Update: I'm a maroon. Running this game requires using DosBox and the he12.exe Hugo interpreter, as well as the game file. (Thanks to Roody Yogurt for the help!)
I like the sparse yet atmospheric text, the apparent gimmick, and yet...it's a demo game, and it has defeated me.
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As of this writing in December 2022, this game won't run in the 3 terps I tried it in: Hugor, Gargoyle, and Spatterlight.
I played the Hugo port of this game, which Gargoyle doesn't like.
Out of curiosity, because I missed this back in 1995, I loaded the Inform version and...wow, this is pretty awesome.
So then I wondered if Gargoyle was the issue, and downloaded previously forgotten terp HUGOR. And lo - there it was, in all it's colorful glory. And music! I'm suffused with delight and glee! I can't get over how cool and unexpected this was. Now I'm envisioning something like Pole Position - in Hugo! This really kinda blew my mind.