This game, which takes place on an unidentified college campus, places you in the position of having to destroy all your drug paraphernalia before the cops find it. Witty and thematic - many of the puzzles are drug-based, and things like videogames and religion are described in the imagery of addiction. The Inform port is quite sloppily implemented, with bugs of varying severity (one puzzle can be avoided completely if you use the right phrasing) and more instances of bad noun resolution ("Which do you mean, the information desk receptionist or the information desk?") than in any other game I care to remember. Contains some constrictive time limits and many opportunities to lock yourself out of victory.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (30 Jun 2000)

1993-07-08 busted.dat (77.24 KB)

AdvSys 1.2 executable (version: 1, The AdvSys data file)

1994-12-28 busted.zip (52.39 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 4)

2000-06-23 busted.hnt (3.28 KB)

ROT-13 encoded hints

1997-03-07 busted.sol (5.80 KB)

solution

In this game, you play the current owner of Meldrew Hall, a stately home of England. You start innocently enough, searching the attic for a map of Paris, but quickly start discovering occult gateways to other times and places linked to your family's increasingly mysterious history. Needless to say, there is a family curse, but just what is its nature? A very large game, with atmosphere galore - Meldrew Hall has a rich history, given mostly in the form of offhand comments in room and object descriptions. Well-researched, well-crafted, and pervaded by dry wit. Locations vary from the ordinary to the exotic to the bizarre. Puzzles are tough but logical. Hints are available from characters in the game, but many of the harder puzzles are covered inadequately. Contains tarot cards, a T. S. Eliot scene, and a couple of small, benign mazes. One puzzle requires what I consider to be an abuse of the command syntax, but this is arguable (and has, indeed, been argued at great length.) In general, though, this is an excellent showcase of Inform's capabilities, and a good example of what you get when a whole lot of people sit down and discuss game design for several years while one person listens and takes notes.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (30 Jun 2000)

1995-10-26 curses_rel16.txt (2.01 KB)

author's blurb

2002-11-26 curses.z3 (115.21 KB)

Z-code 3 executable (version: 7, first released version, lacks much of the material in later versions)

1995-10-24 curses.z5 (253.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 16)

1996-08-22 Curses.sol (45.79 KB)

solution

1994-12-13 Curses.step (9.00 KB)

solution

1995-11-12 CursesR16.sol (16.45 KB)

solution

Your career as an accomplished Spell Flinger is threatened when your arch-enemy Blackwing steals your Flingshot, so you have to retrieve it from the depths of the Pit he calls home. One of those games where every object has exactly one use. Some bugs, but none that obstruct victory. Somewhat linear, and easy except for a few nonsense puzzles, which can be solved by trial-and-error. Can be won in one sitting. Presumed humorous.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (30 Jun 2000)

1993-12-16 odieus.zip (101.70 KB)

AGT executable (ported by David Malmberg, bundled with MS-DOS runtime)

1993-03-24 odieusrc.zip (21.18 KB)

AGT source code (ported by David Malmberg)

1994-12-16 odieus.inf (45.09 KB)

Inform source code (version: Release 1, ported by Teo Kwang Liak)

1994-10-27 odieus.zip (31.23 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1, ported by Teo Kwang Liak)

1993-04-02 flingsho.sol (731 bytes)

solution

A small unofficial sequel to Infocom's Enchanter trilogy, based partly on their sample transcripts and partly on the need for a better look at the last four cubes in Spellbreaker. The main reason this game was written was to show off the more advanced features of Inform, such as dynamic vocabulary and indistinguishable objects. It's still a pretty good little game in its own right, with loads of clever spellcasting. One required action is completely motivationless and somewhat suicidal, but you might hit on it if you try things just to see what happens.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (30 Jun 2000)

2002-03-21 balances.blb (374.55 KB)

Glulx executable (version: 5, ported by L. Ross Raszewski, optional graphics, GUI enhancements)

1996-12-19 Balances.z5 (73.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 5)

1994-12-13 Balances.solve (8.37 KB)

solution

Spend the night in a haunted mansion. Good plot (if you can find it) and atmosphere (except for some traditionally eclectic dungeon areas), but somewhat spoiled by clumsy prose, a weak two-word parser, and some rather obscure puzzles. Contains a maze, but there's a two-part map of it in the game.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (30 Jun 2000)

1995-11-20 manor.zip (46.01 KB)

MS-DOS executable (version: 1.03)

1994-12-20 manor.sol (1.41 KB)

solution

1993-03-11 mcmurphy.zip (92.62 KB)

MS-DOS executable (version: 1.6)

1994-12-20 mcmurphy.sol (1.55 KB)

solution

A port of one of Infocom's better games, with the permission of Activision. Not on the archive in compiled form, for some reason (possibly at Activision's request--it's not clear). The game itself is a mystery--you're solving a murder--and it's very, very hard; it's easy to miss important events simply by not being in the right place at the right time. Still, the character interaction is pretty extensive, a remarkable feat for 1982, and as a game it's pretty solid--there were some bugs in the NPC movement daemons in the original, but this port appears to be cleaner.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

2000-12-17 Deadline.zip (125.97 KB)

Inform source code (version: Release 3)

1995-02-10 Deadline.inv (26.08 KB)

transcribed Invisiclues hint book

1992-12-06 deadline.txt (5.95 KB)

solution

1994-12-06 sample.from.deadline (7.93 KB)

sample transcript from original documentation

1995-02-22 hints.many (16.10 KB)

hints

2002-03-03 deadlineinv.z5 (29.00 KB)

Invisiclues in Z-code format

1996-10-15 Sols1.zip (213.57 KB)

solution

1996-11-26 Sols3.zip (172.32 KB)

solution

1998-03-10 deadline.zip (18.10 KB)

THL hint file