Reviews by Nomad

The story starts with a stereotype amnesia situation (*yawn*) in a lighthouse unknown to you, then slowly unfolds and thus shall not be spoilered here. The setting is... if I'd call it "simplyfied reality with magic realism elements" you'd probably think it's more exciting than it actually is. The cute game world has electricity, but its elements are usually reduced to buildings that could have existed a century or even two ago. Say, a bakery, a pub, you get the picture. It's consistent though; it's fun wandering around because the surroundings are easy to understand and seem lively, and there's NPCs where you would expect them. There's cons though. The NPCs are pretty taciturn. The plot unfolds slowly at first but is then thrown into your face in one move, with magic suddenly entering the game world without further explanation. Most of the puzzles aren't integrated into the plot, but just obstacles. The parser is functional, if not rudimentary.

All in all, I enjoyed romping through the game world and wished the author had spent more time on polishing the game. And on thinking of better puzzles. Would like to see a second game.

It's just a dialogue-heavy short story through which you click.

In the 1980s, you're a fortune seeker (and trained diver) on a small island probably located in the Northern Caribbean. A friend consigns you to a map that bears coordinates of a wreck previously unknown - and gets assassinated moments after he parts ways with you. You have to team up with some locals in order to get a chance to seek for the wreck, but the locals are fortune seekers just as you, and cannot be trusted. Will you get out of this situation alive?

The cons of this game cannot be denied. The pros neither: Besides the pretty unspoiled setting (for 1984, that is), Cutthroats starts like a predecessor of an open world game. NPCs roam about freely, minding their own business, or (less pleasant) yours. The game gives you the feeling of exploring a game world that advances on its own. That, in combination with the realistic Caribbean setting and the fascinating (though stereotype) NPCs, provides for a mindblasting experience.

But then, the cons. Since time trickles away relentlessly, and since time triggers (and disables) events, there's a multitude of situations where being at the wrong place at the wrong time (or rather not being at the right place at the right time) renders the game unwinnable. Sometimes even without telling you so. Sometimes your only fault is to carry the wrong things with you at a certain time and place, or to give a wrong answer to an NPC. This way you'll do a LOT of try & error, which is only acceptable if you're aware of what's happening, which in many cases you aren't. Also, the second part of the game (the actual treasure hunt) is a bit dull.

In summary: Great premises, but full of doubtful design decisions. If you can find the original game package on Ebay, you'll be rewarded with hilarious feelies, as ever so often with Infocom games.

You are a prominent lawyer in 1950's New York. An accident (or was it an assault) all of a sudden turns your life upside down, and you need to find out whom you can trust and whom you can't.

The story got me hooked up from the first moments, and the implementation is generally smooth. The pacing is pleasant, I was gently being directed through the events but never felt rushed.

On the con side, there's a lot of typos in the text, and conversation parsing could have done with an additional synonym or two to make it more intuitive. What some will rate as a design flaw is the fact that you can't play the game in one session - you will make mistakes and need to learn from them. Since the game is not overly complex I personally have no issues with this - if I know it up-front, which is the case here, as the game notes prominently mention it.

Big recommendation. If you're fluent in German, that is.