Hoosegow

Playing Hoosegow for the first time in 2026, I am struck by two things. First, this game, first published in 2010, is extremely impressive by the standards of its time. Second, it seems a lot less impressive by the standards of today. That's not to say that this is a bad game -- I enjoyed playing it! -- it's just that the threshold of excellence has continued to increase over time.

This work is implemented in Inform 7 6G60. Those of you who are familiar with the evolution of I7 over the years may recall that 6G60 was prior to the implementation of the responses system. As a result, authors Ben Collins-Sussman and Jack Welch had to make use of an extension to ease the process of replacing library messages. This is done to very good effect, giving the game a consistent voice that does much to create its engaging mood.

Mechanically, the game suffers from certain small issues. Other reviewers note various guess-the-verb problems, and I definitely encountered some myself. The uneven implementation is a real mark against by modern standards; if one thing seems to have improved since the era in which this game was produced, it's the commitment to consistency in a game's interactions with the player. This leads to various points of unnecessary and undesirable friction, e.g. (Spoiler - click to show)you can get a look out the window by simply going >WEST, at which point Muddy will lift you up, but commands >MUDDY, PICK ME UP or or >MUDDY, LIFT ME or >MUDDY, BOOST ME or similar aren't recognized. Similarly, although the NPCs are well-done, there is some inconsistency in their implementation, e.g. (Spoiler - click to show)to get Muddy to modify the warrant, it's necessary to >GIVE items to him, but >SHOW FEATHER prompts only a hint response that is superfluous once the plan is understood.

Some issues are practically glaring. Although the game has a score, scoring appears to be partially broken in that it is not possible to score the alleged maximum of 24 points. Two of the single-point awards can be obtained only via mutually-exclusive methods (Spoiler - click to show)(i.e. driving the deputy out via sound or smell), but it would be necessary to score both points in the same playthrough to get the maximum. Another point is programmed such that it requires a specific action that is by default overridden by another which accomplishes the same goal, meaning that the player has to enter the same command (Spoiler - click to show)(>OPEN DRAWER WITH KEY) twice in order to obtain it. Thus, a score of 22 out of 24 is functionally a perfect score. Likewise, a lopsided five-point award is given for (Spoiler - click to show)opening the can of beans, but this seems technically unnecessary to reach the best ending, so some player's may be further confused by their point deficit at the end.

The overall story is sufficient for the game's purposes, even if some of the details don't really seem to jibe. The real story is the escape-the-room plot, but its conclusion is muddied by the way that the player is urged to stick around for a more dramatic ending. This drama is handled very abruptly, with some emergency backstory tossed in to increase the sheriff's villainy level and give a sheen of justice being served to the best ending. This fell a bit flat to me, since the PC and his accomplice are complete scoundrels and apparently guilty of the crime for which they've been jailed. I can't decide whether this awkward ending is the result of last-minute expansion of the plot or last-minute curtailment of more ambitious plans. The lack of final polish throughout suggests the latter.

Despite the above criticisms, I (to repeat) did enjoy this game, and I would recommend it. Its real strength as entertainment comes from its all-embracing voice and its characters -- as Rovarsson's review notes, every character is a treat. Unfortunately, the substantial number of nits to pick are the difference between good and great, so this one's ending up at a very high three stars instead of the solid four stars that it wants to be.

(Final note: This game was released under the Creative Commons license, so the way is open to write some further adventures of Rick and Muddy.)