written by Joe Pranevich A funny thing happened on the way to Wishbringer… As we start into 1985 in our Infocom marathon, we need to bring one new and influential game designer into focus: Brian Moriarty. Mr. Moriarty is the designer behind Wishbringer, as well as Trinity (which I know […]
Written by Will Moczarski One of the creepiest gaming experiences of my childhood was called Asylum, a downright crazy text adventure with graphics scaring the hell out of me back then. As I never actually managed to complete the game it has kind of stuck with me over the years […]
Written by TBD If not for the title, I wouldn’t be sure if it was a jungle adventure game or a pirate game? Continuing my self-appointed position as official “Access Software” player, despite the previous three Access Software games all being played by different reviewers, I’m playing through a game […]
By Ilmari Joe Pranevich has just completed another year of gaming (1984) in his Infocom marathon, and before moving on to the challenges of 1985 games, he is planning to write a few additional articles on other interesting things Infocom was doing at that period. It is thus a good […]
Written by Joe Pranevich Infocom may have been the masters of text adventures, but they aspired to more. They wanted to be “interactive fiction”, to have the recognition that gaming could be an art form on the same level of a good book. To this end, they pursued authors, most […]
Administrator’s note:Due to a lack of time to write about Spellcasting 301 at the moment, we’re pausing that game temporarily and getting on with the next game on our list. Over to Andy Panthro… Written by Andy Panthro How do we assign a genre, when something is breaking boundaries and […]
Written by Joe Pranevich In the mid-1980s, Douglas Adams’s career was firing on all cylinders. A comic writer since college, best known for his collaborations with Graham Chapman and Monty Python’s Flying Circus, he was writing for classic Doctor Who at arguably its creative height and had just launched […]
Written by TBD Who will win – the giant minotaur with the spiked bracers… or the dude wearing a scarf? It’s time for King’s Quest VI. I played through 1990’s King’s Quest V a little over three years ago (we’re a bit slow around here) and my most lasting memories […]