An exceedingly well-crafted game, and a pleasure to play. Originally released as freeware with an optional registration (to get "feelies" and hints), but now the feelies are free too. Features multiple paths and a surreal atmosphere.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Mark Musante (02 Jan 2002)

Large, highly complex and introspective game. You're a fellow named Terry, in rehab for nicotine addiction, and the drug you're put on sets you on an internal journey of sorts. Nearly everything in the game functions on a symbolic level, and trying to unravel everything is challenging--there's been no little debate on the rec.*.int-fiction newsgroups about what everything means. Thematically rich, but also plenty of fun as a game--the puzzles are challenging but fair, on the whole. What's notable about this is that, for the most part, the puzzles serve the purposes of the story rather than getting in the way of the story--the author manages to weave the plot into the obstacles to be overcome. The central relationship in the game is a puzzle in itself--much as the protagonist doesn't fully understand the relationship, you the player spend most of the game trying to figure out the dynamics. At two points in the game, the plot branches (in a sufficiently subtle way that you may not realize there was another choice), such that two lengthy sections of the game have two entirely separate paths through them (after which the paths rejoin). Complex, but thoroughly rewarding. Originally shareware, but the author has now released it as freeware.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (01 May 2001)

gripsrc.zip (356.57 KB)

Source code to version 5.0

grip.gam (696.44 KB)

TADS executable (version: Release 5)

gripfeelies.zip (9.71 MB)

additional PDF documents (including registration key for hints)

grip.sol (15.43 KB)

Walkthrough

Losing_Your_Grip_Solution.zip (11.65 KB)

solution

Free-association IF--essentially a stream of apparently random images and ideas, some interesting and many not. Virtually no interactive possibility and no way to win or anything, but hey, it's got interesting images. From the farthest edges of avant-garde IF.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

aafn.ulx (159.25 KB)

Glulx executable (as entered in 2001 competition)

aafn.ulx (159.50 KB)

Glulx executable (latest version)

Nicely layered plot--you're a professor's assistant on an archeological dig, and you discover a journal that flashes you back into another point of view--and the premise, which involves persecution of beet-sellers, is amusing. There are two paths through the game, both reasonably plausible (given the game's assumptions) and well implemented. A few minor glitches, and not very long, but on the whole a good effort.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

Beet.gam (447.64 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1.0, as entered in 2001 competition)

BeetHint.txt (5.04 KB)

hints

BeetWalk.txt (10.22 KB)

solution

Readme.txt (1.20 KB)

documentation

beet.zip (319.83 KB)

TADS executable (version: 1.1), solution

Mostly competent if uninspiring sci-fi effort in which you're looking for a professor who's disappeared on an alien planet. There's one nicely done sequence with an event that has effects in multiple directions at once, progressing over time, so that you see some of the immediate effects in some places and see the aftermath elsewhere. The rest, though, isn't particularly interesting--there's a maze (though a very easy one), and some puzzles whose logic is apparent only in retrospect. Standard sci-fi with a few good moments.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

bb.inf (68.88 KB)

Inform source code (version: 6)

bb.z5 (88.50 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 6)

walk.txt (611 bytes)

solution

Asendent (the title is presumably deliberately misspelled) attempts to evoke the spirit of Rybread Celsius, though it's hard to tell whether the game is supposed to be an homage or a parody. Full of misspellings and grammar errors (again, presumably deliberate), nothing makes much sense, and the only saving grace is that it doesn't last very long. Even if you like this sort of thing, you'll probably prefer the originals, which, if nothing else, have a sort of warped sincerity; Asendent is just a misconceived attempt at humor.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

asendent.z5 (60.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: Release 2)

Supernatural espionage thriller set in a quasi-medieval Venice (oh, that old genre again). You jump around in space and time through a series of apparently disconnected scenes, and eventually, if you're paying enough attention, things come together. Largely puzzleless, in the conventional sense; there's one puzzle toward the beginning of the game, but most of the rest of the story pretty much flows by. In another sense, though, the whole game is a puzzle, and it's a pretty clever one--the game drops progressively more obvious clues as you go along and fills in some, but not all, of the blanks at the end. You'll probably need to replay, and think a good deal, to figure everything out). Pleasantly confusing, though very much on rails--there's only one path through the game, and not much deviation is allowed for. Unusual and rewarding.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

AllRoads.z5 (168.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1, as entered in 2001 competition)

roadwalk.txt (2.08 KB)

solution

AllRoads.z5 (168.00 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1, actually the second release)

A striking beginning--you find yourself at the bottom of a pile of bodies--but there's not much else that's good here. You're on a battlefield after the battle's over, solving arbitrary puzzles; to be fair, there's a semblance of a plot (you're trying to build a memorial), but it's more an excuse for a scavenger hunt than an actual story. Buggy, with lots of writing errors.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

aftrmath.gam (116.17 KB)

TADS executable (version: Release 1.2)

aftrmath.txt (1.96 KB)

Author's notes and walkthrough

aftrmath.txt (1.23 KB)

solution

Standard-issue science fiction--you're a kid visiting Mars--but reasonably polished, especially considering it's a homebrew parser. Lots of puzzles, but most aren't all that hard. The game occasionally closes off without warning, however, so save often.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

2112.exe (2.91 MB)

Windows executable (version: 1.03)

2112.ICO (4.60 KB)

icon

DataI (182.48 KB)

game data

DataP (1.19 KB)

game data

DataR (157.72 KB)

game data

s1.wav (31.99 KB)

sound file

s10.wav (60.54 KB)

sound file

s11.wav (20.06 KB)

sound file

s12.wav (603.24 KB)

sound file

s13.wav (84.60 KB)

sound file

s14.wav (36.31 KB)

sound file

s15.wav (19.72 KB)

sound file

s16.wav (221.89 KB)

sound file

s17.wav (68.68 KB)

sound file

s18.wav (84.62 KB)

sound file

s19.wav (8.93 KB)

sound file

s2.wav (316.12 KB)

sound file

s20.wav (51.98 KB)

sound file

s21.wav (44.98 KB)

sound file

s22.wav (129.46 KB)

sound file

s23.wav (11.23 KB)

sound file

s24.wav (15.68 KB)

sound file

s25.wav (117.60 KB)

sound file

s26.wav (131.31 KB)

sound file

s27.wav (152.17 KB)

sound file

s28.wav (40.51 KB)

sound file

s29.wav (23.83 KB)

sound file

s3.wav (113.43 KB)

sound file

s30.wav (14.58 KB)

sound file

s31.wav (7.15 KB)

sound file

s32.wav (126.82 KB)

sound file

s33.wav (17.54 KB)

sound file

s34.wav (11.87 KB)

sound file

s35.wav (13.18 KB)

sound file

s36.wav (9.93 KB)

sound file

s37.wav (128.18 KB)

sound file

s4.wav (10.12 KB)

sound file

s5.wav (91.33 KB)

sound file

s6.wav (196.03 KB)

sound file

s7.wav (125.04 KB)

sound file

s8.wav (53.52 KB)

sound file

s9.wav (71.64 KB)

sound file

Help.txt (4.03 KB)

instructions

Readme.txt (4.93 KB)

documentation

Richtx32.ocx (199.51 KB)

library used by the game

WalkThru.txt (20.09 KB)

solution

This may have been an entry in the SmoochieComp, but it's not particularly snuggly--lots of bloodshed and hatred and dreary castles and such. Lots of backstory, enough that this feels more like a preview to a game than a game in itself, as the thing ends just as you begin to figure out what's going on. There are some intriguing relationships and some gestures toward development of interesting characters. Plenty of implementation problems, but still reasonably enjoyable.

Rating: ***

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

smoochie.zip (568.46 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

A short but charming effort. A series of dragons are landing in and wrecking your yard just before your party begins, so you need to defend your turf. Not as difficult as it sounds--these aren't especially imposing dragons--but fun. The game is a little misleading about what you need to do, though, so you may find that you've won before you expected.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Duncan Stevens (11 Jan 2002)

DragonComp.zip (307.92 KB)

Z-code 5 executable (version: 1)

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)

Deadline.zip (125.97 KB)

Inform source code (version: Release 3)

Deadline.inv (26.08 KB)

transcribed Invisiclues hint book

deadline.txt (5.95 KB)

solution

sample.from.deadline (7.93 KB)

sample transcript from original documentation

hints.many (16.10 KB)

hints

deadlineinv.z5 (29.00 KB)

Invisiclues in Z-code format

Sols1.zip (213.57 KB)

solution

Sols3.zip (172.32 KB)

solution

deadline.zip (18.10 KB)

THL hint file

Myst has inspired countless mediocre imitations, but this is the only mediocre Myst imitation I've ever seen attempted in text. Consists mostly of scenery with a generally unplanned feel to it. Some guess-the-verb; remember that this is in GAGS and therefore can only use the dozen or so built-in GAGS verbs. Contains occasional character graphics.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (20 Jan 2002)

ADVENT.000 (14.25 KB)

data file

ADVENT.001 (10.50 KB)

data file

ADVENT.002 (20.50 KB)

data file

ADVENT.COM (28.52 KB)

MS-DOS executable (version: 1.0)

README.doc (1.39 KB)

documentation

SURREAL.BAT (16 bytes)

data file

SURREAL.DAT (27.83 KB)

data file

A brief CYOA-style adaptation of a solo adventure (originally printed in SpaceGamer/FantasyGamer magazine) set in the world of the Paranoia role-playing game. Your mission is to cleanse a sector of illegal Christmas activity. Features some randomized combat, but is otherwise basically graph traversal in a dystopian future. May only appeal to people familiar with Paranoia.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (26 Jan 2002)

Paranoia.zip (39.38 KB)

Cybiko executable (ported by Athlor), C source code

paranoia.zip (20.48 KB)

AGT source code (ported by David Malmberg)

paranoia.zip (82.75 KB)

C source code (ported by Tim Lister), Z-code 5 executable (version: 1, ported by Glenn Hutchings), Inform source code

A simple exercise in object containment involving five colored rooms, five colored boxes, and not a whole lot else. Part of Reeves' 'Painless Little Stupid Games' collection, and qualifies on all counts.

Rating: **

Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt (29 Jan 2002)

plsg.zip (191.69 KB)

Alan executable (bundled with MS-DOS runtime), solution