Reviews by Deboriole

This is a clever game. Not only because of its puzzles, but because some of the puzzles are not needed.

There are a lot of items in this game and you need to examine every single one. I did a very good job of this and was able to figure out 95% of the game, but when I came to the end I found I was missing two key clues. Upon looking at a walkthrough (I started to re-examine things to try to figure out what I missed, but the sheer volume of objects was too daunting) I found that I could have easily found the two clues if I hadn't glossed over certain examinations.

What I liked: Even if I was in one corner of the room and I wanted to examine something but wasn't sure of its location, I could still "x object" and my character would go to its location and look at it. That was a huge time-saver. I also enjoyed the humor in the game. There wasn't a ton of it, but I did laugh out loud a few times.

What I didn't like: I found that I routinely figured things out before I stumbled upon its clue — which got annoying after awhile because I felt like I wasn't making progress, I was uncovering clues for puzzles I had already solved. There were also a few bugs... the most jarring being that one puzzle can be solved without knowing the object you need exists. I found this out by accident when I was carrying something that had a similar name to the object I needed. When I tried to use the object in my inventory, my character went over to where the correct object was and used it to complete the puzzle (instead of telling me the object I was carrying didn't work). Ha! I guess I should count that as a win, but I felt robbed of that puzzle's solution.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game a lot! The puzzles made sense and it was rewarding.

Admittedly, at the beginning of this game, I wandered around in circles. I read my notes over and over and by the end of the game I knew my way around quite well. My only real gripe came in the second half. (Spoiler - click to show)two of the intentions - coral and crimson - were to be merely dropped, when all the others went into or onto something in particular. I found this to be annoying as I had the right place and recipient, yet could not figure out how to stage the crime. I had to look at the walkthrough.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the navigation puzzles and the 'poetry.'

I must admit, I played this game because of the cover art. What a cutie! Ironically, I gave this game the same rating as Fate (which was undoubtedly much more complicated to code and to play) because of the cute factor (although I did get to feed a carrot to a goat in that one).

I read Matt's dissertation after finishing (which took me longer than playing the game). Very impressive. I, on the other hand, did not look for any undertones. I just looked for cute, cuddly bunnies. In fact, I don't care if there even were any undertones. I got to hug bunnies.

Note: This review has been edited after receiving comments. :)

I am always searching for games with purely logical puzzles, and came upon this one. I enjoyed this game for its "logical progression" style of play. I found it very fulfilling to put the pieces together within a finite time limit. However, I did not finish the game because I was expecting the rest of the game to rely on "real-life" solutions and it took a turn. A lot of other reviewers really enjoyed this twist in the game, but I did not.

I LOVED this game when I was a kid. I was shocked to find it averaged 1 measly star, so I was determined to get my hands on it to play again. I admit, the parser is extremely poor and as I play it now, I am struggling to find the acceptable syntax to progress in the game.

It is pretty unplayable, but I have so many fond memories that I am generously giving it two stars. What a shame because I remembered it as a fantastic adventure. If anyone else cares to play, I am including a mini-walkthrough for the first portion of the game below.

You can play online here: http://c64s.com/game/58/african_adventure/ although there is no way to save (so don't try, you will get stuck)!

(Spoiler - click to show)
-YOUR ROOM-
open closet
get boots
get knapsack
open knapsack
look
get matches
(if a native has thrown a spear at you)
get spear
enter bed
open book
read passage
drift


Some other tips:
(Spoiler - click to show)
1) If you let the mouse go, go back to where you originally found him; he will be there.
2) If you are carrying the spear, the natives will be hostile.
3) If you want to go back to your room, go back to the boat and it will let you go home.

I thought the description of this game looked pretty interesting - I mistook the title to mean a pagan treasure hunt through the forest. Upon playing I quickly realized that Easter Egg Hunt is a literal, Christian-themed hunt for eggs -- complete with a crucifix and a crown of thorns. There are a few characters in the game, but you do not have to persuade them to trade items with you. A simple "get object" will suffice and you can take (or give) all game items to any character. I admit I did not play the entire game because I managed to find more than half of the eggs simply sitting on the ground. It was not as much of a "hunt" as it was a collection process.

I read the walkthrough after I quit playing, and there is more depth to the game than I found, but I am still not tempted to go back and finish.

I didn't read reviews on this game before playing it so I expected an experience more like Bronze and less like Galatea - when in fact the reverse is true. As others have written, the majority of the game is asking questions and piecing together the back story. I didn't feel like trying to find all 18 endings because the plot is rather dark, and I managed to find a very nice ending on my third play, so I stopped there.

The story was not that appealing to me (It is somewhat of a gruesome tale and I prefer games with tangible puzzles rather than question-asking, anyway). I would give this story 3 stars but for the sheer impressiveness of number of authors, complex plot, and intricate dialog system.

One hint: You can shorten your inputs. For example, if the dialog prompts you with "You could ask about ..." just type "ASK" and it will assume you are talking about the prompted question. Similarly, "You could ask about X or Y" allows you to type "ASK X" and it will answer you as expected. Be careful of the words... for example, "I had a lot of schooling" would have to be "ask schooling" and not "ask school". Once you get the hang of it, you don't have to type as much as you might think!

My favorite pun: (Spoiler - click to show)"Lilith fair"est of them all. Ha!

I really, really enjoyed Bronze so I was looking forward to playing this one. I enjoyed the whimsy of this game, although the manner of using objects was definitely unique and I needed hints to figure out what I was supposed to do. Once it was clear what commands to use, I was able to finish the game in a matter of minutes.

There was one glitch that got me completely stuck, I had to restart to be able to finish the game.
(Spoiler - click to show)I attached the hour to the window (which is on the top floor). 50 turns later, I was meticulously searching the middle level when my candle went out. Ok, I thought, I will just get another hour and restore the candle. I tried "get hour" but could not, because the hour was still stuck to the window upstairs. I went to the top floor and was able to take the hour. The text said that the candle was whole again -- but when I went down to the kitchen to light it, there was just a stub left. I was caught in a situation where my hour was on one floor and my fire source was on another floor!
I am sure I am the only person who would ever get in such a situation, but I guess that makes me a good beta tester? :)

I just played Fate several times over, and then read much of the source (after I had gotten as many endings as I could on my own). I really enjoyed solving the puzzles, and was thoroughly excited about my prospects (and what I could achieve) later in the game. The story was very interesting, and I was glued to the game for most of the day. Why only 3 stars then? Let me tell you...

I enjoyed the game up until "decision time." (Spoiler - click to show)Admittedly, I was hoping for a "fairytale" ending for all my trouble. I took great care in planning out the game (not hurting my pixie, not snake-biting my servant, etc.) but sadly fate was not affected by these decisions. I felt that I should have been able to tip the scales in my favor by doing good... that perhaps my smaller actions would snowball into a better ending. Nope.

Also, I wish there was a little more guidance toward the end of the game. As a rule, I don't like to ask for hints until absolutely necessary. I was near the end of the game (let's just say my inventory was plentiful, but I had not made my final decisions) but by that time, apparently there were no hints available! I wish the hint system would have remained intact throughout the game so I could have gotten some clarity when I decided to break down and ask for it. (I ended up reading the source which answered all of my questions.)

The most frustrating three parts of the game (for me):
1. (Spoiler - click to show)The "Greater" spell calls for a silver crown. I had not noticed that Harold wore a crown. Even if I had, I had not made my final decision. My next thought was that there must be some other way to procure a crown. I scoured the kingdom for anything made of silver, and I finally found it. The goblet. I really thought there was some secret here, since when you see the goblet it does not announce it as silver until you examine it. I wanted to melt it down to make a crown! I realize this is a little bit of a stretch, but I was trying to innovate, not having seen a crown elsewhere.
2. (Spoiler - click to show)Pixie dust for the "Sleep" spell. Okay, I admit, I played this game about ten times before I thought of a clever idea (that did not pan out). I figured if I could avoid finding the viper altogether, I could smash the blue vial, ask for pixie dust, talk to Charles, slip the ingredients into his wine, and put him to sleep. I would then go get the red vial from Amy and ask for the "Snake" spell. That way the snake wouldn't have to die and I wouldn't have to cut my pixie's wings off either! Nope, no dice. The game still cautioned me to not put Charles to sleep until the viper was handled. Rats!
3. (Spoiler - click to show)The "Haunt" spell. Ugh, this drove me mad! I was carrying all of the ingredients for this spell but no matter how I tried, I could not make a paste out of the ingredients! I tried smashing them with the mortar and pestle. I tried putting the ingredients on each other. I tried "make paste". Nothing worked! I finally gave up and went to see the witch who vengefully made the paste. Really? Why was I able to perform all of the other spells but not this one?

On a side note, I found a bug. (Spoiler - click to show)Upon restarting the game I could not ask my servant to lift the covers for me to take a nap. I had to quit out entirely and start fresh to receive this option (Yes, I examined the bed first and saw there "might be something at the foot...").

I really liked this game when I first started. Finding a map in the attic sounds like a wonderful puzzle! Unfortunately, my curiosity got me stuck very early on and I had no idea how to progress. (Spoiler - click to show)I read a book from the bookshelf and was transported to a garden. I had no Idea how I had gotten there or how to get back. It was completely frustrating and disorienting. I am not sure I want to even try this game again, if this sort of thing is bound to happen. I like games that make logical sense and so far as I can tell, this one doesn't.