PSYCHOWARD
                         ----------
             (Amiga text/graphic adventure)
       Author: Robert Sedler    Syntax PD Disk 856
              Reviewed by: Philip Richmond
          All Amigas           1 meg RAM required

This is a nice little game that's easy to play and fun to solve.
It's a text/graphic adventure written using the DREAM WEAVER
Adventure Builder program.

You've been having dreams...  Strange frightening dreams that keep
recurring...  Dreams of a weird subterranean world where strange
forces are at work...  The nightmares are beginning to affect your
sanity, your work, your whole life...  Your odd behaviour leads
friends and colleagues to suspect that you are losing your grip on
reality...  Eventually your mind snaps under the strain and you
are adjudged by the authorities to be mentally unstable.  You're
promptly carted off to the funny farm for tests and observation.
This is where the game commences, in the sickly-green walled
bedroom of a secure mental hospital.  Your quest is to escape,
solve the game and gain 100 points.  You will also find that your
strange nightmare is about to come true!  OOH-ERR!

'Psychoward' is mouse controlled, being of the point and click
variety, and uses several 'windows' in its display-

  T/LEFT     6 clickable icons: Examine, Use, Take, Drop, Push,
  ------     Pull, Open and Close.  There are also other action
             words such as Talk To, Give, Punch, Search, Read and
             so on that may also be selected.
  T/CENTRE   Visible Objects and Inventory (toggle)
  --------
  T/RIGHT    Current location graphic.
  -------
  B/LEFT     Room description and textual output.
  ------
  B/RIGHT    Direction Arrows - N,S,E,W,U,D.
  -------

There is also a Menu Bar which can be accessed using the RMButton
to get your current Status/Score, Verbose On/Off, Restart, or the
Save/Restore game position options.  The overall effect of the
game display is quite pleasing.  The room graphics are what I
would describe as OK and help to give visual confirmation of your
present whereabouts.  When the Inventory box gets full and all
possessions can't be listed, you click the scroll gadget to reveal
the rest.  Redescribing locations is accomplished via a single
mouse click on the room graphic.

Death is not a commonplace event in 'Psychoward', but can occur if
very dangerous or downright stupid actions are attempted.  The
author's advice to examine and search all objects (more than once,
sometimes) should be well heeded.  There are some objects which
appear to be of no use in the game, for instance the urine sample
and the rat turds.  Occasional snatches of humour surface in
descriptions and in responses to various actions.  There are a few
characters to meet.  Elvis Presley even makes a cameo - so that's
where he's been hiding all these years!  There are a few short
sound effects.

The game is not massive.  I solved it in a few hours.  It did,
however, represent a satisfying challenge and proved quite
enjoyable.  This is the first game I've come across that's been
written using the DREAM WEAVER program, available from the U.S.A.
Worth adding to your collection.  The author welcomes comments
about his game.

  PS
  --
I've written to Amygames, the distributors of DREAM WEAVER for
further info and details of the system for a possible future
article in SYNTAX.






                              - o -