Category: Others

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonathan Partington GAME DEVELOPER:Topologika GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1985, Topologika Fyleet is the first gam that made up a loose trilogy of treasure hunt text adventures written by Jonathan Partington of Topologika (the other two being Crobe and Quest for the Sangraal). The plot: “A few generations…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jonathan Partington GAME DEVELOPER:Topologika GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1986, Topologika One of the better releases from Topologika, Crobe is a funny and tough “cave crawl” text adventure in the best tradition of Colossal Cave and Zork. Despite a primitive verb-noun parser, the game’s clever puzzles make up…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Alexey Silayev GAME DEVELOPER:DOKA GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1994, DOKA LinguaMatch is a neat little electronic dictionary that translates hundreds of words in any of these languages to any other: US English, UK English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Words are grouped into a number of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Alexey Silayev GAME DEVELOPER:DOKA GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1993, DOKA BabyType is a fun typing tutor program from DOKA, recently released as freeware by the company. The game is similar to the famous Mavis Beacon series, except much more “game”-oriented and in my opinion a lot more…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Public Brand Software (PBS) GAME PUBLISHER:Public Brand Software (PBS) Copyright 1986, Public Brand Software (PBS) Adventure Games is a collection of four text adventures of varying quality, released as a package by Public Brand Software in 1986. Of interesting historical value is the fact…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Anders Isaksson GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Anders Isaksson A very nice “spin-off” of BlockCAD, a great LEGO building program reviewed on this site, AnkerCAD lets you build virtual models with bricks. The bricks are based on AnkerStein (“AnchorStones” in English), excellent LEGO-like toy that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) GAME PUBLISHER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) Copyright 1982, International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) Lost Dutchman’s Gold is a below-average BASICA game distributed only among IPCO members. Due to limitations of the BASIC language and early 1980 hardware, the game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) GAME PUBLISHER:International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) Copyright 1982, International PC Owners Inc. (IPCO) CIA is a below-average BASICA game distributed only among IPCO members. Due to limitations of the BASIC language and early 1980 hardware, the game amounts to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Femo Duo Entertainment GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Femo Duo Entertainment The second effort from amateur developer Femo Duo Entertainment, Enclosure is a very fun murder mystery game with a lot of sci-fi trappings. You play Mike Goodman, a small-time con artist who was hired…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Learn Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Time Warner Interactive Copyright 1996, Learn Technologies Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations: Expanded Multimedia Edition CD-ROM is a superb reproduction of the wonderful reference tool by the same name – a classic book of quotations that is widely hailed as the best book…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Goldtree Enterprises GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Goldtree Enterprises Hudson City Sector One is a little-known utility program – more appropriately “gamemaster’s aid” – for use in managing ongoing games of pen & paper RPGs set in Hudson City, part of HERO Games‘s award-winning “Dark…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1989, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Dungeon Master’s Assistant Volume I and Volume II are not games but a pair of useful utility programs that prospective AD&D dungeon masters can use to help generate and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1988, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Dungeon Master’s Assistant Volume I and Volume II are not games but a pair of useful utility programs that prospective AD&D dungeon masters can use to help generate and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Learning Company, The GAME PUBLISHER:Learning Company, The Copyright 1993, Learning Company, The Reader Rabbit’s Ready for Letters is another superb release in The Learning Company’s excellent Reader Rabbit edutainment series. Tailored to pre-schoolers, this program contains six activities designed to improve kids’ cognitive and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Cadre GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Adam Cadre Yet another superb IF from Adam Cadre, Narcolepsy is a fun and funny game that pokes fun at American pop culture. The game is most similar to Adam’s earlier game Interstate Zero in its setup: you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Europress GAME PUBLISHER:Europress Copyright 1993, BBC & Europress The first in a long and reasonably successful line of 3D garden designer software, Europress’ 3D Designer is licensed by BBC to use the name of its popular “Gardeners’ World” TV program on the product. Quite…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chrysoula Tzavelas GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Chrysoula Tzavelas Shadows on the Mirror is a fun one-room conversation game in the same vein as Emily Short’s Galatea, although with more emphasis on plot. What I like most about this game is the fact that you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Sousa & Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Mike Sousa, Jon Ingold, J.D. Berry and Robb Sherwin The Recruit is a fun, unassuming IF that is a collaboration between Mike Sousa, J.D. Berry, Jon Ingold, and Robb Sherwin – all accomplished IF authors.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Daniel Freas GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Daniel Freas The Erudition Chamber is a neat game that focuses specifically on IF puzzles and the different ways in which players approach the solutions – sort of a “meta-puzzle” game. The game gives you four different puzzles,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Quintin Stone GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Quintin Stone Scavenger is a fun IF set in the post-apocalypse world – something that is very rare among text adventures. What I like the most about the game are its neat setting and puzzles that allow multiple…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michael Coyne GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Michael Coyne Rigorimento Represso is an excellent fantasy IF that won the well-deserved second place in the ninth Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. While the game is too long for a 2-hour time limit meant for competition games, the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Aaron Reed GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Aaron Reed Every annual IF competition has at least one game that fits the following description: a game with wonderful writing, immersive atmosphere, and fun puzzles – all overshadowed by flawed coding and some annoying bugs. Fine Tuned…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Star Foster & Daniel Ravipinto GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Star Foster & Daniel Ravipinto Well-deserved first place winner of the ninth Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, Slouching Towards Bedlam is a modern-day classic from Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster. Mike Russo’s review as posted on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hayden Software GAME PUBLISHER:Hayden Software Copyright 1984, Hayden Software Given that it is one of the rarest commercial text adventures in existence, it is disappointing that Hayden Software’s Inca is unfortunately not a very good game. A banal treasure hunt that could have been…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1994, EA*Kids Scooter’s Magic Castle is a fun edutainment title from EA*Kids, a superb but sadly short-lived series by Electronic Arts. Set in a cartoonish castle environment, the game includes 25 learning games and activities for children aged…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Xyton GAME PUBLISHER:Xyton Copyright 1985, Xyton One of the first – if not THE first – commercial fortune telling software for PC, Fortune Teller from Xyton Software is remarkable not only because it is old, but also because it is not based on Western…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1992, Brderbund Discover Space is an excellent desktop planetary program from Broderbund, makers of numerous prize-winning edutainment titles including the world-famous Where in [X] is Carmen Sandiego? series. Contrary to Broderbund’s most other programs, Discover in Space is more of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Rice GAME DEVELOPER:Merit Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Merit Studios Copyright 1987, Brian Rice Sesame Street: Opposites Attract is yet another entry in “Electric Crayon,” a long line of electronic coloring books designed by Brian Rice and published by Merit Studios. In addition to featuring most of the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Optimum Resources GAME PUBLISHER:Optimum Resources Copyright 1991, Optimum Resources Sticky Bear Town Builder is one of the first titles in Optimum Resource’s popular Sticky Bear line of educational titles that is still going strong after more than a decade. Unfortunately unlike later games in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Knowledge Adventure GAME PUBLISHER:Knowledge Adventure Copyright 1993, Knowledge Adventure America Adventure is another solid title in Knowledge Adventure’s somewhat popular series based on Knowledge Adventure engine. In this title, you will learn about the geography, history, and general trivia involving the United States. In…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compedia GAME PUBLISHER:Compedia Copyright 1992, Compedia Learn about Fractions is a good educational title by Compedia, part of its excellent “Top Class” series. Like other Top Class titles, Learn about Fractions offers a series of multiple-choice quizzes. Although the scope of the program is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compedia GAME PUBLISHER:Compedia Copyright 1992, Compedia Learn about Programming is yet another excellent entry in Compedia’s long line of “Top Class” edutainment titles. As the title suggests, this little program teaches the basics of programming in concise multimedia lectures and fun multiple-choice quizzes. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Paul Findley GAME DEVELOPER:Magnetic Scrolls GAME PUBLISHER:Rainbird Copyright 1989, Magnetic Scrolls

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Greygum Software GAME PUBLISHER:Greygum Software Copyright 1992, Greygum Software Definitely one of the best math titles ever made, M*A*T*H*S Circus is a collection of puzzle-like math-oriented activities for all ages. Although it may appear to be a program for young kids, don’t let the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Rosemary West & Roger Pedersen GAME DEVELOPER:Villa Crespo GAME PUBLISHER:Villa Crespo Copyright 1993, Villa Crespo One of Villa Crespo’s most unknown games, Rosemary West’s House of Fortunes is a good fortune teller program for DOS that packs a lot of options into a few floppy disks.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Epyx GAME PUBLISHER:Epyx Copyright 1986, Epyx Robots of Dawn is a great text adventure based very closely on Isaac Asimov’s celebrated sci-fi novel of the same name. If you have never read the book (and you definitely should, if you like sci-fi novels), here’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Ellicott Creek GAME PUBLISHER:Ellicott Creek Copyright 1986, Ellicott Creek Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos is an interesting text adventure that is more interesting by virtue of innovative designs than the actual gameplay. The game is based on the “affair of the Vatican cameos” mentioned…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jeff Stewart GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Jeff Stewart Space Quest 0: Replicated is an excellent fanmade Space Quest game that in my humble opinion is even more fun than The Lost Chapter, another fanmade SQ game reviewed on this site a few years ago.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Didatech GAME PUBLISHER:Didatech Copyright 1995, Didatech Cross Country USA is yet another excellent edutainment program from Didatech, one of the most underrated education software makers today. The program gets you to pick up various commodities at different cities, and deliver them all to a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Thomas Cardin GAME DEVELOPER:First Byte GAME PUBLISHER:First Byte Copyright 1991, First Byte Eco-Saurus is an excellent edutainment title from First Byte. Designed to teach kids about environmental conservation, you join friendly dinosaur Zug as an Environmental Conservation Official (E.C.O.) on a mission to save Eco Island…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dan Shiovitz & Emily Short GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Dan Shiovitz & Emily Short Max Blaster and Doris de Lightning Against the Parrot Creatures of Venus is a well-deserved winner of Adam Cadre’s Spring Thing 2003. Similar to Robb Sherwin’s A Crimson Spring except…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kathleen Fischer GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Kathleen Fischer Inevitable is a fun sci-fi IF from Kathleen Fischer, author of Redemption and Masquerade, two Top Dogs also reviewed on this site. The plot is cliche, but passable: while accompanying an ambassador of the planet that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Matt Rohde GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Matt Rohde Copyright 2002, Matt Rohde Of all the real-world settings, the myths and history of China and Japan are some of the most interesting and adaptable to adventure genre. But games that utilize them have been few and far between,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Jon Ingold Insight is a superbly written sci-fi thriller by Jon Ingold, one of the most celebrated IF authors today. While certain plot devices in the game are reminiscent of Andrew Plotkin’s Spider and Web, Insight is far…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Emily Short GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Emily Short City of Secrets is yet another superb release from Emily Short, one of the best IF authors today. As of June 2003, this is easily the most ambitious and polished game from the prolific author, not…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Hayes GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Chris Hayes Tinseltown Blues is a fun scavenger hunt game in the same style as Infocom’s Hollywood Hijinx, only more fun. David Welbourn says it all in his review at IF-Review: “I just finished playing Tinseltown Blues. Fun…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kathleen Fischer GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Kathleen Fischer Redemption is a worthy winner of the “Best of Portrait” award in the 2003 IF Art Show, an annual IF competition set up to encourage games that focus on player’s experience and interactivity rather than on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Joe Mason GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Joe Mason A Stop for the Night is a fun Gothic horror IF that makes up for the confusing navigation system with superb writing that effectively evokes a creepy landscape – much like Anchorhead does on a grander…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jessica Knoch GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Jessica Knoch Queen of Swords is a worthy winner of the “Best of Show” award in the 2003 IF Art Show, an annual IF competition set up to encourage games that focus on player’s experience and interactivity rather…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Stark Springs GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Stark Springs Words of Power is a fun introductory-level fantasy adventure that sports a nifty magic system, engaging plot, and easy puzzles. The game casts you as a modern-day physics student called Thea Armstrong who has been transported…