Category: Others

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andy Phillips GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1996, Andy Phillips Time: All Thing Come to An End is a tough, puzzle-oriented IF game that boasts a lot of challenging-but-always-logical puzzles, but suffers from a very unforgiving design. Specifically, you can get irrevocably stuck in some places…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1999, Jon Ingold Reputedly the largest z-code (Inform format) IF title ever made, The Mulldoon Legacy is a very ambitious game by Jon Ingold that will challenge even the most hardened experts and will take anyone months to solve.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Jon Ingold FailSafe is a great sci-fi game that is very well-written game from Jon Ingold, author of several modern IF classics like The Mulldoon Legacy and My Angel. FailSafe is set in a pretty standard I would…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Papillon GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Papillon Mark Silcox, competition organizer, says it all about this fun Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game that was entered in the 2001 the LOTECHComp: “[One Week is] a nicely-written rendering of the week in a teenaged girl’s life leading up to the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Leonard Richardson GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Leonard Richardson A fun Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style entrant in the LOTECHComp, although its essentially just a clever implementation of a logic puzzle. As Mark Silcox points out, The Knapsack Problem is …a dressed-up optimization problem rather than a game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Lord Lulwer-Bytton GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Lord Lulwer-Bytton My favorite entry in the 2001 LOTECHComp for which it won a respectable second place, A Dark and Stormy Entry is a fun and quite clever Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game which puts you in the role of a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jamie Murray GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Jamie Murray Flotsam is a fun Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game that won third-place winner of the 2001 LOTECHComp. Mark Silcox says it all about this fun underdog: This game charts the mundane tasks and interactions of a student reluctantly employed…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Shannon Cochran GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Shannon Cochran Winner of the 2001 LOTECHComp and deservedly so, Kingdom Without End is a wonderfully well-written CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) game. The setting is none too interesting like in Infidel and countless games, you are exploring…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Voyager Company GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1995, Voyager Company Yet another top-notch CD-ROM from Voyager Company, Theatre of the Imagination contains over 5 hours of audio from Orson Welles The Mercury Theater, undoubtedly the best radio drama program in the 1930s. The CD includes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Dyte GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, David Dyte Choose Your Own Romance is a very clever and well-written entry in Storme Winfield’s Romance Novel Comp 2002 which drew only two but two outstanding entries, whose results were announced on Valentines Day, appropriately enough. Emily…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Papillon GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Papillon Desert Heat is a fun and well-written, albeit stereotypical, choose your own adventure (CYOA) adult-content romance game that placed 28th in the 2000 IF Competition. Like traditional CYOA books, you are given a very detailed description of the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Femo Duo Entertainment GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Femo Duo Entertainment Hank’s Quest is a fun fanmade graphical adventure game based on Sierra’s AGI interpreter, similar to Police Quest 1, King’s Quest III, etc. Depicting a teenager’s life (typically the designer’s) seems to be a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Voyager Company GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1995, Voyager Company Another virtually flawless CD-ROM from Voyager Company, First Person: Stephen Jay Gould – on Evolution was the first release in Voyager’s short-lived “First Person” series of CD-ROMs that showcase some of the most brilliant and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Roy Rosenzweig & Joshua Brown GAME DEVELOPER:Voyager Company GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1995, Voyager Company One of the best history CD-ROMs ever made, Who Built America? is also one of the best CD-ROMs based on a book you’ll ever find. Billed as “the definitive social history…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Rodes & A.R. Braunmuller GAME DEVELOPER:Voyager Company GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1995, Voyager Company One of the best CD-ROMs ever made and in my humble opinion the best software ever made about Shakespeare’s works, Voyager’s Macbeth is a masterpiece in literary CD-ROM. The CD not…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Voyager Company GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1993, Voyager Company Among film connoisseurs, the name “Criterion Collection” is synonymous with “quality film releases.” Founded by the same founders as Voyager Company, Criterion is dedicated to “…gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Ignition Design GAME PUBLISHER:Voyager Company Copyright 1994, Amnesty International The world’s first software about human rights, Amnesty Interactive is another outstanding CD-ROM from Voyager Company. Developed in conjunction with Amnesty International, the CD-ROM “…traces the progression of human rights from ancient times to the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:DesignWare GAME PUBLISHER:DesignWare Copyright 1984, DesignWare The Notable Phantom is a solid music tutorial program designed for musical neophytes of all ages. The game allows you to compose your own tunes, play them back from disk, and practice reading musical notes. A decent program,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:MECC GAME PUBLISHER:MECC Copyright 1992, MECC Yet another excellent edutainment title from MECC, Storybook Weaver is the perfect incentive for developing writing skills, allowing children to express their creativity with pictures and sounds. Storybook Weaver is designed for kids who want more than just…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compton’s Newmedia GAME PUBLISHER:Compton’s Newmedia Copyright 1992, Compton’s Newmedia Released by Compton’s Newmedia in 1992, Berenstain Bears Learning Essentials is an edutainment program that targets preshoolers, starring characters from the famous children books of the same name. The program is a compilation of three…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Hi-Tech Expressions GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1989, Hi-Tech Expressions Peter Pan & Robin Hood Fairy Tale Factory is yet another lackluster offering in Hi-Tech’s line of entertainment titles for kids. The idea of the program is simple: kids can choose characters from Peter Pan…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Novotrade GAME PUBLISHER:Hi-Tech Expressions Copyright 1990, Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny Cartoon Workshop is a fun little game from Novotrade/Hi-Tech Expression that lets kids create their own Warner Bros. cartoon by following a few simple steps. Kids first choose characters and the setting of their…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Mindscape GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1986, Mindscape Bank Street Music Writer is an excellent music composition program that not only teaches you the basic concepts of music, but also allows you to write and “play” music as well. Although it helps if you can already…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Wadesoft GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1984, Wadesoft From the readme, “This program was created as a programming aid: to help WadeSoft decipher various file formats, such as .WAV and .TGA files. It can be used for this purpose as well as another – to help…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Learning Company, The GAME PUBLISHER:Learning Company, The Copyright 1994, Learning Company, The Part of the “Treasure Trilogy” from The Learning Company, which includes Treasure Mathstorm (coming up on the site soon :)) and Treasure Mountain (already on the site), Super Solvers: Treasure Cove is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Cadre GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Adam Cadre Lock & Key once again proves Adam Cadres mastery of the IF genre and his uncanny ability to invent unexpected but always pleasant twists that make his games very difficult to pigeonhole, but also a blast…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Compton’s Newmedia GAME PUBLISHER:Compton’s Newmedia Copyright 1992, Compton’s Newmedia Despite the title, Wild Learning Safari doesn’t really let kids “learn” anything about wildlife, but is simply an interactive coloring book — although an attractive one with many options. Kids can choose from a variety…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eni Generalic GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Eni Generalic Periodic Table of the Elements is a fun, freeware program that contains the basic data about the element in six languages (Croatian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish). The best feature that sets it apart from similar…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Berkowitz & Richard Ilson GAME DEVELOPER:Infocom GAME PUBLISHER:Infocom Copyright 1985, Infocom Commonly known as “the cause of Infocom’s fall,” Cornerstone is a revolutionary relational database application that unfortunately never sold as many copies as it deserved. The program was very powerful for its time, with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Synergistic Learning GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Synergistic Learning Brain Works is a fascinating freeware application that asks you a series of question to answer two intriguing questions about the brain: whether you use the brain’s left hemisphere more than the right, and whether you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1994, Unknown Dig-Dogs is a fun promotional game for kids that teaches basic driver’s education, including safe driving, the meaning of different traffic signs, and other road rules. The gameplay is simple: just drive the car for as long as…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:ImagiSOFT GAME PUBLISHER:ImagiSOFT Copyright 1999, ImagiSOFT Redhook?s Revenge is a fun and educational game of life on the Caribbean seas of yore. Billed as ?pirate educational board game,? Redhook?s Revenge fulfills every word in its claim: it reasonably simulates a pirate?s life (sail, dig…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Britannica GAME PUBLISHER:Britannica Copyright 1990, Britannica One of the best and most original edutainment titles ever made, Designasaurus II is the superior sequel to Britannica’s Designasaurus, the unique “dinosaur sim” for the Commodore 64. Forget modern dinosaur games — Designasaurus II lets you BE…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Emily Short GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Emily Short Pytho’s Mask is an excellent short entry in Emily Short’s fun “SmoochieComp,” a mini interactive fiction competition that invited authors to write romance-related games. The game sports an intriguing plot set in the fantasy/alternate “Victorian” universe…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Marnie Parker GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Marnie Parker Carma is a funny and fun game that shows off the capabilities of Glulx as an IF language, although it is hardly a game: your “interaction” is limited to pressing the ENTER key or some random…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Carl Muckenhoupt GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Carl Muckenhoupt One of my most favorite games in the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, and not least because I spent far more than the requisite 2 hours in trying to understand what’s going on, The Gostak is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Scott Starkey GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Scott Starkey The Beetmonger’s Journal is a fun, relaxing entry in the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, with some interesting (albeit easy) puzzles and solid writing, although the ending “fizzles” a little bit given the promising start. Demian…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Emily Short GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Emily Short Best of Three is a great game by Emily Short, author of Galatea and Pytho’s Mask, who continues to expand and improve her revolutionary menu-based conversation system. The problem is that you can only talk to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dennis Jerz GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Dennis Jerz My favorite underdog of the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, Fine Tuned is a charming, very atmospheric game that unfortunately has far too many bugs in the second half to fulfill its potential. (although they have…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Adam Thornton GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Adam Thornton Stiffy Makane: The Undiscovered Country by One of the Bruces (aka Adam Thornton) is a hilarious game that manages to do what many commercial games failed: poke fun of an offensive/controversial genre by becoming one of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Simon Mark GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Simon Mark My favorite underdog of the the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition alone with Fine Tuned, Vicious Cycles is a great retrospective game about terrorism that unfortunately will leave a bitter “aftertaste” for anyone who is still…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Sousa & Robb Sherwin GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Mike Sousa & Robb Sherwin My second most favorite game in the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition, No Time To Squeal is an outstanding collaboration effort between Mike Sousa and Robb Sherwin (the latter one…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jon Ingold GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Jon Ingold Winner of the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition by a considerably large margin, All Roads is a very well-written and captivating tale of intrigue set in historic Venice. Similar to Adam Cadre’s Vericella but with a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Sean Barrett GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, Sean Barrett One of my favorite games in the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition and a well-deserved third place winner of that competition, Heroes is a wonderful, innovative IF that manages to convey all the trappings of traditional…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:L. Ross Raszewski GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2001, L. Ross Raszewski Moments Out of Time is the well-deserved second place winner in the 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. Although not an original game, Moments Out of Time has all the elements that make traditional Infocom-style…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Capstone GAME PUBLISHER:Capstone Copyright 1992, Capstone One of the more obscure releases from Capstone, and for good reason, Exotic Car Showroom is an average application that showcases a few car makes, without any game element. Unlike Ford Simulator that lets you test drive new…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Knowledge Adventure GAME PUBLISHER:Knowledge Adventure Copyright 1993, Knowledge Adventure Third in Knowledge Adventures database-cum-game series, Speed is a fun edutainment title created around a great IMAX film of the same name, which unfortunately is no longer in the theatres. Similar to Knowledge Adventure and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Britannica GAME PUBLISHER:Britannica Copyright 1991, Britannica Super Spellicopter is a fun spelling game designed to help motivate kids aged 5 to 12 to become good spellers. The game expands upon the 1983 classic edutainment title, Spellicopter by DesignWare by adding several enhancements, most notably…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Anders Isaksson GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2002, Anders Isaksson BlockCAD is one of those rare programs that make you explain why didnt anyone think of this sooner?! when you see it. This is not a game per se, but a very cool model-building program that…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Artech GAME PUBLISHER:Binary Zoo Copyright 1993, Binary Zoo The last release from underrated edutainment developer Electronic Zoo is a great all-in-one music game and application with virtually unlimited playability. Rock & Bach Studio has two major components: music education, and music making. As part…