The Most Obscure Commercial IF Game I've Ever Played - an IFDB Poll
by Xervosh
RSS FeedI'm hoping to be reminded of some of the obscure little IF games I may have played during the 1980s, but since can't recall. In addition, this poll may get a few more obscure games from the 1980s (or early 90s, or late 70s) listed in the database, as people discover the game they wanted to vote for isn't available at this site.
| Denis through the Drinking Glass, by Ian Bishrey, Roger Taylor 2 votes "Loved this game" [+]"Loved this game: This game takes me back to the time of Text Adventures." --Richard Otter... "So quirky and..." [+]"So quirky and surreal." ( ) --Ooz...  Vote for this game | |
| Forbidden Castle, by Mercer Mayer 2 votes "Apparantly no one..." [+]"Apparantly no one else has heard of this. We loved it though. " ( - Full review) --tggdan3... "I think it's..." [+]"I think it's interesting that this game was written by Mercer Mayer, author of Just My Me and My Dad and other children's books. " --Jonathan Blask... Vote for this game | |
| SUDS, by Dave Edwards 1 vote "Originally..." [+]"Originally released on cassette, by mail order, and full of terrible puns and references to soap opera characters no-one's likely to remember. They don't come much more obscure than this." --J. J. Guest... Vote for this game | |
| The Hermit's Secret, by Dian Crayne 1 vote "One of the first IF games I ever played" [+]"One of the first IF games I ever played" ( - Full review) --Spike... Vote for this game | |
| The Helm, by Simon Jay 1 vote "The usual, and..." [+]"The usual, and frustrating, guess-the-verb syndrome, but I remember it had some nice (and very British) humour in it." ( ) --Fredrik... Vote for this game | |
| Gothmog's Lair, by Sean A. Moore 1 vote "This is really a..." [+]"This is really a little forgotten gem, if you can live with a two-word parser and if you like rpg-style combat. Very hard to play without the instruction booklet, though." ( ) --Fredrik... Vote for this game | |
| The Fourth Sarcophagus, by Anonymous 1 vote "This may have..." [+]"This may have been the first (at least one of the first three) IF game I completed. I recall it as very atmospheric, but I am probably remembering my own vivid imagination." ( ) --Fredrik... Vote for this game | |
| Castle Ralf, by Doug Clutter and Steve Vance 1 vote "Superlative Escape From A Castle Epic" [+]"Superlative Escape From A Castle Epic: I have never met anyone who has played it. This is top quality DOS entertainment." ( - Full review) --Canalboy... Vote for this game | |
| Uh-Oh, by Scott Covert 1 vote "Forgotten Shareware" [+]"Forgotten Shareware: Technically I only played the demo, and had no idea what to do, but it was my first IF and wedged the idea into my brain." --MattC... Vote for this game | |
| Demon's Tomb - The Awakening, by Simon Price 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --baf... Vote for this game | |
| Zyll, by Marshal Linder and Scott Edwards (IBM) 1 vote "First text-based..." [+]"First text-based RPG I ever played - actually put out by IBM for its PC Jr." ( ) --Spike... Vote for this game | |
| Valley of the Minotaur, by Nicolas van Dyk 1 vote "Its probably not nearly as good as I recall, but I loved the quirky island on which it occurred, filled with cannibals, mytholological beasts, a great lake you could naviagte by boat, etc." [+]"Its probably not nearly as good as I recall, but I loved the quirky island on which it occurred, filled with cannibals, mytholological beasts, a great lake you could naviagte by boat, etc." ( ) --Xervosh... Vote for this game | |
| Jacaranda Jim, by Graham Cluley 1 vote "I dunno if this..." [+]"I dunno if this counts as commercial, quite, but it was the first IF I ever played and nobody else seems to remember it." --Sam Kabo Ashwell... Xervosh says: I played Jacaranda Jim back around 1991, or maybe '92. Vote for this game | |
| Another Lifeless Planet and Me With No Beer, by Dennis Drew 1 vote "Well, it is..." [+]"Well, it is shareware, and it tells you to get the instruction book you need to send money, so I suppose it's commercial. " ( - Full review) --tggdan3... Vote for this game | |