Ratings and Reviews by Anders Hellerup Madsen

Timequest is a classic open-world, puzzle-filled text adventure set across six different regions of the world and nine distinct time periods. With 50 different areas, each containing a handful of accessible locations, it is a very large game. It took me several play sessions over the course of a month to complete it. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, which evoked that old-school feel of working through puzzles and making meaningful progress each time I played.

On the Zarfian Cruelty Scale, this game is classified as "nasty," meaning you can encounter unwinnable situations. However, the game always informs you when you’ve made a critical mistake, which makes for a surprisingly pleasant experience. I always had a clear sense of what I was supposed to achieve in each area and what to avoid.

The puzzles are challenging, but they never felt unfair. As I explored more of the enormous world, I naturally solved more puzzles. Generally, the puzzles weren’t too hard, but they were clever enough to require creativity and thought. If I couldn’t solve a puzzle immediately, it was often because I hadn’t yet explored the areas necessary to solve it. Since there were always plenty of other tasks to focus on, I never felt stuck.

If old-school puzzle fests are your thing, then this game will surely be right up your alley. The puzzles aren't too hard, but there are plenty of them and lots of fun things to explore. The world starts off small, but as you get your bearings, it opens up into a fairly large area. The central mechanic is enchanter-like spellcasting, offering a great variety of spells, and almost everything you can think of elicits some sort of funny response.

The best thing about the game is all the modern touches. For instance, you cannot get the game into an unwinnable state, and there’s always a list of things you should focus on (like a quest list in modern games). The game also features an in-game hint system, although I didn’t need to use it even once.

I completed the game in a handful of sessions over a few days. It’s not a particularly long game, but it’s certainly not a short one either. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it!