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lost.zip
Contains LOST.TAF
walkthrough
Requires an ADRIFT version 4 interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links. (Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.)

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Lost

by Eric Mayer profile

Slice of life
2001

(based on 1 rating)
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About the Story

"A short story about a man stopping by a woods on a snowy evening..." [From Carl Muckenhoupt's review at Baf's]


Game Details

Editorial Reviews

Baf's Guide


A short story about a man stopping by a woods on a snowy evening, ostensibly to recover some orienteering equipment, but really to mull over the sorry state of his life. Good prose, stingingly lonely and depressed, dense with scenery objects and triggered flashbacks. Scant on interactivity, though, especially toward the end. Definitely more of a story than a game. Features occasional optional photographic illustrations.

-- Carl Muckenhoupt

Brass Lantern
So what's good? Well, the descriptions of the woods nearby were very evocative in many locations, and gave me a good mental picture of the woods. I believe the author was inspired to some extent by A Change in the Weather and this game has some similarities to the classic Zarf adventure -- a clearly three-dimensional woodland setting, severe climactic conditions, and the inclusion of a small furry critter (Lost very briefly features a squirrel). The author follows some popular guidelines for good adventure design -- a realistic map, good responses to silly actions and freedom of action to the player (although there's not much to do apart from advance the plot). The game also prompts the player quite subtly. [...] Unfortunately, the brevity makes it difficult for the author to fit in all the plot and emotional development. I felt the descriptions of the feelings of the main character were a little unsubtle in places, and there isn't time to let the player absorb them all.
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SPAG
Not to belabor the point, but it must be belabored: the protagonist can reach this ending point inside of 30 moves if he's pretty direct about it, and isn't likely to take more than 60-70 even if he stops to smell all the roses he can find. His ruminations about his past, however, start right away and come relatively thick and fast. If you, the player, don't decide to identify with the protagonist right away, you may just miss your chance entirely. [...] But the protagonist's personality is almost wholly absent from Lost: we know what he feels, but not who he is. As such, he had my sympathy, but I was a spectator.
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This is version 5 of this page, edited by Denk on 5 March 2023 at 11:02pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page