WHATEVER WE DECIDE TO CALL THIS GAME
A Text Adventure on disk 235 (ST), 236 (PC), & 895 (Amiga).
        Authors: J. Finch, G. Henville & M. Newbery.

                    Review by Bev Truter

This is another AGT adventure, one which pre-dates Joel Finch's
Multi-Dimensional Thief by a few years, from the looks of it.
Apparently Joel never intended this for general public
consumption, and was rather surprised at its popularity on the
Shareware scene. No money is requested by the authors, and the
game was obviously written for their own amusement as well as
entertaining others. This is a large and rambling game with
exactly 100 locations, and is a lighthearted look at the various
trials and tribulations of a student's first day at University - a
fictitious Uni, we hope! The text is standard white on a black
background, blue status line at the top of the screen, and your
input easily visible in a startling shade of lurid green.

Because this game is written with flair and style, and contains
long and witty descriptions of rooms and objects, one tends to
forget that the plot is rather thin ...... well .... almost
non-existent, to be frank. But I found myself caught up in the fun
and charm of this irreverent look at Uni life, so plot be damned.
The aim of the game is apparently dead simple - you have to find a
toilet, obtain a parking sticker for your car (illegally parked)
before it is towed away, and last and least, enrol as a student at
Tumblegum University, a recently-built (and I assume largely
imaginary) University, somewhere in Australia. I said "apparently"
simple - well, you wouldn't believe the troubles I had finding the
toilet, which is the key to solving the other problems. There are
a few other totally unrelated problems and puzzles to solve, but
these are the three basic things to accomplish if you want to
finish the game. You can talk to a number of characters in the
game, and each one has to be dealt with in a specific way if you
want any help - I was particularly fond of the Feral Lecturer, and
also The Nerd. Shame about The Nerd, really......


This is a lighthearted, not to be taken seriously game - an
enjoyable spoof on Uni life. Perhaps it wouldn't suit the
hardened, deadly earnest "classical" adventurer at all, but it
certainly provides some light relief from the heavy-duty type of
text adventuring for people with a wider range of interest in text
adventures. Given the nature of this game, it is a bit long and
time-consuming at 100 locations, but entertaining enough to hold
one's interest. This is a moderately difficult game, written in a
flowing style with no apparent grammar and spelling glitches -
which means you can relax and enjoy the game, without having your
concentration rudely interrupted by atrocious mistakes.

Oh yes, and here's the bit that would interest all maze-fanatics
(wake up, Sue, and cop this lot!) - there's a fairly long and
maddeningly difficult maze - difficult because every item you drop
in trying to map it disappears. The maze has in fact about 16
locations, so lengthwise it's not up there in the "Deep Space
Drifter" category of horrendous mazes, but it takes ages to find
the other end. Another rather nice aspect of this game is that you
don't get killed, unless you're determined to commit suicide. The
only way to "end", apart from the giving up and quitting option,
or the suicide option, is to get the full score. All in all, a
different and enjoyable game.

  ENJOYMENT            6/10

  ATMOSPHERE           5.5/10

  LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY  5/10

  FINAL COMMENT        Add this to your text adventure collection.








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