2001-01-15 golf.exe (313.07 KB)

MS-DOS executable (version: 1.01)

2001-07-13 ACgamesForPalm.zip (638.44 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1.01, ported by Trevor Menagh, converted to PalmOS .prc file)

2001-01-15 golf.z5 (191.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1.01)

A romance in the spirit of Plundered Hearts, though the scope is somewhat narrower--it's closer to being a series of connected scenes. At the end, however, there's suddenly quite a bit of branching--there are at least 10 possible endings. There aren't many puzzles, but the story is entertaining and reasonably unpredictable. The best thing about the game, arguably, is the PC, who is far more vividly characterized than most (again, somewhat in the spirit of Plundered Hearts, whose PC had much more personality than those of most Infocom games). A good entry in an underpopulated IF genre.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (06 Feb 2001)

2000-10-01 mask.z5 (218.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 3, original competition release)

2001-01-22 Mask.z5 (220.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 4)

You're a teenager trying to demonstrate to yourself and to your peers how angry and rebellious you are. The attitude comes across well, and the puzzles do a reasonably good job of conveying the challenges a would-be punk faces (and the punk's approach to overcoming them)--the main problem is that some of the solutions are a bit obscure and insufficiently clued (or encounter syntax problems). The implementation isn't perfect, but it's adequate, and the writing occasionally shines. A hint system and a bug cleanup from being a top-notch effort.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (05 Mar 2001)

2000-09-30 punkpnts.z5 (124.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 1, original competition entry)

2001-01-11 punkpnts.z5 (133.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 2)

To play this game, you should have a working knowledge of German. Here is a brief synopsis in English: As a sorcerer's apprentice, you have to escape your master's ban circle he has put around the house. After all, you do want to join the festival in the village to meet Amanda.

Als Zauberlehrling versuchst Du, dem Bannkreis Deines Meister zu entkommen, den er um das Haus gelegt hat. Kartoffeln schälen, Holz hacken und Aufräumen sind heute Deine häuslichen Pflichten. Zu dumm, denn ausgerechnet jetzt findet im Dorf ein Fest statt, auf dem auch Amanda auf Dich wartet. Ein der Enchanter-Trilogie entlehntes Magiesystem hilft Dir in Deinem Bestreben, dem Bannkreis zu entkommen. Viele Details und witzige Antworten selbst auf ungewöhnliche Aktionen garantieren ein kurzweiliges Spielvergnügen, das auch für Einsteiger geeignet ist. Schade nur, dass Spielwelt und Spieldauer ein wenig zu klein geraten sind.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Matthias Oborski (03 Jan 2003)

2001-01-15 bann_tam.zip (114.54 KB)

T.A.G. executable in German (version: 20.12.2000, bundled with MS-DOS runtime)

2001-01-15 bann.zip (59.33 KB)

T.A.G. executable in German (version: 20.12.2000)

2001-01-03 dracula.zip (48.90 KB)

MS-DOS executable in Dutch (version: 3.22)

2001-05-15 dracula.txt (9.29 KB)

solution

2001-01-04 schooldays.inf (282.23 KB)

Inform source code (version: Release 3)

2001-01-04 schooldays.z5 (187.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 3)

2000-10-15 sd-walkthrough.txt (2.28 KB)

solution

An impressively elaborate adaptation of the classic videogame Asteroids to text-adventure form. In fact, too elaborate to be played easily, even apart from the transformation of immediately-apprehensible visual cues cartesian coordinates.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (21 Jun 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code executable (version: 1)

2001-06-05 rox.z5 (69.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 2)

A brief look at the possible backstory of a videogame that defies explanation. Centipede is revealed to be a hellish war story, like a psychedelic version of Starship Troopers. Very linear, with no real puzzles, and as far as I can tell, impossible to win.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code executable (version: 1)

2005-12-01 centipede.sol (3.07 KB)

solution

A prose interpretation of the arcade game, with a colorful setting added. Nicely done. Although very small, it actually invites a certain amount of tactical thought.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (01 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

A brief and, erm, rather unusual prose adaptation of the old videogame involving the little man who crawls into a tunnel to pump monsters. You might want to give this one a thorough look before letting your children play it.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1.0)

A brief textual adaptation of the arcade classic, casting the player in the role of the bad guy. Cute idea, but it comes to little more than an extended joke.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 3)

A look at how bizarre and disturbing the videogame of the same name would be if it were real. Very brief and linear.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

A prose adaptation of the first level of the videogame. Captures well the abstract, crystalline beauty of being a marble and striving towards the Goal.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

Space Invaders in prose. Nice intro, but very little is added. Not a completely faithful adaptation, but it does seem to model the invaders' movements accurately.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code executable (version: 5)

A promising start to a story loosely inspired by the videogame, but it ends abruptly just as it starts to get interesting.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1)

The old arcade game, reinterpreted in prose as a descent into madness. This game was changed quite drastically soon after its first release.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 2)

Pinball from the ball's perspective, all rapid motion and terrain that tosses you around. Very brief, no puzzles.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable

A textual adaptation of the videogame, with amusingly stilted descriptions, like "Accursed opponent blocks ball from fated date with gap." There are lots of alternate descriptions, and their enthusiasm is infectious, but the gameplay is so tedious that you're still unlikely to finish a game. Includes Ben Parrish's 1994 "Pong FAQ".

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1)

A brief vignette, showing what happens after the videogame of the same name is over: the battered bartender sweeps up the debris and goes home. Poignant in a way, but too short to really develop this.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1)

A short one-joke game. It's the underlying story of a certain videogame, told from a man-on-the-street's perspective.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1)

A mild, very short parody of The Blair Witch Project. Very linear and almost puzzleless.

Rating: **

Reviewed by David Welbourn (23 Apr 2003)

2001-01-21 SpeedIF14.zip (172.34 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_14.html (6.82 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF14.zip (172.34 KB)

TADS executable

2002-09-18 speedIF_14.html (6.82 KB)

solution

A brief tale about doing whatever it takes to win, no matter how trivial the contest. Decent for speedIF: the implementation is minimal, but it's coherent and actually has reasonable puzzles.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (18 Apr 2003)

2001-01-21 SpeedIF14.zip (172.34 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_14.html (6.82 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF14.zip (172.34 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_14.html (6.82 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF14.zip (172.34 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_14.html (6.82 KB)

solution

Utter nonsense is served up at the "Screaming Yak" curd diner in this delightfully absurd game.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by David Welbourn (09 Aug 2002)

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

As Jambalaya Man, you investigate a break-in at the crouton factory. Short and silly.

Rating: **

Reviewed by David Welbourn (10 Aug 2002)

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

TADS executable

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

2001-01-21 SpeedIF_2001.zip (317.29 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

2002-09-18 speedIF_2001.html (8.54 KB)

solution

A very short work about what it must be like to be a space pilot in a videogame, facing wave after wave of enemies. Utterly minimal, and not very interactive, but at least it has the sense to stop once it's made its point.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (31 Mar 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code executable (version: 1)

The game that started the IF Arcade. This is a very loose adaptation of the videogame, casting Pac-Man as a guilt-addled junkie. Clever but short, with no puzzles.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (03 Apr 2001)

2001-01-16 arcade.zip (621.62 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

Massive, and massively ambitious, this game combines a sweeping and complex plot with some of the most fiendish puzzles in existence. You are a young woman swept into the role of superheroine, and the game provides enough hair-raising adventures to fill a half-dozen lesser works of IF. There are many, many locations, NPCs, and scenarios; action scenes worthy of a John Woo movie; and utterly ludicrous challenges to overcome.

Speaking of ludicrous, the puzzle design needs quite a lot of work. The superheroine has certain powers, which are rather fun, and which the game allows the player to learn in a fairly effective manner. Not all of the puzzles turn on these powers, however, and others don't use them in obvious ways; there are many, many places where the game requires syntax that might not be obvious and that is non-standard to IF. Likewise, some puzzles are only solvable by a complex sequence of read-the-author's-mind maneuvers.

Finally, some people may have mixed reactions to the game's treatment of gender -- the overt feminist propaganda sits a bit oddly next to a sometimes voyeuristic treatment of individual women.

In other words, this is a game with higher highs and lower lows than most; where it's good, it's great, and where it's bad, it's terrible. On the whole it comes out worth playing -- set aside a few weeks for the task, because it is not a small game -- but have the solution handy. Some of these puzzles are just not going to make sense any other way.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Emily Short (01 Jun 2003)

2000-12-12 Heroine.z8 (511.50 KB)

Z-code 8 executable (version: 3)

2001-01-05 Heroine.sol (22.41 KB)

solution

You're a Native American boy charged with saving your village from a monster. Well-researched and nicely done setting, but buggy--the competition release had a bug that made it unfinishable, and while the latest release cleaned up that particular bug, it has lots of others, including one that, again, makes the game unfinishable. It would be nice to see this cleaned up, since it's a setting that's never been done before in IF. As it is, however, it's too buggy to be worth trying.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (09 Jul 2000)

1999-10-01 waterbrd.gam (272.73 KB)

TADS executable (version: Release 1, original competition entry)

2000-01-01 waterbrd.gam (274.25 KB)

TADS executable (version: Release 1.1)

2001-01-07 Waterbird.wlk (4.99 KB)

solution

2001-01-16 wheel_r3.z5 (53.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 3)

1999-08-24 wheel.z5 (51.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)