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Text Adventures: reviews, comments, opinions

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Total Posts: 3200

Joined 2007-01-04

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But I’d love to play Device 6, so who knows… one day

Device 6 is one of my favorite games, I really enjoyed playing that one on my iPad.

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I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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Joined 2020-01-21

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Has anyone tried out the selection on AntStream? Mugsy’s Revenge, Life Term, and Castle of Terror all look cool, but I’m not sure where the best place to start would be.

     
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Joined 2013-08-26

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The two recent text adventure CPs motivated me to revive this old thread. The IFDB site has lots of excellent info and reviews, which everyone interested in text adventures should check out. But they don’t have a forum where you can discuss games and ask questions. And rave about your favorites, which is what I’m about to do. 😊

I enjoyed Adam Cadre’s Endless, Nameless so much that I chose his Varicella (1999) as my next text adventure. Downloaded it on a cold and rainy Sunday in December and it grabbed me from the start. Played for six hours straight – something I rarely do nowadays – and finished it two days later. In my top twenty.

It’s a dark game, no supernatural horrors like Slouching Towards Bedlam, but very dark all the same. You are Primo Varicella, Palace Minister at an Italian Palazzo inhabited by people who could pass off as members of the Borgia family. Fortunately I have no objections to playing an unpleasant protagonist (I prefer Deponia’s narcissistic Rufus to Runaway’s boring Brian) because Varicella is a vain, ambitious, scheming, immoral, unscrupulous bastard. The King is dead. Long live the King! The new king is a 5-year old and you’re prepared to do anything to become his regent, hopefully without getting your carefully manicured hands dirty. You have two hours game time = one hundred moves to get rid of your 5 competitors, who are possibly even more evil than you. If you fail, no more Varicella.

One of the things I love about this game is the so-called “resurrection fallacy”. You have to die many times. The more you die, the more you understand. You know nothing at the start, so you explore everything, talk to everybody. The game is one big puzzle divided into subpuzzles and it was great fun to figure out the correct order to solve them. After many hours you know exactly how to use the hundred moves. Hardly any leeway. I love that type of game structure. It’s no coincidence that two of my alltime favorite text adventures, TimeQuest (Bob Bates) and Make It Good (Jon Ingold) are also one big puzzle.

The excellent writing is another reason this game has entered my top twenty.
>x me
You are the very model of a modern Palace Minister. Fingernails: spectacular. Moustaches: flawless. Hairline: receding more slowly than last month. You’re certain of it.
>i
You are wearing a shirt of the finest imported Chinese silk, a doublet of a subtle purple hue, an old-style jerkin with a pleasingly high collar, a fittingly understated pair of black hose, a fashionable pair of paned knee-breeches, a black cloak edged with a splendid silver brocade, a pair of stylish custom-made shoes and a hat that is all the rage in Paris this season.
>look
You’ve funneled the lion’s share of the palace improvements budget—and most likely the tiger’s share as well—into renovating the salon… not that the Philistines you live among are equipped to appreciate it. From the plush Quattordici chairs to the handsome volumes in the library to the imported Ming tea service to the steward you hired to attend to your grooming needs, this is an oasis of taste and comfort in what is otherwise a fairly uncomfortable and tasteless building. Ah, well. When you become Regent you’ll have greater latitude to redecorate.

And there’s a third reason. I’ll be as vague as possible but I’ll put it in spoiler tags anyway. The ending felt like a punch in the stomach and that’s as it should be in such a dark game. The author not only has the right but also the duty to deliver a punch.

PS: If anybody knows of other games with the same “big puzzle” structure, please post!

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Joined 2019-12-22

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“Varicella” goes straight to the top of the list. I was reminded of a novel I read years ago, “The Scarlet City” (“De Scharlaken Stad”), by Hella S. Haasse, though this sounds like it has a lot more cynical comedy. I really like the quotes you shared, so I’m looking forward to this!

At this moment I’m still chasing a pig. Which is actually a weird tradition in the region where I’m from (unfortunately). They don’t call it “the behind-corner” for nothing.

I wonder though, would you recommend I play “Endless, Nameless” first?

     
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Vegetable Party - 30 April 2021 11:23 AM

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Varicella goes straight to the top of the list. I was reminded of a novel I read years ago, “The Scarlet City” (“De Scharlaken Stad”), by Hella S. Haasse, though this sounds like it has a lot more cynical comedy. I really like the quotes you shared, so I’m looking forward to this!

Haven’t read it. Her historical novels are very good, but I don’t know anyone who still reads Hella Haasse, she’s a writer from the past.

At this moment I’m still chasing a pig. Which is actually a weird tradition in the region where I’m from (unfortunately). They don’t call it “the behind-corner” for nothing.

LOL! I have friends who live in the Achterhoek. Tongue Carbidschieten and all that. 

I wonder though, would you recommend I play “Endless, Nameless” first?

Oh no! Definitely not. Endless, Namelees is a “meta” game about text adventures.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Joined 2019-12-22

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Karlok - 01 May 2021 05:32 AM

LOL! I have friends who live in the Achterhoek. Tongue Carbidschieten and all that.

Haha yes! Now you have another one. I hope. Smile

Thanks for the heads up on “Endless, Nameless”. I will give it a try in the future.

     
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Vegetable Party - 01 May 2021 05:37 AM
Karlok - 01 May 2021 05:32 AM

LOL! I have friends who live in the Achterhoek. Tongue Carbidschieten and all that.

Haha yes! Now you have another one. I hope. Smile

Looking forward to playing the new Rusty Lake game with you! I wish they would announce a release date.

Thanks for the heads up on “Endless, Nameless”. I will give it a try in the future.

When I’ve finished The Wizard Sniffer I’ll give IF a break. Usually I only play one or two text adventures a year.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Total Posts: 2454

Joined 2019-12-22

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Same!

I think I’m near the end of “Lost Pig”. I have an idea that isn’t working yet, based on a certain training technique, usually geared towards dogs.. Either I’m overthinking it, or I’m not doing it right. I know the way out and I have a dependable source of light.

I really enjoyed my conversations with the gnome. I shared a couple of quotes my with my D&D group - his description of adventurers seemed quite familiar.

edit: Grunk and I made it back to the farm, with the pig and 7 points for good behaviour! The final point was an undo, redo and eyebrow-raising exercise. On the whole, “Lost Pig” was a fun experience and welcome change of pace.

     
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Joined 2013-08-26

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As a matter of fact I did not give IF a break, like I said I would in my previous post. I have already played a dozen text adventures this year and who knows what the second half of 2021 will bring. I guess I have to blame the two excellent CPs for that. Here are my mini-reviews of the ones I liked best. Of course anyone interested in IF should go to the wonderful site ifdb.org, where you can read real reviews and download the free games or play them online.

Emily Short made a few “fractured fairy-tales”, like Bronze (Belle and the Beast) and Indigo (Rapunzel). Fractured because she gave them a twist or changed them completely. Guess what Glass is about. Smile It’s a short, clever game (15-20 minutes) that has to be replayed several times to find the different happy endings. I don’t remember how often I replayed it but in my first two playthroughs I didn’t have a clue what the unusual protagonist was supposed to do. That’s Emily for you. She’s in danger of becoming one of my favorite IF-authors.

https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=29l04xfgii5roq63

Bzzt. Crackle.
…hello? Hello? Can… me? ..Anyone! Hel…. Need.. hello?

..emergency frequency.. We need help. This is the space pod “Serpentine”. We’ve been attacked, a small cruiser. They.. they came out of nowhere.. tried to board us.. … stly dead.. systems are all messed up, we’re drifting.. I need help to fix this…

It’s your job to help this poor guy before disaster strikes. The signal isn’t very good though, lots of static. Fail-Safe is another very short game that has to be replayed. Yep, I really like that kind of game. You can’t save or restore, which was a minor annoyance during later playthroughs. I wish I could say more without giving anything away, but I can’t so I won’t. I hope that sounds intriguing.

https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=c6x835i6o9zqfc59

You are Emma, a six-year old girl. Dad is in the kitchen preparing dinner, Mom is on the phone, your teenage brother has locked himself in his room, and you are told to pick up your toys and put them away. And then there’s lots of other stuff to do before the dinner guests arrive.

Gameplay is based on a concept that players have to discover for themselves. It took me a while to get it because I leisurely explored the entire house first, but when I finally did I laughed out loud and knew I was in for a lot of fun.

The Impossible Bottle won last year’s IF competition. Great writing. I got stuck on the puzzles once or twice but I’ve never been very good at puzzles.

https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=41cr9x95gu6tlfeu

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Total Posts: 1167

Joined 2013-02-12

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Thanks for sharing these, K - IF games tend to be more portable so I feel like I might have a better chance of playing some any time soon!

Meanwhile I’ve been greatly enjoying reading this series - I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned around here before but it’s a project to write about a text-based game from each of the past 50 years (yes, it starts before Adventure, which surprised me!). Some of the games I remember, some of the others are more obscure but it’s always a fascinating read and gives some great insights into how the form’s developed over that time.

You can get the latest instalment in your inbox each week or read them on the site:
https://if50.substack.com/

     
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Total Posts: 2454

Joined 2019-12-22

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Awesome.

I kind of needed this. Let’s see if Fail-Safe can save my sanity.

@Phlebas: Curious, subscribed!

     
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Joined 2013-08-26

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I also subscribed, thanks for mentioning this interesting project, Phlebas. I recognized the name, Aaron Reed is the author of The Blue Lacuna, a very long game.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Total Posts: 2454

Joined 2019-12-22

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I’ve been working on a text adventure called The Hopeful Gauntlet. It’s mostly just learning how to write a game using Inform 7, nothing very deep. I’d really like some feedback on the writing, though. If anyone’s up for it, I’d be grateful.

(not really a review, comment or opinion, but I didn’t want to create another thread)

     

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