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The Curseby Rob2024 Surreal. Comic(?) Custom External Links
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Cronoboy's adventures
Once upon a time. The Curse is an 80's style text adventure ,deeply updated (insertion of images, sounds, etc.) In fact, its very first (italian) version dates back to the mid-80s. In those years the games were characterized by a minimal narrative level plot mainly oriented towards puzzles. The Curse is no exception. It features several puzzles, many of which are timed. To avoid player frustration and consequent abandonment of the game, I have included a hint system that can be called up at any time and in any location with the HELP command. At the first call the system will only provide a suggestion while at the subsequent calls will provide the complete spoiler. Ps: For reasons i don't know ,some antiviruses block the download by reporting malware. Obviously this is a false alarm. The file is absolutely safe. It's necessary to temporarily disable the antivirus real-time protection.
59th Place - 30th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2024)
| Average Rating: based on 4 ratings Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 1 Write a review |
This is a windows executable game in a custom system. It runs in the command line but also has pop-up windows with html-style formatting for things like hints and pictures.
It describes itself as an old-school 80’s type game with minimal story and mostly puzzles, several of them timed.
The idea is that you are on a mission to help rescue a kidnapped girl but your plane crashes near a pyramid and you find out the kidnapper, a shaman, died and the girl has disappeared.
The game is ultra-minimalistic in text. For instance, the description of the first room is:
You are in the desert.
So from here I can go north south or east.
I see the plane.
Wandering around, there are several interesting things, like a foggy area called 'Perdition" and a strange altar.
I had some trouble with the parser. Early on, I was trying to answer the phone, and I had the following exchange:
I see the plane
Incoming video call…
What now Me?
> answer call
Ok.
Incoming video call…
What now Me?
> i
You Own:
a mobile phone
Incoming video call…
What now Me?
> x phone
Let’s see…
Incoming call 0331785692
What now Me?
> push answer
But… the cell phone isn’t ringing
What now Me?
My character’s name was Me because the way the game asked for my name was:
Are you the chosen one?
Who knocks at this door?
and I answered ‘Me’.
Sometimes when I got an error in the game, no matter what my next move was, the error would repeat. For instance:
> x mantle
MANTLE ? It’s not relevant now.
What now Brian?
> go in house
MANTLE ? It’s not relevant now.
What now Brian?
>
There is a help system, that first gives your a kind of riddle hint and then an explicit action. In many places, the only hint is a picture of a mummified hand and the phrase “Do you want a hand? Not now…;-)”. In others it’s more explicit. The hints often refer to things that aren’t in the room description, like walls.
I was able to get into a house with drawings in it, and the hints include a picture with a reversed message, but at that point I got stuck. I’d be happy to try again with a full walkthrough, or if anyone else can get past that point.
The best parts of this game were the cool audio messages and the very nice drawings; very nice additions for a custom command line parser!
While I am giving a 1-star vote at this time, I don't think the game is horrible. It's just that my criteria are:
polish (where the game could use some more commands it understands),
interactivity (where I was lost on what to do a lot),
descriptiveness (the game uses a minimalist style),
emotional impact (which I do think is good and is worth a star with the cool pictures), and
would I play again? (and right now I do not feel that way).
I'd be happy to bump it up one star if the author requests it, but right now those are my feelings.