Ratings and Reviews by Felix Pleșoianu

A simple game that doesn't waste your time, and doesn't have any pretenses. The puzzles are simple enough, but frustrating to solve without undo. I might come back and finish it someday.

I'm not sure The Wizard's Castle counts as interactive fiction. Rather, it's a text-based RPG with a keyword parser. If anything, it has more in common with Super Star Trek on the one hand, and roguelikes on the other. Prose is nothing to write home about either, though it makes an honest effort to set the mood thought ambient messages. The Z-Machine port is arguably an abuse thereof, since any story is going to be emergent, and only happen in the player's mind. Rules resemble those in Eamon, a game of similar vintage and origin, though much more popular and influential.

Still, it's easy to see why The Wizard's Castle also became a cult classic. Worth a try.

You learn something new every day. For example, that people still made games in TADS 2 as late as 2015. Or that the same TADS 2 has a CYOA library. Good to know!

As for the game itself, it's a light romp cobbled together from Gothic horror cliches with a sprinkling of generic fantasy. It's a short game with little text, well-suited for a kid for example. Surprise deaths abound, but "undo" works. Choices are mostly well-clued however, more so than in other similar games, so that shouldn't be an issue. Supposedly it's replayable, too, but I didn't try.

And that's about all there is to say about Castle of Doom, but you know what? Sometimes a light snack is the best thing. Just don't expect more.

This is a game very much in the spirit of the original Hobbit. You know the one. Too bad that means lots of sudden deaths with no way to undo. Implementation is also sparse, with no synonyms (I can't call the seedcake a cake? Seriously?) and flat rejection when I try to simply use an object: a standard verb in Quest, that the game puts on the context menu of everything. At least try to give me a hint or something.

On the plus side, and this is a big plus, the game is very easy to navigate in the opening area at least, providing a good sense of geography; you won't need a map. It also stands on its own, with a slightly parodic tone but otherwise a good theme and love for the source material.

Sadly, that's not enough to make it a decent game in my book. Maybe if I could play from a walkthrough.