The Manor on top of the Hill

This Adventuron game was designed for the Text Adventure Literacy Project, and it seems designed to be safe and simple. Only two-word commands are used.

It has a fairly large map with around 20 locations (?) and a few puzzles, including a combination safe, keys, and examining puzzles. The idea is that you are exploring an old mansion and discovering its secrets.

There aren't a lot of surprises here, except perhaps the ending. There is a light puzzle that was kind of interesting, though.

A very traditional entry in the well-trodden "explore your eccentric relative's mansion" genre. The Manor on top of the Hill (I feel like the "t" of "top" should have been capitalized there) has no graphics unfortunately, but makes up for it with a lot of characterful locations, evoked succinctly in their short descriptions. Some lock-and-key puzzles, a dark room that needs to be lit up, a code to be cracked, and an inventory puzzle or two give text adventure beginners a nice, quick, friction-less tour of the standard puzzle types. The choice of font and colour scheme feels very Commodore 64. Good stuff.

I recently replayed MToH when it came up as CASA's "random game" because it seemed familiar--I clicked through, recognized it and forgot enough of it that I enjoyed revisiting and rediscovering while writing a walkthrough and drawing a map. I hadn't written a review back in 2021, because I felt I didn't have a whole ton constructive to say.

MToH isn't a huge game, clocking in at fifteen rooms in your eccentric departed (but maye not dead) aunt's house. Well, three to start, until you find a light source in the tutorial. That opens up five more rooms, and there are a few secret doors and passages to open, too. So it felt like more than fifteen rooms, but not in the bloaty way, especially with the door that's locked from the inside. There's mystery there.

The tutorial portion makes an odd first impression, as you TAKE and DROP an item you need to use very soon later. But that first impression was reversed by how the tutorial cued other things later. Some very good TALP entries wound up ditching the tutorial after the introduction, and I think that's a missed chance. Here there's nothing profound, but the author generally knows when the player might need help.

The first secret passage you'll open up will probably be to the ending room, where it's pretty clear you have to find stuff and bring it back. There's a safe among the locked doors. Its combination is found in two parts, though on replay, you don't need to read them in-game. There is also one barrier where it was obvious what items to use, but I had a bit of trouble guessing the right verb, as the usual violent ones fell short. (Spoiler - click to show)DESTROY was it.

MToH does a bit of everything -- it uses a bit of colored text for important items, gives tutorial nudges where needed, has secret passages and gives a good variety of verbs to use without making you guess too much. It's not especially heavyweight, but I was glad to visit it, and I was amused to remember how, now and then, I ignored further passage west of the main branch room, because I assumed there was a locked door there just like to the east. It was a weird blind spot to have. For whatever reason, I remembered the safe combination, or that it was one of four values. This gave an eerie feel I think the author intended. I enjoyed coming back to it.