Imprisoned

Imprisoned was probably one of the better HG titles in the early CoG days, although standards weren't high at that time.

You're thrown into a cell for... something. There is a substantial character creation process as you are put through the early scenes. While you are in your cell, the game is pretty much like a stat management RPG, where you will have to raise certain stats, manage others, and think about how you will escape.

I managed to escape by raising a stat (Spoiler - click to show)(push ups, then bending the bars). Still, navigating the dungeon is tricky and some of the descriptions aren't too well written, which just makes it more confusing at times. My escape attempt eventually met with an inglorious end... but eh, I tried.

The writing is acceptable at a technical level, although I saw some typos. The game's tone is a bit juvenile at times, but I suppose you could treat this as a not-so-serious fantasy story. It's a pretty flawed title today, but might perhaps still be worth a look.

This game is naive, juvenile and with a lot of rough edges. And yet, I had a ton of fun with it.

You start as a prisoner being interrogated. Your first decisions are typical of an adventure/RPG (gender, skill points, abilities), but soon you are presented more unusual choices, which give you the possibility to define the backstory. Are you guilty? Do you know who framed you? It's up to you to decide! Only your Luck attribute is, most appropriately, mainly left to chance. Depending on your choices the story evolves in many unpredictable directions – you may end up winning the game thanks to your wizardry or ninja skills, or simply by being tough enough.

It is this explosion of possibilities that made me give four stars to this admittedly very minor game. The writing is nothing to speak about, probably made by a teenager, and the characters are just sketched, but I enjoyed a lot exploring the palace and its prison, slowly figuring out yet another escape possibility, winning the game with a carefully planned sequence of choices or with a couple of lucky random decisions.

Not an obligatory play by any means, but a fun way to pass the time and get some solace from the everyday worries.