Interesting playing a game that was set in Cornwall, UK by the sea but doesn't allow you to go explore outside much.
The castle is quite interesting and easy to explore. The mysteries are all pretty simple and straight forward and 1 or 2 clues allow you to solve the main one. The other ones can be solved by just exploring everywhere and examining everything.
I liked the layout of the castle but it did feel very simplified. There was also a classic Infocom maze, but thankfully easy to navigate.
I enjoyed the game and it's a good way into the IF genre.
I enjoyed playing this game through and found the best thing about it was the writing. The puzzles were not too hard and the challenges all manageable. The hardest thing was the transition between choice mode (e.g. 1 - do this 2 - do that) to the standard parser mode.
Overall a great story, very funny and quirky. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
After wanting to complete this game for years since first playing it o C64 back in the early 90's, I eventually did.
The game starts in a simple one room puzzle and then breaks out into a larger open world that felt simply and completely British. I loved the puzzles and also that characters that were interesting and fun. Several areas of whimsical comedy were included, and didn't seem to be plot dependent. Overall the puzzles were marginally easier to complete as an adult and the overall play though was great fun. I am probably biased as I have fond memories of playing this game on grey afternoons, and I am glad I've come back 20 years later and completed it.