Kevin's Player Stats

• Infidel
  The first computer I ever owned was a Commodore 64. It was a Christmas gift from my parents. I was excited to get it, partly because the Zork guys had started a company and were writing new games that could be played on personal computers. Infidel was the first Infocom game I bought, and is still one of my favorites.
  
  
• Deadline
  The second Infocom title I bought was Deadline. I remember thinking it was very difficult. It remains one of my favorites.
  
  
• Zork I, II, III
  I still have the maps and notes I made while playing Zork on the Pitt mainframe. When Infocom released the game in three installments for home computers, it had changed a bit (mostly for the better), but was familiar enough that I completed it easily.
  
  
• Witness
  I bought this game for my dad's Apple IIe. I was sure everyone would enjoy text adventures as much as I did. I don't think Dad really liked it, but I sat down with a friend and played it in a couple of hours one evening. Easy.
  
  
• Starcross
  This was another hard one for me. But I really liked the premise. In general, I'm a sucker for adventures where you are trying to discover the story. A favorite.
  
  
• Suspended
  Another great premise. Another favorite.
  
  
• Enchanter
  The first in a trilogy that is set in the same world as the Zorks.
  
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  Infocom teamed up with Douglas Adams to do a text adventure based on his Hitchhiker's Guide books. This game was very fun and very funny. I found it difficult at times, because some of the puzzles involved guessing the punchline to the jokes.
  
  
• Leather Godesses of Phobos
  Funny, and not too difficult.
  
  
• Sorcerer
  The second in a trilogy that is set in the same world as the Zorks.
  
  
• Spellbreaker
  The last in a trilogy that is set in the same world as the Zorks. The last cube puzzle seemed a bit unfair, but all in all a great game and a great series.
  
  
• Suspect
  This one really frustrated me. It took me forever to win this game, although I had solved every puzzle. It turned out that I was fighting the language parser as I was trying to present the detective with the evidence. It's a good game and a good story. Just be sure to be thorough in presenting your evidence!
  
  
• Plundered Hearts
  This is the first Infocom game I played on a PDA. This one does a great job of supporting multiple paths through the game. The player character is a woman, which is an interesting change. I especially liked the four different win conditions!
  
  
• Cutthroats
  The drill bug in this game ruined it for me. I can't believe I was the first person to try "open safe with drill", but it wasn't listed on The Infocom Bug List at that time. I also thought the mine puzzle was unfair and silly. The Sao Vera path through the game is less buggy, but only slightly less annoying. This game just didn't seem to be as thoroughly tested as other Infocom offerings. Not their best effort, in my opinion.
  
  
• Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It
  I played this one on a PDA too. I liked the short chapters, which made it easy to leave the game for a bit, then pick up where I'd left off when I was able to get back to it. This game is well-crafted and innovative in many ways. Most of the puzzles require the player to guess the correct play on words or idiomatic phrasing. By the way, there seems to be a bug in FrotzCE that causes the "ajar" puzzle to be unavailabe in the final chapter. However, the game pronounces you the winner with 13 of the 14 points, so it's not fatal.