Pyramid Of Muna - Alfred W King II/AGT
      (Text adventure for ST(73), PC (447) and Amiga)

           Played on PC & Reviewed by Alex McEwan

The author's introduction to this 1990 games states that it was
submitted to Softworks for their third annual text adventure
competition, and as such was not originally intended for release in
the form in which I played it (version 1.36). A full version was
scheduled for release in June 1990 and was intended to have more
locations, puzzles, and characters, and less built-in help than this
shareware release. The amount of help and blatant clues make this
game ideal for beginners, but even ignoring the HELP facility it is
unlikely to tax an experienced player.

Some game settings have immediate appeal, and for me anything to do
with Pyramids is off to a good start.  I also have a deep interest
in all things Mexican, and as the story line revolves around your
discovery of a long lost pre-Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan region of
Mexico, I was quite happy to overlook the rather heavy handed hints
which started very early in the game. If I can give a few examples.
The game opens in your hotel room, and part of the description tells
you that when you leave you must ask the first person you meet about
the bus to Muna.  Amongst your possessions you have a few coins,
examining these tells you that it should cover a bus fare. When you
make your way downstairs to the hotel lobby you find a piece of
paper on the desk. Not a 'coming soon from the same author' advert
for a change, but a reminder that you should have picked up
everything from your room before you left.  Yes, it does sound
ridiculously easy, but remember it is a starter adventure, and new
players without an old hand to guide them would probably be glad of
this guidance to stop the frustration of arriving at Muna to find
that they had left a crucial item in a location to which they cannot
return.

On arrival at the bus journey's end a native guide leads you to the
Pyramid. In true Indiana Jones style you have to use an ancient
artefact to open the secret door. It is almost impossible to die or
get lost in the jungle in this version of the game. Even if you
ignore the list of exits and wander off into the seemingly
impenetrable vegetation, you will generally manage to find your way
back to some recognisable point within a few turns. Once inside the
pyramid the aim is to collect the items which will let you through
to the mystical upper chamber. This information is given to you by a
guardian in an instruction chamber, who will send you back outside
to study various facets of the pyramid if you have not gathered all
the information you will require later in the game.  From here on it
is really a simple matter of noting everything you see, and relating
it to questions which will be put to you as you visit certain areas.

The author's description of the game is 'An Interactive Fiction
Adventure Based On Elements Of The Cosmology Of The Builders'.  (No,
I don't know what it means either.) All of the puzzles have a
connection to the four main elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air,
and in the main body of the adventure this forms an integral part of
the game play. However the author seems to have got carried away
with his own lyricism, and the lengthy narrative on the subject
which is presented on achieving your ultimate goal rather spoiled
what had been a pleasant, if very undemanding, way of spending a
rainy lunch break in the office.