Isle of the Cult, The
Berg clearly grasps a number of fundamental principles of puzzle design. The puzzles are always fair (albeit simple), and as far as I can tell the game can't be made unwinnable. Furthermore, for the few multi-step puzzles, the game will automatically solve them for you if you need to do them a second time. The one place the puzzle design fell down was on giving guidance for nearly-right answers. This was a little surprising given that The Isle of the Cult did a really exceptional job on a similar task, clueing which items in the room/object descriptions are significant without being blatant about it. In general, the game has only a few rooms and objects which felt unnecessary: a good start, though I hope that in Berg's next game he manages to trim it down even more. On the other hand, I hope he increases the number of objects which are reused for multiple puzzles. This game has a few reused items (one of which is quite surprising) but I'd like to see even more, along with more complicated puzzles.
Overall I was very pleased with the construction of the game world, and, especially for a first-time game, The Isle of the Cult felt like it had great beta-testing. My only real complaint with the game is the backstory. Though normally that wouldn't matter in this sort of game, this has a few hints of some bigger story that fails to quite make itself clear, leading to a somewhat ambiguous and unsatisfying ending. If you have several hours to play and are looking for a good-sized but reasonably straightforward puzzlefest, The Isle of the Cult would be a great choice."
Average Rating: | 7.5 [2 votes] |
Genre: | Interactive Fiction |
Designer: | Rune Berg |
Developer: | Freeware |
Publisher: | Freeware |
Year: | 2004 |
Software Copyright: | Rune Berg |
Theme: | Fantasy |
Multiplayer: | |
Related Links: | |
More Info: | Mobygames | The Web |
System Requirements: | TADS |
If you like this game, try: | Ballyhoo, Guild of Thieves |
Thanks to... | |
Technical Notes: |
Screenshots © The Good Old Days