Witchfinder - authors Kanga and YAK, œ6.00
                   (AGT adventure for PC)

                      Reviewed by Sue

Written by Kanga and YAK using AGT v1.7, Witchfinder is a
traditional, though by no means predictable, text adventure which
will appeal to any adventurers who, like me, still enjoy imagining
their OWN graphics. You play a character called Bertrand, Bertie
for short, on your way home to the small village beyond the
mountains where you live. Pitter, patter ... splosh! Down comes
the rain, first in light spots, then a deluge. Lightning flashes
across the sky and thunder rumbles so you make a sprint for
shelter. As luck would have it, you see a mansion ahead of you,
and scuttle down the rough track towards it and through an
imposing gateway. Up the driveway you run, drenched to the skin,
and stumble onto the front porch.

Pausing to quickly read the plaque by the doorbell, you discover
that this is Gorrungha (bless you!), the summer holiday residence
of the King and Queen. Hoping that they are kind hearted folk, and
will take pity on a soaking wet stranger, you push the button
to ring the ball and are surprised at the welcome you receive from
the butler who opens the door, introduces himself as Charles, and
ushers you in.  Seemingly you have been mistaken for someone else
who was expected, but there is no chance to explain before he
leaves you in a comfortable lounge.  Shortly the King and Queen
(Claude and Maude) arrive, clearly in great distress and,
questioning them (you clearly are not intimidated by royalty!) you
learn that their only daughter, Princess Gertrude, has been
kidnapped by an evil witch.  Though you aren't the hero they are
expecting, you prick up your ears at the mention of the word
"reward" and keep quiet about your true identity ... well, who
wouldn't?!

So, it's exploring we shall go in search of the missing Gertrude,
first through the house and grounds, then further afield. The
initial locations provide several puzzles to solve before you can
go any further. What does the lever in the hall do? Having pulled
it and ended up in darkness, what do you do next? How can you get
upstairs past various servants who remind you that it's out of
bounds ... family only? Is it possible to get a civil word out of
Mildred the cook? What lives in the burrow in the garden? Anyone
for croquet?

After the initial stages of the game, which, despite the mention
of a witch, are strangely mundane, it starts to open out and get
more fantastic. You will be transformed and, later, transported.
Alice's phrase, "curiouser and curiouser" springs to mind.

The authors have made the game more fun by adding sound effects to
the game (just a few moves in, ringing the door bell gave me quite
a start!) and made it user friendly by such touches as allowing
the abbreviations photo for photograph and fridge for
refrigerator.  Handy for those of us who have problems typing long
words. However I would have liked the addition of X and EXAM for
EXAMINE; though in AGT games you can type F3 for examine I tend
not to bother with the function keys (usually because I forget). I
liked the gentle humour of the names - after Claude and Maude I
thought the servants' names Tilly, Mildred and William were quite
serious until I realised they were Tilly, Milly and Willy. It's a
shame Charles the butler didn't have one in similar style to make
the full set. Maybe he should have been a Philip and we could have
called him Philly ...  hmm, maybe not ...

The room descriptions are atmospheric and of a reasonable length,
as are the messages.  I had no difficulty imagining myself
wandering through the gardens of Gorrungha and admiring the
apricot tree by the porch or enjoying the fountain in the centre
of the garden pond. I also encountered one of my favourite
creatures, a wombat, in her own home when I ALSO became a wombat
for a brief period ... a magical moment until I couldn't answer
the question she posed, and things took a turn for the worst.

The puzzles are good too. As the game progresses, you will be
transported to a completely different area, initially reminiscent
of an Italian town but the presence of a vampire at a table in a
small courtyard adds a twist. Even though I guessed pretty quickly
what he'd prefer to his Bloody Mary, it still took me some time to
get him his favourite tipple. Later a Hag bars your route - what
could she want? As it happens, the answer is far simpler than you
might guess.

One of my favourite scenes so far takes place when flying a magic
carpet. Being able to take off and having several options for a
direction to fly reminded me of other games where one item will
open several possible routes, such as the table at the scenic
vista in Zork 3. I think it's the realisation that you've suddenly
got lots of choices opening up the game that appeals to me;
decisions, decisions ... which way to go first?  And when you are
transformed into the afore-mentioned wombat, the location
descriptions are subtly changed to reflect your changed point of
view.

There is an instruction file detailing possible commands and
giving suggestions for interacting with other characters and
coping with your own death.  Registered players will also be
provided with a nicely arranged hint file which is written in
sections and uses codes to move you from one clue to the next.

All in all a well written, well programmed, bug free, spelling
mistake free, and challenging adventure. There are 117 locations
to explore and a massive 310 points to score. I must be honest and
admit that I haven't completed the game ... far from it ... I
haven't passed 100 points yet so I know I still have loads to do.

And who are Kanga and YAK? You'll have to guess ... I'm not
telling!!

@~The cutback PD version of Witchfinder is included on SynTax Disk
@~995 and the registered version is available from me for œ6.00,
@~see the ad in this issue.







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