Go to the game's main page
Review
Let's be honest: You're probably assuming that this game is a low-quality (if sincere) effort riddled with technical problems and poor writing, written in a misguided attempt to proselytize. You are so, so wrong. I know, because I know how wrong I was about it.
This game was nominated for the People's Champion Tournament, and my first suspicion was that it was a troll entry. Glancing through reviews by MathBrush and Rovarsson convinced me to give it a try with an open mind, and I was consistently pleasantly surprised.
Although the setting for this game is the biblical tale of the three wise men, this seems almost entirely incidental other than defining the goals of the PC's quest. It's a pure comedy puzzler, with a wacky/zany vibe that is totally at odds with its religious framing, and the game is technically sophisticated for its era. Written in Inform 6 and making use of the Onyx Ring library, it is loaded with detail touches -- including some that require an expert knowledge of Inform to implement -- to a degree that's almost astonishing.
I played it hesitantly at first, and I was stuck for quite a while in the main puzzle portion. The breakthrough was realizing that, against what might be natural expectations, progress depends on PC actions in the classic mode of lying, cheating and stealing your way through. The puzzle design is competent, and there is plenty of non-essential but entertaining interaction to amuse you while you work out the solutions. Core puzzles required to advance the plot are fair and frequently seem to allow multiple solutions. The two most rigid puzzles are rooted in arithmetic and grammar, and like others I thought that these clashed with the prevailing tone. However, neither was a major obstacle, and they don't stick out enough to ruin what was overall a very smooth and polished experience.
The humor is a strong point; the style is a blend of offbeat and deadpan that often prompted a chuckle from me and those with whom I played the game. The author walks a fine line here, maintaining a consistently light-hearted and irreverent stance toward the subject matter but never (as far as I saw) resorting to mockery. I found myself scratching my head at what the author was trying to accomplish, but it occurs to me that perhaps the goal was to convince religious types of the value of IF instead of the other way around.
The execution of the ASK/TELL conversation model is extensive, but much of the interaction comes in the form of semi-randomized non-answers, and only a few conversations are actually necessary. In fact, quite a bit of what's present in the game is optional; I didn't score anything close to maximum points, and it seems like that's typical. The author-provided walkthrough doesn't show how to reach a full score, either, so I wonder if anyone has ever uncovered every secret. A little digging into the game file shows that there are whole layers of elaboration that I missed entirely -- almost a secret game, which to some degree seem to hinge on finding an unusually-placed rubber duck.
This game seems to have become almost entirely forgotten in the 15 years since its release, but if you enjoy the old school style then coming across this one will feel like finding secret treasure. My initial inclination was a high three stars, but it stands out as a highly-developed example using the rare Onyx Ring library, and it's certainly the first "religious" game that I would recommend to anyone who asked, so I'm going with four. Don't be put off by the blurb; you won't regret trying this one.
