Category: Others

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Warren Robinett & Ann McCormick GAME DEVELOPER:Learning Company, The GAME PUBLISHER:Learning Company, The Copyright 1984, Learning Company, The This is one of the most original puzzle games ever designed, and my most favorite Apple II game. The objective here is to escape from Robotropolis, a dangerous…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ronald Martinez GAME DEVELOPER:Telarium GAME PUBLISHER:Telarium Copyright 1985, Telarium Rendezvous with Rama is a disappointing game based on Arthur C. Clarke’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name. As captain of the ship, your task is to dock with and explore Rama, a huge alien vessel…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Tony Pomfret & Dave Collier GAME DEVELOPER:Angelsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1985, Angelsoft Yup, it’s interactive fiction based on Rambo 2, one of the last movies you would want to make a game out of, much less a text adventure. Anyway, here we are so we might…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Adams GAME DEVELOPER:Adventure International GAME PUBLISHER:Adventure International Copyright 1984, Adventure International The Hulk is a disappointing first instalment of the Questprobe series from Adventure International, which was produced in collaboration with Marvel Comics. Despite a ‘Difficulty level: Moderate’ tag on the box, the game is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Adams GAME DEVELOPER:Adventure International GAME PUBLISHER:Adventure International Copyright 1986, Adventure International Fantastic Four is, thank goodness, the last and best (in a relative sense) game in the short-lived Questprobe series which was a collaboration between Adventure International and Marvel Comics. This time, you control the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Adams GAME DEVELOPER:Adventure International GAME PUBLISHER:Adventure International Copyright 1985, Adventure International Spider-Man follows The Hulk as the second instalment in the Questprobe link-up between Marvel Comics and Scott Adams marketed in the UK by Adventure International. In keeping with the theme, the background to the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sean Barger GAME DEVELOPER:MicroIllusions GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1988, Sean Barger Questmaster 1 is a fun adventure game that was ahead of its time, with vibrant 16-bit graphics and a good parser. Summoned by the Elders to help find the Crystal Prism to vanquish the evil Colnar,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jeff Tunnell GAME DEVELOPER:Jeff Tunnell Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1994, Jeff Tunnell Productions A pleasant surprise by master puzzler Jeff Tunnell, this is “edutainment” at its best. Essentially a science trivia games for kids, this game puts a new spin on the ideas with wacky…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Paul Norman GAME DEVELOPER:COSMI GAME PUBLISHER:COSMI Copyright 1988, COSMI Although not traditional IF in a sense that there is no text parser, President is Missing and its sequel Presumed Guilty embody what make great IF: involving story and inventive puzzles where logical deduction and attention to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bill Budge GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1985, Bill Budge Based on the same engine as Music Construction Set, Pinball Construction Set is another original application that remain as fun and playable today as it was years ago. The program lets you construct a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Decision Development Corp. GAME PUBLISHER:Decision Development Corp. Copyright 1991, Decision Development Corp. A small educational game similar to Br?derbund’s Galleons of Glory in concept if not the era, Pilgrim’s Quest puts you on the legendary Mayflower as she sails for the New World. Contend…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Cadre GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Adam Cadre I can’t think of a better way to describe this deserved winner of the 1998 IF Competition than Paul O’Brian’s review: “It’s just so patently clear that Photopia is not interested in puzzles, or score, or…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Temple Software GAME PUBLISHER:Temple Software Copyright 1982, Temple Software The Phantom’s Revenge and Castle Elsinore are two early piece of IF that are of very little value except for its age . The Phantom’s Revenge is riddled with below-average writing, inane puzzles, and inflexible…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Tandy Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:Tandy Corporation Copyright 1986, Tandy Corporation One of the most underrated OS’s ever made, Personal Deskmate is a “GUI” operating system for the Tandy 1000+ personal computers. It uses Tandy graphics display, so it must be used with a Tandy or…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Erle Gardner GAME DEVELOPER:Telarium GAME PUBLISHER:Telarium Copyright 1986, Telarium One of my most favorite IF ever, Perry Mason: Case of The Mandarin Murder is so well-designed and entertaining that, for once, I gleefully put up with Telarium’s limited parser. As the shrewd defense attorney Perry Mason,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1993, Sierra On-Line One of the most underrated Sierra games, Pepper’s Adventures is educational game at its best. Help the inquisitive Pepper undo the damage caused by Dr. Fred’s time machine. Innovations abound, from the fun and logical…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1990, Infogrames Two curious “interactive novels” from Infogrames that are long on story but short on gameplay, Passengers on the Wind 1 and 2 are romance stories set in the high-romantic era of the 18th century, similar to Infocom’s Plundered…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1989, Infogrames Two curious “interactive novels” from Infogrames that are long on story but short on gameplay, Passengers on the Wind 1 and 2 are romance stories set in the high-romantic era of the 18th century, similar to Infocom’s Plundered…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bill Gates GAME DEVELOPER:Microsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Microsoft Copyright 1983, Microsoft This version of MS-DOS is tailored for Osborne 3 IBM-compatible BIOS only. Therefore, it will not boot under other systems. It should come in handy to anyone who has an Osborne 3 computer but lacks a boot…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:WinterTech GAME PUBLISHER:WinterTech Copyright 1991, WinterTech Orbits is a surprisingly comprehensive database about the solar system that’s presented in well-written and concise articles accompanied by clear illustrations. Navigation among the wealth of information is easy with the program’s excellent interface, and information contained here…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Guido Henkel & H. J. Braendle GAME DEVELOPER:Dragonware Games GAME PUBLISHER:Attic Entertainment Copyright 1989, Attic Entertainment In a setting familiar to most horror fans, you must negotiate a variety of creepy events while exploring Carfax Abbey, an ancient dilapidated house that’s become your new home. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Berlyn GAME DEVELOPER:Polarware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1986, Polarware IMHO the best Polarware game ever and definitely Mike Berlyn’s masterpiece, this is a great sci-fi story that opens with you, as a human explorer, captured in the alien land of the Oo-Topos. You must escape the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Pixellite Group GAME PUBLISHER:Pixellite Group Copyright 1989, Pixellite Group Bannermania is a fun little application that lets you create banners of all shapes and sizes, and print them out in color. The program is much more limited than Broderbunds venerable Print Shop series, but…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:MECC GAME PUBLISHER:MECC Copyright 1996, MECC Odell: Down Under is an entertaining edutainment game for Windows 95 that lets you play as various fish in the sea. In your struggle to survive the longest you’ll learn about your fish’ preys and predators. The gameplay…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Telarium GAME PUBLISHER:Telarium Copyright 1987, Telarium One of the better Telarium games, Nine Princes in Amber is based Roger Zelazny’s classic sci-fi novels “Nine Princes in Ambers” and “The Guns of Avalon” that are widely hailed as a remarkable combination of light fantasy and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Artech GAME PUBLISHER:Binary Zoo Copyright 1993, Binary Zoo The second offering from Binary Zoo is a slight letdown compared to its stellar predecessor Wild Sciences Arcade despite design inputs and backing from the prestigious Smithsonian Institute. Invaluable objects from each of the Smithsonian museums…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Will Harvey GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1984, Will Harvey Any good music creating software provides the usual enter, edit, load, save, and play functions, but Electronic Arts’ Music Construction Set offers much more, and still stands to this day one of the best…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bill Gates GAME DEVELOPER:Microsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Microsoft Copyright 1984, Microsoft This version of MS-DOS was also popular among IBM-XT users. There is little difference between this and normal MS-DOS 3.30. Odds are this was some sort of revised version.

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bill Gates GAME DEVELOPER:Microsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Microsoft Copyright 1983, Microsoft This version of MS-DOS was also popular among IBM-XT users. There is little difference between this and MS-DOS 3.30.

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:IBM GAME PUBLISHER:IBM Copyright 1983, IBM Similar in concept to its cousin Adventures in Math, in Monster Math you must answer basic math questions to erase the monsters. Different difficulty levels accommodate different skills, and on-line help is comprehensive. Simple yet effective– recommended!

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Fargo GAME DEVELOPER:Interplay GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1985, Interplay Mindshadow was the first original game Interplay ever did, and remains today one of the most inventive interactive fiction titles. In the words of designer and Interplay’s founder Brian Fargo: “Based loosely on the old Robert Ludlum…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Microsoft GAME PUBLISHER:Microsoft Copyright 1992, Microsoft Perhaps the only Microsoft title that didn’t sell as well as its marketing juggernaut had hoped, Microsoft Bob is a “home management” program for Windows aimed at making simple household tasks easy to use. Features include using the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Al Lowe GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Disney Copyright 1986, Sierra On-Line An early product of Sierra’s profitable contract with Disney that later saw the likes of Donald Duck’s Playground and The Black Cauldron, Mickey’s Space Adventure is a fun “interactive book” title that stars everyone’s favorite…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Distinctive Software GAME PUBLISHER:Disney Copyright 1992, Disney A fun game for toddlers ages 1 – 4 who are learning their first English alphabets, Mickey’s ABC’s is basically an update of Westwood’s earlier classic Donald’s Alphabet Chase, but with a different cast of characters and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Arcadia GAME PUBLISHER:Mastertronic Copyright 1987, Mastertronic An excellent and very innovative parser-based adventure game, Metropolis is probably the first PC game in history that offers digitized voices through PC speakers (predating Sierra’s Silpheed and Access’ Mean Streets by a few years). In this futuristic…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Graham Nelson GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Graham Nelson A well-deserved first-place winner in the 4th annual Interactive Fiction Competition, the mouthful game The Meteor, The Stone, and The Long Glass of Sherbet once again proves Graham Nelson’s prowess as modern-day IF master in the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Berkeley Systems GAME PUBLISHER:Berkeley Systems Copyright 1993, Berkeley Systems Yet another module for the world’s most popular screensaver After Dark (also see Star Trek: The Screensavers) The program features screens from released and unreleased Marvel comics, great sound effects, and diverse modules to make…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Software Toolworks GAME PUBLISHER:Software Toolworks Copyright 1992, Software Toolworks One of the best Carmen Sandiego clones, Mario is Missing is a fun edutainment title that is aimed at educating kids ages 8-12 about the world’s geography and history. As the title suggests, it stars…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Rand Miller & Robyn Miller GAME DEVELOPER:Cyan GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1989, Brderbund The Manhole is brothers Rand and Robyn Miller’s first release before they went on to design the best-selling game in PC history (hint: it rhymes with “gist”). It is also noteworthy as the first…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Magnetic Scrolls GAME PUBLISHER:Rainbird Copyright 1991, Rainbird This is a great remake of Magnetic Scroll’s celebrated games: Fish!, Corruption, The Guild of Thieves. All there games are updated to their late and lamented “Magnetic Windows” engine, which boasts graphics and resizable, icon-based windows for…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Gareth Rees GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Gareth Rees This is another short-but-sweet game that features VERY clever mathematical and logic puzzles (you’d be amazed at how the various text-based graphics are created in this game). The premise is simple: you must solve the various…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Neil DeMause GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Neil DeMause Neil DeMause’s excellent IF casts you as the hapless tourist visiting New York who suddenly finds him/herself transported to various times in the city’s history. Meeting historical characters and learning fascinating facts about NY’s past are…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steve Cartwright GAME DEVELOPER:Manley Associates GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1990, Accolade A milder version of Sierra’s Leisure Suit Larry, the lovable nerd Les Manley finds himself in this wacky adventure where he must literally search heaven and earth for the King himself. The text parser is very…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:PSS GAME PUBLISHER:Rainbird Copyright 1987, PSS Legend of the Sword is a well-written fantasy adventure that was revolutionary in many ways for its time despite its being relatively unknown: fluid mouse support, on-screen map, compass rose, and some RPG elements such as random encounters…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Level 9 Computing GAME PUBLISHER:Datasoft Copyright 1990, Level 9 Computing As King Arthur’s favorite knight Lancelot, set out on a quest for the Holy Grail and save a myriad of imprisoned knights and damsels in distress along the way. A welcome change from the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Al Lowe GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1990, Sierra On-Line This zany program would probably have been named Laffer Dis-utilities if not for the negative effects on potential sales 🙂 This is a collection of counter-productive programs featuring everyone’s favorite nerd Larry Laffer that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Knowledge Adventure GAME PUBLISHER:Knowledge Adventure Copyright 1990, Knowledge Adventure The first in the successful “Adventure” series, Knowledge Adventure is a multimedia almanac that features clever hyperlinks from one screen to the next (long before the World Wide Web was born) in the spirit of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Level 9 Computing GAME PUBLISHER:Level 9 Computing Copyright 1989, Level 9 Computing Level 9’s breakthrough game and the game that first showcases its new robust engine, Knight Orc was one of the first games to give a voice to a villain: in this case,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Roberta Williams GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1989, Sierra On-Line AGI was the in-house, parser-based EGA game engine that Sierra used for its adventure games in mid-80s (e.g. Police Quest 1, King’s Quest 3, Leisure Suit Larry 1). King’s Quest 4 was finished with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Marc Blank GAME DEVELOPER:Infocom GAME PUBLISHER:Infocom Copyright 1989, Infocom Journey is an epic fantasy game that marks a radical departure for Infocom: the entire game is played similar to a choose-your-own-adventure book, in which you choose actions from a menu of choices. The lack of parser…