Grue-Knapped! - Bob Adams/Atlas Software RRP œ2.50
        (Text adventure for Amiga, converted from
          the Amstrad game by The Grue himself)

                Reviewed by The Wayfarer

AT LAST it's here, the all-singing, all-dancing Amiga version of
the Grue-Knapped game, originally written for the Amstrad. The
@+Amiga version has been coded using the Hatrack 2 system ~(reviewed
@~this issue) +by The Grue himself. It is an excellent conversion of
an extremely funny game, complete with all the original Adamsian
humour and with several obviously Grue-inspired pieces of wit. I
am told by Bob that a Spectrum version is on the cards and that it
is being worked on at present but I do not know if an Atari ST
version is a possibility.

As one of those privileged to playtest the conversion, I have seen
it right from its basic form to the final game. It is not a large
game, being slightly over 30 rooms, but the puzzles and humour
more than make up for this. The Grue has coded in all sorts of
amusing Infocom style responses which I am told were not in the
original game, and the only minor bugs I found did not detract
from the finished game. These have been eradicated from the
saleable version by the tenacious and hard-working efforts of The
Grue.

From the start, opening with its beautifully-coloured title screen
featuring a menacing pair of Grue-type eyes, with a musical theme
(sadly not the Adams Family) and a scrolling introduction to the
story so far (with a credit to the coder of the theme) you are
invited to click your mouse to enter the game proper. Do so and
you enter a strange world full of Adamsian humour. For those who
don't know Bob (are there really any people who haven't heard of
the Amster?), this seems to be a crossbreed of Viz, Dandy and Oz
(for those old enough to remember it) with touches of Private Eye
and the odd bit of the unidentifiable (but suspected Mel Brooks)
humour.

A short delay as the game loads and you are in the midst of a
traditional text adventure. Puzzle rapidly follows puzzle as you
explore the world which Bob creates, seeking all the time to
escape your imprisonment before The Grue awakens causing you to
share the fate of your tubby (and late) friend. Will you be able
to defeat the nefarious Grue or are you destined to be his next
snack?

All through the game little red herrings seek to trap you, puzzles
are both traditional and in some cases downright devious. The
system handles smoothly and fairly easily, none of the slow
handling of past adventure compilation systems here. The parser is
a little limited in being a two-word input type. The humour,
however, is very "Carry On" style ... easy on the eye but adding
to the game immensely.

Grue-Knapped benefits immensely from the author's (and
additionally The Grue's) unique sense of humour. To those
considering buying this game I would say "GRAB IT ... such polish
and humour are rare in homegrown games, and at œ2.50 it has to be
seen (and played) to be believed."