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Review
CurseOfTheManor.xls is a sparse parser escape puzzle created in Microsoft Excel. The manor you are currently in is cursed, stopping you from leaving until you’ve collected certain items and placed them in a specific spot. Each of these items and the final location are blocked behind a puzzle. While it uses a limited parser (VERB + NOUN), there are no hints or walkthroughs. The difficulty is noted as cruel.
And it is pretty cruel - I got stuck a couple of times trying to solve some puzzles, before realising I should have unlocked something else first. Two sections include a dark room, some objects use the same item, and some interactions are essentially a one-way deal. In the same vein, the map is surprisingly large, often requiring you to go from one end to the other to solve a specific puzzle. Drawing up a map to keep track is advised (I got lost).
On the other hand, correcting mistakes is much easier. Rather than spamming UNDO or RESTART, you just need to scroll up and edit the line with the mistaken action. The answers will then update as if it was your first time entering it. It made test and trials and errors much easier to go through.
It took me quite a while to get through the game, since getting stuck with a couple of puzzles. With the limited descriptions/responses, you sometimes need to think a bit out of the box (and about some unusual verbs) to get through blocks on the path. But it was pretty satisfying to 1- solve the puzzles individually and 2- find the correct order to do all the actions the right way.
Overall, it was a creative way of making a really well-built parser.
