Jinxter - Magnetic Scrolls/Rainbird RRP œ24.95

Magnetic  Scrolls  are rapidly being considered  as  THE  British 
adventure  software house.  They have brought out several  games, 
all of which have been well received: The Pawn, Guild of Thieves, 
Jinxter,  Corruption and Fish!  Their latest game,  Myth, is only 
available   to  subscribers  to  Official  Secrets.  Jinxter  was 
released a few years ago and unlike their earlier two adventures,
Pawn and  Guild of Thieves,  which  were  set  in Kerovnia, takes
place in Aquitania. 

So,  what is the plot of Jinxter? As often happens in adventures, 
you (the hero) are set a quest.  In this case, the object of your 
search  is the fabled Bracelet of Turani and its associated  five 
charms.  The  bracelet  was originally created  by  the  magician 
Turani to protect the people of Aquitania from the Green  Witches 
and,  as a side effect,  to bring the populace luck - as long  as 
the bracelet was kept intact. Naturally, something has gone wrong
with  this plan, mainly due to the efforts of the witch Jannedor.  
The  charms  have been removed and hidden: it's up to you to find
the  charms,  put the bracelet back together and use it to defeat
the witches.

You may be wondering how you come to be the "mug" chosen for this 
escapade?  That  question  introduces the main character  in  the 
adventure  - the Guardian.  It is he who originally sets you  the 
task  and  who will appear from time to time during the  game  to 
give you a  gentle  hint  if  you should  get stuck on a problem.  
Don't be misled by the name Guardian!  This isn't a white-haired, 
bearded old man with long robes and a staff inscribed with  runes 
- this Guardian is a hilarious  figure wearing a herringbone coat 
and with a fondness for cheese sandwiches! Not your usual run-of-
the-mill guardian at all.

Before  we  leave the Guardian,  there's one  other  thing  worth 
mentioning.  Because the Guardians (believe it or not,  there are 
more than one) had trouble remembering names,  Turani called  the 
charms names like doodah,  thingy and doofer. So, as the Guardian 
says,  "find  the wossname,  say the doodah,  and  thingy's  your 
wossname. Charm. Word. Bob.  Uncle. Narmean?" As you can imagine,
this  makes  spell  casting  more fun than  usual as you go round 
watchercallit-ing things!

The  packaging contains a copy of the Independent Guardian  which 
includes  the usual playing instructions (mainly  illustrated  by 
the problems of finding and buying cheese sandwiches) plus  coded 
hints at  the  back, a staff memo and a beer mat. The Independent 
Guardian  also  acts as  the  now  obligatory  "find-word-one-in-
column-one-on-page-one" piracy check. 

The problems,  as with all Magnetic Scrolls games, are intriguing 
and  range from easy to head-scratching.  I found Jinxter a  most 
enjoyable  game apart from one thing - the ending and so  far,  I 
haven't  found  anyone who HAS been  satisfied  by  it.  However, 
ignoring  that fact,  it's a great game and well worth adding  to 
your  collection.  And if you find people say "watchercallit"  to 
you, you'll know they've got a copy too ...... narmean?

                                      Sue