Non-Infocom games of commercial era worth playing - an IFDB Poll

by tekket
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What commercial games published between 1980-1993 other than those by Infocom do you think are worth playing?

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Eric the Unready, by Bob Bates
8 votes
"Legend games were high quality" [+]"Legend games were high quality" --Hanon Ondricek... "Genuinely funny in parts, nice balance of puzzles" [+]"Genuinely funny in parts, nice balance of puzzles" --Mikalye... "A Classic" [+]"A Classic: Just a handful of games balance humor and puzzles (more on the beginners side) so well. " --Anatol Locker... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --deathbytroggles... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Nomad...

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Spellcasting 101 - Sorcerers Get All The Girls, by Steve Meretzky
7 votes
"Steve Meretsky" [+]"Steve Meretsky: A sort of bawdy precursor to Harry Potter from the author of Leather Goddeses of Phobos" --Hanon Ondricek... "Very clean" [+]"Very clean: The Island of Lost Souls can get a little tedious, but the island where time runs backwards is brilliant, and the final puzzle is very clever indeed." --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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The Hobbit, by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler
6 votes
"The classic of classics. " [+]"The classic of classics. " () --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu... "If The Hobbit,..." [+]"If The Hobbit, rather than Infocom, had become the industry "standard", then we would have seen a very different kind of games in terms of storytelling and game mechanics." () --Fredrik... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) --patrick.brian.mooney...

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Fish!, by John Molloy, Pete Kemp, Phil South, Rob Steggles
6 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet... "Magnetic Scrolls..." [+]"Magnetic Scrolls released some good games." --Simon Deimel... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad...

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Gateway, by Mike Verdu, Michael Lindner, and Glen Dahlgren
6 votes
"Inspired by Heechee trilogy, sense of wonder, interesting hybrid user interface" [+]"Inspired by Heechee trilogy, sense of wonder, interesting hybrid user interface" () --tekket... "I'm playing this now. Awe and wonder. Very engaging. Not too hard (for now...)" [+]"I'm playing this now. Awe and wonder. Very engaging. Not too hard (for now...)" ( - Full review) --Rovarsson... (No comment) [+](No comment) --MattC... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Form 27b-6... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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The Guild of Thieves, by Rob Steggles
5 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Knight Orc, by Pete Austin
4 votes
"Classic Level 9 adventure" [+]"Classic Level 9 adventure" () --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... "Chaos..." [+]"Chaos personified." () --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad...

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Wonderland, by David Bishop, Bob Coles, Paul Findley, Ken Gordon, Richard Huddy, Steve Lacey, Doug Rabson, Anita Sinclair, Hugh Steers and Mark Taylor
3 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad...

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TimeQuest, by Bob Bates
3 votes
"Brilliant multi-layered time travel game" [+]"Brilliant multi-layered time travel game" --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Gateway 2: Homeworld, by Mike Verdu and Glen Dahlgren
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Gnome Ranger, by Pete Austin
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad...

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Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance, by Steve Meretzky
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Jinxter, by Georgina Sinclair, Michael Bywater
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad...

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The Pawn, by Rob Steggles, Peter Kemp, Hugh Steers, Ken Gordon, and Geoff Quilley
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Spellcasting 301: Spring Break, by Steve Meretzky
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Demon's Tomb - The Awakening, by Simon Price
2 votes
"good writing, atmospheric, good parser." [+]"good writing, atmospheric, good parser." () --The Defiant... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Walter Sandsquish...

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Scapeghost, by Pete Austin
2 votes
"atmospheric with strong parser" [+]"atmospheric with strong parser" () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad...

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Countdown to Doom, by Peter D. Killworth
2 votes
"I love all of Peter Killworth's Doom series - proper old school sci-fi." [+]"I love all of Peter Killworth's Doom series - proper old school sci-fi." --J. J. Guest... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet...

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An Everyday Tale of a Seeker of Gold, by John Wilson and Sean Doran
1 vote
"Zenobi's adventures were great fun too!" [+]"Zenobi's adventures were great fun too!" ( - Full review) --LaFey...

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Spy Snatcher, by Jonathan Partington and Jon Thackray
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet...

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Avon, by Jon Thackray and Jonathan Partington
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --shornet...

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Mindfighter, by Anna Popkess and Fergus McNeill
1 vote
"Dystopian story..." [+]"Dystopian story which is quite intriguing, despite the confusing connections between the locations." --Simon Deimel...

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Lords of Time, by Sue Gazzard and Ian Buxton
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk...

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Terrormolinos, by Peter Jones, Trevor Lever, Mike Robinson, James Byrne, and Roger Taylor
1 vote
"Take ten photos..." [+]"Take ten photos on your summer holiday. I surely remember this game." () --Simon Deimel...

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Tass Times in Tonetown, by Michael Berlyn and Muffy Berlyn
1 vote
"First game I played with "feelies"" [+]"First game I played with "feelies": Even if the world model is a bit oversimplified, and even if the pseudo-futuristic post-New Wave backdrop seems dated, there's something curious about the game that keeps me coming back to play it again. The included broadsheet certainly helped." ( - Full review) --mjhayes...

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Corruption, by Rob Steggles, Hugh Steers
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --The Defiant...

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The Horror of Rylvania, by D. A. Leary
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) --patrick.brian.mooney...

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La diosa de Cozumel, by Andrés Roberto Samudio Monro, Andrés Roberto Samudio Monro, Tim Gilberts, Juan Antonio Darder, Carlos Marqués, and Francisco Carrión
1 vote
"Probably the best example of Spanish commercial IF" [+]"Probably the best example of Spanish commercial IF" () --LaFey...

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Transylvania, by Antonio Antiochia
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Robb Sherwin...

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Lancelot, by Christina Erskin, Joan Lamb, Neil Scrimgeour, Dicken Peeke, Nusarath Jahan, Mike Austin, Nick Austin, John Jones-Steele, and Mike Bryant
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk...

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T-Zero, by Dennis Cunningham
1 vote
"Beautifully written and cleverly abstract game through different time zones; quite unique." [+]"Beautifully written and cleverly abstract game through different time zones; quite unique.: Dennis Cunningham is a wonderful writer - few can match him in the history of IF. The game too is Proustian in its dealings with time, decay and Ozymandian hubris. All interwoven with some excellent puzzles." () --Canalboy...

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Myth, by Paul Findley
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish...

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Ingrid's Back, by Pete Austin, Peter McBride, Godfrey Dowson, Graham Jones
1 vote
"Best of Level 9" [+]"Best of Level 9" () --Denk...

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Alien Research Centre, by Ian Smith and Sean McClure
1 vote
"Semi-commercial I think" [+]"Semi-commercial I think: Not sure if the authors made this in their sparetime or if they were professionals. Anyway, a great two-word parser sci-fi game. " ( - Full review) --Denk...

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Poll created on January 6, 2015