External Links

Play Online
Play Online
Play this game in your Web browser.
Modern Story File
A blorb file constructed from Infocom's original Z6 file and the graphics blorb. (This story file works best in Frotz.)
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
Original Story File
Lost Treasures of Infocom 2 version, PC. Graphics not included.
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
Graphics Blorb
The graphics files for Shogun, converted to PNG and packaged into a Blorb file by Kevin Bracey. See IFWiki below for details on how to use this file.
IFWiki
Instructions on how to play this game with graphics.
Salvaged Copy
The source files and a precompiled ZMachine storyfile of this adventure were recovered from a salvaged "Infocom hard drive", and made publicly available on GitHub in an effort to preserve them.
Play Online via archive.org
Play this game in your Web browser.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Shogun

by James Clavell and Dave Lebling

1989
Historical, Literary
ZIL

(based on 16 ratings)
No reviews yet - be the first28 members have played this game. It's on 14 wishlists.

About the Story

Experience the sweeping drama and power of James Clavell's Shogun.

The year is 1600. You are John Blackthorne, Pilot-Major of a privateering merchant ship and the first Englishman to set foot on Japanese soil. Thrust into the exotic culture of feudal Japan, you must rely on your wits and sheer physical strength to survive. As you are drawn into the political intrigue and teeming violence, your most basic beliefs and assumptions will be tested. Act with care: in a land where honor is valued above life itself, you make a wrong decision at your peril.

In this interactive adaptation, Dave Lebling - co-author of the enormously popular Zork series - captures all the drama and spell-binding style of James Clavell's matchless novel. Color graphics crafted in the exquisite style of 16th century Japanese court painters illustrate the unfolding saga. Infocom's new, friendlier parser understands more commands than ever. And if you ever need help, on-screen hints will lead you back to the action.

1 Off-Site Review

SPAG
The game itself is extremely linear. If this really turns you off, you won't like the game. You go through a number of "episodes" or scenes, very closely based on the book. Honestly, I don't think I could have won the game if I had not read the original novel (or used the built-in hints extensively.)
-- Preston Landers

Your point total is the only thing that carries over to the next chapter; the items in your inventory are pre-determined. Admittedly, this is probably the only way to adapt such a novel to game form, but the effect is still not entirely satisfactory. Many text games end up being all puzzles and no story. Shogun is exactly the opposite. Too often the story just seems to go on around you while you get meaningless points for smiling, nodding, or bowing at the right times. [...] Shogun is a very good game to read, though a bit less satisfying to play. Overall though, a fine effort.
-- Graeme Cree
See the full review

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)
Search all tags on IFDB | View all tags on IFDB

Tags you added are shown below with checkmarks. To remove one of your tags, simply un-check it.

Enter new tags here (use commas to separate tags):

Game Details

Language: English (en)
Current Version: Unknown
License: Commercial
Development System: ZIL
IFIDs:  ZCODE-292-890314
ZCODE-295-890321
ZCODE-311-890510
ZCODE-322-890706
ZCODE-292-890314-69B8
TUID: w3pz3v8wckaw1wgb

Referenced in Nothing But Mazes, by Greg Boettcher

Shogun on IFDB

Recommended Lists

Shogun appears in the following Recommended Lists:

Favorite Fours From Industrious Implementors, 1G by Walter Sandsquish
Some I.F. writers write more than others. Here are my favorite four games from authors who've released at least half-a-dozen games to date. This list covers 1st-generation text-adventure implementors, who published the bulk of their work...

Infocom Salvaged Adventures by Tristano
List of the Infocom adventures that were recovered from the salvaged Infocom hard drive, and their source code was published on GitHub in April 2019 by Jason Scott for educational purposes and in an attempt to preserve them from...

The Age of Exploration by Walter Sandsquish
Adventure games typically involve a great deal of exploration, but few are set during the Age of Exploration. Nevertheless, here's a list of games which do explore the 15th through the 18th centuries.

See all lists mentioning this game

Polls

The following polls include votes for Shogun:

Combat puzzle games by Jeremy Freese
What I'm looking for are games that have fights that are ostensibly combat, but the solution to winning the fight is really a matter of solving a puzzle.

Educational IF by Spike
Several of us are interested in using IF for education, both in the classroom as well as more broadly. The purpose of this poll is to collect examples of IF with an educational focus.

Games with complex conversations by OverThinking
I'm looking for games with complex NPCs who are able to have in-depth conversations, especially if conversation options change based on other events in the game. The Ur-example is, of course, Galatea, but I'd also like to see games where...

See all polls with votes for this game

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page


This is version 13 of this page, edited by Dan Fabulich on 21 October 2024 at 6:20pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page