The Enchanted Cottage

The Enchanted Cottage comes from the most creative and well-crafted section of the prolific Jack Lockerby's text adventure Curriculum Vitae. Some of the later games (Islands of Sinbad, Zen Quest in particular) lack coherence and originality. This is perhaps not surprising; innovation can be tough when you have authored more than thirty games.

I originally struck out on the Spectrum version, but came across a bug very near the start involving the giant. This can be solved without using the appropriate spell and focus, so I decided to switch to the Commodore 64 version in the hope of a better experience. Aside from a couple of minor bugs this version is cleaner; it is also a rather larger game and a handful of the puzzles from the Spectrum version are expanded and polished in a more satisfactory way.

The back story involves you, a mediocre would be sorcerer have continually failed your exams and have been warned that your next test wil be your last chance. If you manage to open the green door in the building of the title (this has three locks) you can get your star spangled wizard's cloak out of mothballs and order your wand from eBay. Fail and it's labouring under the auspices of a zero hours contract in a Jeff Bezos warehouse. What greater incentive to succeed could an ambitious neophyte require? Armed with a spell book containing seven game changers (there are six in the Spectrum version) you set off from base (the cottage acts as a hub) and upon solving an easy opening puzzle you have to peregrinate wildly between three regions in search of the bronze, silver and gold keys to complete your quest. In the Spectrum version you are Niki, a presumably epicene, Kim Kimberly type character whereas in the Commodore 64 version you are nameless. Maybe Niki threw a sickie.

The Commodore versions of Jack's games amounted to less than ten per cent of total sales, so it is admirable that he persisted in creating versions of his games aside from the Quilled Spectrum creations. Especially given the state of the Spectrum version of this one.

The game improves on the usual utilitarian Quill parser of the Spectrum by dint of the PAW. The first five letters of a word are recognised and there is no TAKE ALL or BACK. The majority of scenery descriptions can be referred to and the parser does a reasonable job in accommodating synonyms. One problem I hit upon is the fact that LOOK IN, SEARCH and EXAMINE seem to play musical chairs when attempting to discern the hidden properties of objects. One object right at the end of the game will only disclose its contents uisng the EXAMINE command; the other two more appropriate options find nothing. The verb LOOK is, as per the PAW's usual functionality replaced by REDESCRIBE or R, except in one particular location where you do have to LOOK. This is a bit questionable as a fair puzzle.

Location descriptions are generally staccato but Jack's games have always had puzzles as the meat in the sandwich. Do not expect cloyingly atmospheric, Hardyesque evocations of three magical lands as you won't get them. This game is more Reader's Digest puzzle section than The Return of the Native. Unlike for instance Brian Cotton's spell casting games, the incorrect use of a spell does not soft lock you from victory. If you are casting a spell or using a focused object in the wrong place, the game will simply tell you. In this version the correct casting of a spell causes its focus to vanish and free up an item in your inventory. This is handy, as there is no container in the latter game to port your accumulated impedementa around in. There are no daemons or lamp timers although it is possible to get yourself killed in several ways. I can't recall any sudden death demises, however.

As ever with Jack's immersive worlds, the puzzles are the point. They are all logical and a couple of them are truly inspired; the pebble puzzle and the poser which centres around avoiding a ferocious dog are particularly clever, bearing all of the author's usual trademarks of deviousness and off the wall, common or garden object manipulation. One spell revolves around an excruciating pun. The ending is a nice subversion on the "protagonist earns their wings and walks off with the loot" denouement that I was expecting.

In summation, I would put this offering in the top five of Jack's thirty-five game career; it is medium sized and of medium difficulty and would be an excellent introduction to his imaginative game worlds. Just avoid the Spectrum version. I would presume that the Atari ST STAC version is a well-behaved sibling too.