Snail Trek (2017-18)

From the opening title, I could tell where this game took at least a certain amount of inspiration. Snail Trek immediately made me think of Space Quest, in the best possible way. Aside from the immediate graphical similarities, it also has it's own quirky and humorous sci-fi setting. But no plucky janitor here, instead you control a team of snails desperately trying to find a new home, with plenty of fresh lettuce.

While it's definitely reminiscent of old Sierra text-parser games, the interface does include an autocomplete option to help out, as well as having a "Maniac Mansion"-style ability to swap between two or more characters. The game is made up of four episodes, which don't take very long to complete. This provides some short, enjoyable experiences that don't outstay their welcome. I think I completed the first three parts in about an hour or so, but the last part was a bit trickier!

The first episode starts on your spaceship, as you wake from hypersleep to find that the Captain is dead and there's a planet on the scanners that looks positively bountiful with lettuce! Your task then, is to investigate what happened on your ship, and then try and find a place to land so that you can confirm the lettuce planet is habitable.

After this, the adventure truly begins, and each chapter has new and inventive puzzles to solve. Having to switch between the different characters is key, and generally the puzzles are well constructed and with some hints provided for what you should be doing next.

This being a Sierra-style adventure, death is often around every corner, but do not worry! In addition to the relatively short length of these chapters, they also have a good auto-save and I have not found any situations where I got into an unwinnable situation. I would highly recommend trying the first chapter, which is free, and the rest of the game is very cheap too.

I'd also like to thank Mumbles who covered this game as part of her podcast, where she discussed Loom and various other adventure games: http://indieandretro.libsyn.com/website/episode-4-loom

Quest for Glory 3: It's A Kind Of Magic

There's a point in every Wizard's life, that they really want to get their hands on a nice bit of magic wood. I'm no exception, and previously I had been told by a sparkly orb that I needed to go find a special flower in the jungle. It's time to head further east, towards the darkness and the danger.

I wandered for a while in the jungle, a few fights against flying snakes and some sort of prehistoric hominid slowing me down a little. It didn't take me too long to find the flower, this azure orchid was growing up high in the trees, but any Wizard without a "fetch" to hand is a poor magician indeed. First part down, I needed to get out of here and back to the Pool of Peace.

Stopping me before I could leave though was a trapped creature, upon inspection, a monkey. The poor thing looked pretty scared so I sprung him out and he thanked me. I guess a talking monkey shouldn't be too surprising in this magical, mysterious and magnificent world, so I took it all in my stride.

Greeting the monkey, he told me his name was Manu and he thanked me for freeing him. It seems he lives in the jungle and prefers to hide out of sight, up a height, where the monsters can't see or eat him. Lured down by tasty fruit he was trapped, until I chanced upon him. I guess it's his lucky day! With a brief chat out of the way, we parted company and I made my way back west.

The flower needed dipping in the pool of peace under the light of a full moon, and it also allowed me to refill my waterskins. Hero business is thirsty work, after all. Wandering back to the tree took me a little while thanks to some pesky wildlife, but once I'd thinned out the local fauna I finally got my hands on a staff!

Well, not quite, as it would need a special ritual first. So, time to head all the way back to Tarna (my feet hurt, does anyone else's feet hurt?). A little detour via the Simbani village brought a new challenge, it turns out they'd captured a Leopardperson, and to cut a long story short, this new furry friend turned out to be a rather upset Leopardwoman. It's amazing what a dispel potion can do, isn't it? To try and dispel her displeasure, I figured I'd need to release her from captivity.

Easier said than done, as I'd need to buy her as a wife. Not an ideal situation, but it would at least only be a temporary one. As a fellow magic user, perhaps she'd lead me to her people if I didn't come across as a total creep. The bride price was high, and I'd need to head back to Tarna's market to get what I needed. Good thing I was heading that way anyway.

The rest of the journey was relatively incident free, save for a visit by an particularly talkative aardvark. Given the rest of what I've seen so far, such things are a normal part of life now, so I sat around the campfire and traded some stories. He gave me a few hints about what I might find further into the jungle, and we parted ways as I wanted to sleep, and he wanted to go catch some more giant ants.

After that, Tarna beckoned to me. It's grand architecture was a pleasant sight, and I made my way to Kreesha's house to get my staff ritual sorted. She had everything prepared, and in the ritual I had to bind all of my spells to the staff. All except the Trigger spell, which could trigger a release of magical energy that would be severely hazardous to the health of anyone in the vicinity.

Now I truly feel like a Wizard worthy of the name, and nothing can get in my way! Well, except for needing a lot more money to buy all these bridal gifts. A fine spear, fine robes and zebra skins are required, and I can't quite afford them all. Guess I should have stored up more cash from Shapeir.

Quest for Glory 3: Around Eastern Fricana in 8 days

Travel is a huge part of this game, with places to visit spread across vast swathes of savanna and jungle. Each area has locations of interest, but often there's not a huge amount to do there. I found myself having to backtrack a bit for some quests.

With the quest for peace on the back burner, I began by exploring the local surroundings and trying to find the ingredients I needed for Salim, and the gem I needed to be judged by Sekmet. I'd already got the feather from the honey bird on my way here, so I could at least get more healing pills when I got back to Tarna.

The other ingredients were needed for dispel potions: something that will surely come in handy as I had found out in my previous adventures in Spielburg and Shapeir. Three items were on my list: Fruit from the Venomous Vines; Water from the Pool of Peace and a Gift from the Heart of the World.

The vines were easy enough for a magic user, a quick "fetch" and a fruit was in my possession. I returned a little later for a bonus gift, aiding a young meerbat that got caught by the vines. In return for my help, a fruit and a fire opal - an extra fruit was unnecessary, and I'm not sure I can remember what the opal is for, but helping others is a hero's job.

Next up was the Pool of Peace, which I'd already visited. The waters refill your stamina, so it's always worth stocking up (and thankfully I'd remembered to buy extra waterskins at the Tarna bazaar. The peacefulness was surely magical, as a quick "detect magic" proved. Erana's symbol appeared shimmering, a reminder that other heroes exist.

Finally it was time to take a trip to a tree so big it looks like it could hold up the sky. This vast vision of vertical vegetation was easy to spot from the map, and like the Pool of Peace it was tranquil and safe. I made my way up into it's branches, to meet the Guardian, a sparkling orb of light not entirely dissimilar from ones found in a certain cavern in Kyrandia.

The Guardian could sense I spoke the truth when I sought peace, and aided me not only by creating a gem for use in my upcoming judgement, but also told me how to get the Gift from the Heart of the World but also how I might be able to get some magic wood for a Wizard's Staff. Further up the tree is a bright glade withing the tree, and on a platform in the centre I poured out some water from the pool of peace to gain my gift.

No time to wait around, it's time to go back to Tarna. It's a long way to walk though, so a little rest at the Simbani village was called for. While there, I played some Awari with Yesufu, threw spears with Uhura and spoke with the Storyteller. The storyteller is a great character, and works well in the game to highlight parts of the story and certain characters.

From there, it's a long trip back to the big city, and one that seemed to be constantly hampered by attacks from dinosaurs and giant ants. I'm not fond of the combat at all, and while in the previous two games a good wizard could kill things from afar, here the need to constantly re-select the spell you're using means you can usually only get three or four attacks in before they close in on you. My spell skills with Force Bolt and Flame Dart are well over 200 by now, but they don't do nearly enough damage (or maybe I'm missing? It's a little hard to tell).

Anyway, after a brief visit with Salim to get the potion-making underway, I decide it's time to be judged. This sequence, which is reminiscent of the fortune telling sequence that begins some of the Ultima games (another favourite series of mine), asks you to pick from a bunch of symbols and answer questions vaguely relating to them. It's a fun little part of the game, but not quite as involved as I'd like. If I were remaking this, I'd probably have this whole sequence be a dream sequence referencing the previous games and involving old and current characters, and rather than simple questions actually have control of your character in a new location with some puzzles to solve.

Finally to finish the day, I spend a little time at the inn in the evening, chatting with the survivor of the peace mission. He seems in a pretty bad way, so I try not to question him too hard. After hearing his terrifying tale, I decide to go find my old buddy Honourless Harami. He's in a bad way, finding out that not only is he stuck in the city but nobody will even so much as acknowledge his existence. I offer him some food and a little chat, and while he still thinks you should only look out for number one, he seems to be pretty remorseful (although this method of punishment seems very harsh when you consider that he's unable to find work, get food or find a safe place to sleep).

Next time: Try and make a magic staff, and explore the jungle!

Quest For Glory 3: Liaison with the Laibon

Last time we had barely made it into the city of Tarna and had only just begun to take a look around. There's so many people to meet and so little time before I have to make the journey to the Simbani village to the east. The city is comprised of three sections: the upper with the temple, throne room and council chambers; the middle with the inn, the apothecary and Kreesha's house; the lower level has the market.

The conversations with the citizens of Tarna mainly lead me to more quests, after all being on a quest for peace is not enough to keep a true hero busy. The trip to the Temple leads to a call for judgement, but that requires a Gem of the Guardian. The Apothecary needs reagents to help me out, but at least the inn is a place of calm to which I can retreat at night.

The only other place to venture is to the market, but to actually buy anything I'll need to get my money changed. Trouble is, there's a hold-up going on! The thief tries to run off, but a quick "Calm" gets him to stop. Isn't being a Wizard useful? Of course the Liontaur guards are less than pleased about my use of magic, even if they do appreciate my help in apprehending the thief.

A quick trial leaves the thief, Harami, "Honorless". This seems like an easy deal to him, and I get told to keep my magic using to authorised locations (or outside the city). Such minor heroics can't get in the way of a shopping trip, so I return to the marketplace to get some local currency and meet the various traders.

One pair that attracts attention to themselves are the junk dealers, a comedic duo from whom you can buy a tinderbox. Their double-act is a reference to Sandford & Son, a U.S. sitcom itself based on a UK one called Steptoe & Son. I can't hang around with these two jokers, so I also help myself to some food, some beads, and some extra waterskins. Of special extra note is the honey seller, who gives me a hint on how to acquire the feather needed for healing pills, and the Katta woodcarver.

This Katta is related to Shema, one of my Katta friends from the previous two games. Talking to him about Shapeir and giving him a letter from Shema gets me a free leopard carving. I'm sure this will come in handy in future. After giving a few coins to the drummer, I decide to take a bit of time to practice my magic in an appropriate location.

A little trip out of the city helps, and I begin to see the sort of fauna I'll have to deal with during my stay. Giant Ants, Dinosaurs... how much worse can it get? What's worse, neither of these carries anything of value. At least I'm honing my skills (slowly), and thanks to importing my character from a previous game I pack a lot of a punch.

I can't tarry too long, because I have to meet the council and talk about war and peace. After a good nights sleep, I stand before the council and pledge my honour to bring peace to this land. What sort of a hero would I be if I didn't? And with that, our whistle-stop tour heads to the Simbani. The trip takes the best part of two days, with Rakeesh telling me about being a Paladin, and warning me again about my use of magic. It seems everyone here apart from the Leopardmen hates magic, and they're considered enemy number one.

The Simbani have set up a village in the plains for the dry season, but fear the Leopardmen hiding in the jungles to the east. After a quick chat with Uhura, we have a little chat with the Laibon. The ruler of the Simbani has had enough of peace, and is quick to talk about war. He talks about how the Spear of Death has been stolen, and how the Leopardmen can't be trusted. Nothing I say makes much of an impression. It seems actions will have to speak louder than words.

After a grand meal, a final chat with Uhura and Rakeesh, I sleep for the night. In the morning, Rakeesh has gone back to Tarna, and left me seemingly in charge. Well, this isn't my first rodeo, and I know with a little exploration and persistence I'll be unlocking all the secrets this land has to hold, and bring a little peace to the party.

Quest For Glory 3: Wages of War - A Trip to Tarna

My previous posts on Quest For Glory were some time ago now (and I'm not great at keeping on writing on this blog), but it's time for the third part of this epic saga! To recap, our hero, the Hero who saved Spielburg and Shapeir, is now Prince of Shapeir. Our newly acquired title does not affect our ongoing quest to be the best hero we can be though, and after a wonderful introduction which recaps the second game we get our setup for QFG3.

There's trouble brewing in the land of Tarna, where there are talks of war between the Simbani and the mysterious Leopardmen. A peace envoy to seek out the Leopardmen was attacked, and what's more, the leader of the expedition was our friend Rakeesh's daughter. As he is from Tarna, a paladin, and a hero in his own right, he must go back home.

Joining him are Uhura, keen to return to her homeland with the Simbani to raise her son, and of course ourselves, always eager to insert ourselves into a mystery and be a hero. A new land, full of new challenges and experiences awaits. Perhaps somewhere along the way we will save the day, broker peace between warring peoples, discover evils and defeat them and make a bunch of cool new friends.

As before, my personal challenge is to get all my stats to 300 (the max. for this game). I return with a character who has 200 in all stats thanks to my previous work in the past game (having had 100 in all stats in that game because of the first game, you get the picture!). Certain events happen at certain times, but there's plenty of time to practice and make myself a super-hero!

The opening section involves a lot of talking, as we explore the city of Tarna and find out about the various people and places we might be visiting. In three days, Rakeesh and I will head out to visit Uhura at the Simbani village and then things will get a bit more open for me.

My first quests: Talk to absolutely everyone, stick my nose in to other people's business and generally be an adventure game protagonist. As part of this, I'll need to change all my money into the local currency (as is now normal for this series), as well as explore the city and surrounding area. I even have a little present from one of the wizards of Shapeir, although with Keapon Laffin it's more of a gag than a gift, as it explodes in my face.

Police Quest 1 VGA - A Considerable Amount of Paperwork

Police Quest, one of the classic Sierra adventure game series. As the title suggests, it's about being a cop, something which is quite a good fit for an adventure game. This was first released in 1987, but remade in glorious 256 colour VGA in 1992 with Sierra's then-new icon-based point-and-click interface.

For those that were put off by the text-based interface of Sierra's older games, this remake makes the game look and feel very similar to Police Quest 3, which was the latest game in the series at that point. Unfortunately, Sierra stopped remaking their old titles not long after this, so we never got a remake of the second game in the series. But if you're a fan of older games, I'm sure you can get used to the text-based interface for Police Quest 2.

Space Quest IV: Part 3: Out of Time

After having foiled Vohaul's plans in Space Quest 1 and 2, it seems that famous galactic space-hero, Roger Wilco would have to do it again. Armed with nothing but his charming personality, good looks, quick wits, a pocket full of acidic ooze and a cigar stub, I exited the time pod for the last time.

The Sequel Police dispatch station was empty, and their aircraft sat quietly in its hangar. The only other place to check was off to the right, where there had previously been a guard but now only a strange tunnel entrance lay ahead. Presumably, all of the Sequel Police were chasing my shadows around space and time, so they thankfully couldn't get in my way.

The tunnel entrance had a rather complicated locking system, but I was carrying what is commonly known as "a fool's lockpick", by which I mean a glass jar full of incredibly corrosive green ooze. Being very careful not to spill any on myself (something that would mean certain death), I melted the lock and that seemed to have the effect I was looking for.

Space Quest IV: Part 2: Babes, Burger Time and Back to the Future

Last time, on Space Quest IV...

So we've arrived in the past. Well, it's the future to Roger, but the past compared to where we were and oh no I've gone cross-eyed. Best not to worry about that too much and instead lets just get on with the game. We've arrived on a desolate looking planet, but thankfully it seems free of both cyborgs and other futuristic dangers so lets go and take a look around.

A brief wander leads to us meeting some local wildlife, and this avian fellow has brought us home, presumably to meet the family. How nice. The other guest, a Sequel Policeman (officer?), fared less well and has been impaled on a stray branch. A quick search of the dead (?) police officer gets us a piece of paper with some gum in it. These cyborgs don't seem to have the capacity to chew gum, so where did he get this from? Either way, it contains half a time code so we'll keep it next to that dangerous ooze for later.

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (1991)

Here is a game for which I have a lot of fondness for, a classic Sierra adventure game and one of my all-time favourites. It's a wonderful blend of comedy and science-fiction, as well as being a tale of an otherwise unremarkable person achieving great things against all the odds. Having an ordinary working slob as a hero is continued in space-comedies such as Red Dwarf and Futurama, of which I'm also a big fan!

Roger Wilco is a hero that is very easy to relate to, he's just an ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary situations. He begins the first game as a janitor, but at the start of this game he has managed to foil Sludge Vohauls plan to destroy Xenon, escape the clutches of Sludge Vohaul's revenge, help the Two Guys from Andromeda and salvage a half-decent space-worthy ship. Now he finds himself at a seedy bar, taking a rest on his way back home, and regaling the locals with tales of his impressive feats.

Adventure Gaming: King's Quest V

King's Quest V was a landmark game, a big step forward for the series. While the previous game had been 16-colours and a text parser interface, Sierra really pushed the boat out with this one. The new 256-colour VGA graphics allowed them to create wonderfully detailed scenes, and the CD-ROM version gave them the space to use full voice-acting.

Your lovely home, soon to be miniaturised and put in a glass bottle by an evil wizard. Typical day in the life of a King!

Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Quest For Glory series is one of my personal favourite game series of all time. It blends elements of adventure gaming with solid RPG mechanics, and remains entertaining even through repeated playthroughs.

Gate Plaza, home to Ali Chica and later the Fire Elemental.

I've completed the game numerous times previously, so for this playthrough (Playing alongside both The Adventure Gamer and The CRPG Addict) I'm continuing the challenge from the first game: Finish with maximum character attributes. I managed this quite easily in the first game, but this one was a greater challenge. The first game has a maximum of 100 points for any attribute, this one has 200, but it's not the increased numbers that pose the challenge, but rather the reduced opportunity to train in certain skills.

Playing Along: King's Quest I (SCI remake, 1990)

Today's trip down memory lane takes us back to King's Quest, and Sir Graham's first adventure to save the kingdom of Daventry.

New graphics and sound, but enough improvement?

Remakes these days are common and often derided, but this was probably the first proper remake I'd ever played. King's Quest had been an early hit for Sierra On-Line, and spawned several sequels, and as well as this remake there are a few fan-made remakes and continuing adventures. It's not often regarded as the best series that Sierra made, but it is not without it's fans.

Playing Along: Colonel's Bequest and Final Fantasy Legend

I guess this blog all began back when I discovered the CRPG Addict, which was followed by The Adventure Gamer and latterly the RPG consoler. They're all playing through a long list of games of their respective genres, starting from the earliest they can find. On occasion, I decide to play those same games at the same time. Sometimes it's a game I've played before and love, sometimes it's a game I played but never completed, sometimes it's just something interesting. In the case of the two games in the title, I'd played them both but never completed them (but got so very close).

First up: Colonel's Bequest (1989), currently being played by The Adventure Gamer.

Colonel's Bequest is an adventure game, which brings to mind Agatha Christie and other murder mystery writers of that period. Set in 1925, you take the role of Laura Bow, who is asked to join their friend Lillian on a visit to her uncle's mansion. The mansion is suitably creepy, located within a swamp, and filled with family members and friends who naturally all hate each other.

Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon

I'm a huge fan of the Space Quest games, they have just the right combination of things I like. Lots of humour, sci-fi references and adventure gaming goodness. The third in the series is one of the best adventure games of the time, if a little short. How short? We'll find out as we play through.

Sierra! So many great adventures (I took this picture at 23:05)

The game opens with our intrepid hero Roger Wilco finding himself on a garbage scow. After drifting in space in an escape pod, I guess it's the best he could hope for. (How did he end up in an escape pod drifting through space? Well, that's all told in Space Quest 2 and isn't really important except for a single inventory item - a glowing green gemstone).

Look at that dithering, making the most of 16 colours.

PC Gaming and Me: Memorable Music (part 1)

There was a time when PC games had to rely on the on-board "PC Speaker", which would make a lot of noise but rarely anything you would want to hear. However, such is the constant progress of the platform, it wasn't long until gamers could afford dedicated sound cards and speakers to go with their beige boxes. The difference it made was huge, even in the early days. A few small pieces of music and more realistic sound effects added so much to the experience.

Soon, sound became as integral to a game as the gameplay and graphics. Music can add mood to a game, evoke feelings and expand upon an experience. You could even craft entire games around it! But my love of music in gaming really comes down to those catchy tunes that stick in your head all day, and the soundtracks that beautifully capture the mood and style of the game.

Kickstarting: Quest for Infamy

There I was, posting about Mage's Initiation, and I realised I'd completely forgotten to mention a similar project, which I'd backed and had been funded a while ago. I guess I was sure that I'd written about it already. So with apologies here's that game:


Quest for Infamy is an adventure game with RPG elements by Infamous Quests, who many might know from their time as Infamous Adventures, where they were responsible for excellent remakes of King's Quest 3 and Space Quest 2. Quest for Infamy has been a long-held dream for these guys, who had played Quest for Glory and wondered how different things might be if the main character wasn't such a nice guy!

All pictures from Infamous Quests

Kickstarting: Mage's Initiation

For a change with these Kickstarter postings, here's a game that is still (as of writing) looking for funding. There's not much logic to the order in which I've been posting about these, and I suppose I should have gone in chronological order, but I'm just going to go randomly through them. So...

Mage's Initiation is a graphical adventure game with RPG elements by Himalaya Studios. The most obvious influence on the game is the Quest for Glory series (whose creators are working on Hero-U, which I previously mentioned). The art style is certainly evocative of those 90s Sierra adventure games I am so fond of, and it's no wonder when you look at their back catalogue.

(all picures from Himalaya Studios)

Kickstarting: Hero-U

Here's a kickstarter that just sneaked over the target, Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. By the legendary creators of the Quest for Glory series, Hero-U borrows from their previous games whilst taking a slightly different direction. Rogue to Redemption will be a 2D RPG, with adventure-game puzzles and offering a story that will change as you play.

The Hero of Hero-U: Shawn O'Conner (all pictures from hero-u.net)

As soon as I saw this project, I had to back it. As I've mentioned in my earlier posts, the Quest for Glory games were a defining moment in my game-playing history. I loved the blend of RPG and adventure game, the way they crafted the setting using various folk-tales and myths, and of course their sense of humour. If they can capture half of that magic for Hero-U, then I'm sure they'll have another classic on their hands.

A Hero's Journey

I realised I hadn't written much about the challenge I set myself, so I thought I'd cover that a bit. It's also a good opportunity to have a little look ahead at what the Quest for Glory series has in store. If you can recall to a few posts ago, I'd set myself the challenge of getting every skill and spell to their maximum values. For the first game, that would be 100, and it required more time than it did any sort of real proficiency.

Spielburg, in Quest for Glory 1 (EGA, 1989)

Of course the best reason for doing this is due to the magic of the Quest for Glory games. At the very end of the game, you are asked to create a special save file, which holds your character data. When starting the next game in the series, you can carry over that file and character, with all the skills, spells and so on that you had before. All the hard work in the first game will pay off handsomely in the second, and so on.

Shapeir, in Quest for Glory 2 (EGA, 1990)

My thoughts upon starting were all about what to concentrate on, what to start with, and so on. There's no real "correct" way to do this, because you've got more than enough time to gain your skills in whatever way you see fit. I decided it would be best to begin by working on the main physical and fighting skills (Strength, Vitality, Weapon Skill, etc.). These skills wouldn't require much thought, as they will increase with every fight and while performing other actions too. Working at the stables is a great way of building your characters physical stats, and it gets you in a better position before you have to move onto fighting monsters.

Desert outside Shapeir, QFG2 (EGA, 1990)

Countering the Curse

This hero's journey ends with a confrontation, but it is not force of arms but a little knowledge and quickness of wits that finishes this Quest for Glory. When I last posted, I had just saved Elsa von Spielburg from the Brigand Fortress, having previously saved her brother Barnard. The only task left to me was to deal with the curser, one ogress named Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga is a creature from Slavic folklore, depicted in this game as an Ogress, and a powerful witch. The Baron attempted to remove her from his valley by force, and so she cursed him and his family. Her hut is found in the north-west of the map, and is surrounded by a wooden wall, adorned with skulls. The largest skull makes a deal with you, he's jealous of his fellow skulls' glowing eyes. Find him a glowing gem for his own eyes, and you can meet with Baba Yaga.

Finding the gem requires making another deal: deals within deals! There's an giant to the east, Brauggi. Through alliterative rhyming he lets you know he's looking for fruit, and in large quantities. For making booze of course, to see him through the winter. Fifty apples from the centaur at the market later, and a glowing gem is yours!