THE HAUNTED HOUSE - part of Disk Ref 1141
         A Text Adventure written by Jonathan Cutts

                  Reviewed by: Tom Lorimer

I love playing Haunted House type text adventures, so when Sue
sent me this one, it was loaded onto my computer and up and
running within 5 minutes.

The story line goes as follows:
One day at school you hear a rumour that the old Perry Mansion on
Oak street is haunted. You think to yourself, "People will believe
anything these days. I bet they couldn't even stay in that big old
house one night." So you decide to tell them that.  "Oh, yeah!!"
they shout back, "Let's see you do it first!!"  "Fine!! I will!"
you reply, and the game begins.

I know this game was written by a 12 year old, and as it was a
beta test version, I didn't expect much from it, but I did think
that his game testers would be up to the job.

You arrive outside the Haunted House with your arms full of bags,
but when you do an Inventory, you are carrying nothing.  Hmmmm, I
guess it's another one of these AGT games where the Author hasn't
bothered to put descriptions in for all the objects which are
described in the locations throughout the game.

Anyway, onwards we go through the wooden door with brass knocker
that doesn't exist, and step into this creepy haunted house where
we intend to spend the night.  I suppose we'd better explore a
little before going to bed, so let's go into the kitchen and see
what's cooking.  What's this, a red key and a red apple, oh well,
that'll have to do. Picking up the red key was simple enough, but
no matter what I tried, that red apple just didn't exist.
Ignoring the apple, I had another look around the room, and apart
from the door which I entered, there weren't any other exits.
There was a window in the north wall, but when I approached it, I
walked right through it into the Games room.  Gosh, I've only been
in the haunted house for 5 minutes and already I can walk through
walls.

The only object in the games room was a blue key so after picking
it up, I began to explore the rest of the ground floor to see what
other nightmares awaited me.  Apart from a skull and some bones
which when examined gave me the typical "You see nothing unusual"
reply, there wasn't anything else left to do except go upstairs to
bed.

At the top of the stairs there are 2 rooms to choose from, and as
usual I picked the wrong one and promptly fell through the floor
to be given the option "Would you like me to try to get you
resurrected?"  Once back at the top of the stairs, I took the
other direction and entered a bedroom with a bed in the middle of
it.  The room description told me that I was feeling sleepy, but
no matter what I tried, I couldn't get to bed for a quick nap.
Although the bed was non existent, there was a note lying on it,
and after trying to read it I was transferred back into the
kitchen. No wait, it wasn't the same kitchen, it was the secret
kitchen, and lo and behold, there was the red apple which had
eluded me in the other kitchen.

Frightening stuff eh?

What's this, a button on the sink, well as there are no other
exits in the room, I guess I'll just have to press it and hope for
the best.  Ah, now we're getting somewhere, as I'm now in an
underground cave with 2 buttons on the wall, and there's sure to
be a ghost or two lurking down here.

Yes, here it comes, that shining object, I'm getting scared now. I
wonder what it wants of me.  The blood curdling words ooze slowly
from its non existent lips, "OOGA BOOGA! You must push the button
which represents winter."  Ooooooooh! I'm shaking in my boots now.

Gosh, this is a hard choice, a grey button or a white button,
which one will it be. Of course, it's logical, the white button
will represent winter snow, so I'll press that one.  Wrong, but at
least the game didn't end this time, and I wasn't eaten alive by
the shining object either.

Oh well, it must be the grey button so I held my breath and
pressed it.

Ding, his words not mine, and a section of the north wall opened
up. Cautiously I walked north into...  Another mind boggling
puzzle to solve. This time I had to eat something which was red
and cold, and if I picked the wrong one, it was instant death.

Now I have a red apple and a red key, which one would you eat?
Third time lucky thought I as I bit into the apple. Nothing, not
even instant death, isn't life a bitch.  Right thought I, I've got
this game sussed out now, and if I want to get anywhere in it,
I've got to act illogical.  Mmmmm, that red key sure tasted
delicious, I wonder where I will end up next.

"Congratulations, you have won the game, your score is 0 out of a
possible 0 points."

Impressive eh! I'm so frightened that I'll have to take a tablet
before I go off to bed.

What more can I say about this game, except don't bother playing
it. If you want to be frightened, have a read at the weather
forecast instead, that will put the wind up anyone.  As for the 12
year old Author, I suggest he sticks in at school until he passes
all his exams, and I'm sure that once he does that, his next game
will be a winner.












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