Castle of Riddles

[davidn]

I've been rediscovering old BBC Micro games again.


You are standing south of the wizard's
castle which stands on a hill above a
vast forest to the south. Paths go
northeast and northwest around the
castle walls, and a dark gateway leads
north into the castle. The castle
walls are unclimbable, but there are
ledges and ramparts visible far above.

:N
As you move north, a portcullis
crashes down behind you, blocking the
exit
It is pitch dark

:N
You got eaten by the warlock's spider
in the dark
Oh dear, you're dead
You have scored 0 out of 250
Would you like another game?
?BOG OFF



Even this, however, doesn't come anywhere near the level of condescension of Granny's Garden, which I should remind everyone featured this exercise in interactivity:


Can you see a cave?
> NO

Yes you can.
Do you want to go in?
> NO

Yes you do.

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Is that second one seriously real? Is the whole game like that?

[deviant-gent.livejournal.com]

It continues to be heinous, but for completely different reasons.

[davidn]

Yes, it was quite a famous educational game in the 1980s... as far as I remember, those adventure bits were just sort of vehicles to transport you between various other minigames, but they never even tried to disguise the fact that there were no real choices in them!

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I almost wonder if they weren't meant as parody, if it's so blatant... was the genre familiar enough by then?

[davidn]

I'm not sure, really... Granny's Garden doesn't really so much have a genre as it is just a list of things that happen, but the nearest thing to describe it as would probably be "adventure". Actually, "storybook" might be a good one, though it has adventure elements in it - it would explain why it doesn't really bother with the illusion of interactivity much, and it doesn't seem all that self-aware about it!

[davidn]

Actually, as if the reach of Youtube should ever be doubted, someone has uploaded a video showing their 'reluctant adventures'! I should amend my previous comment to say that yes, the entire game is indeed like that.

[kibet.livejournal.com]

I remember the dragon collar game being much harder than that, I thought the dragon used to lose the collars some time. But memory lane, very good.