HOG #2: THE MISER'S HOUSE - SynTax disk PC PD 1167
  Original version by M.J. Lansing; PC version by Tom Croley
                 [HOG = Horrible Old Game]

                    Review by Bev Truter

The Miser's House has a plot very similar to that of Stoneville
Manor (HOG #1), but even more simplistic. Yes, folks, this is yet
*another* breaking and entering and stealing game, where you have
to "explore the miser's house and get all the treasures." (At this
point let me extend my heartfelt sympathies to all those
long-suffering misers). And yes, there's also a safe that requires
opening in Miser, but unlike Stoneville Manor, this safe *can* be
unlocked with the correct three-number sequence, unaccountably left
scrawled on a bit of paper, just lying around in the deserted
house.

The plot in Miser is minimal (enter house and find treasures sums
it up completely), and in case you have difficulty in deciding what
exactly qualifies as a treasure, all treasures are signified by
*CAPITAL LETTERS* within asterisks. There are 5 treasures
altogether, with a maximum score of 100 points, and to win the game
you have to collect all 5 treasures and escape from the miser's
house with life and limb and treasures intact. Miser has 50
locations, very little in the way of room descriptions or scenery,
and most objects cannot be examined at all. Try doing anything that
the game doesn't understand (like EXAMINE or LOOK) and you receive
a querulous "WHAT?"  in reply.

Mercifully this PC version isn't in BASIC, but runs from a single
.EXE file. A separate .TXT file contains instructions for playing
Miser, including an example - "throw water" - that doesn't work.
Yes, there is a bucket which you fill with water; but no, you can't
"throw water", or pour water, or throw bucket. You actually have to
"pour bucket" to get anywhere. It's a funny thing, but I always
assumed that although water in a bucket was liquid, the bucket
itself was a solid; silly old me, just shows how wrong I was.

There are no enemies to overcome or battles to win, unless you
count a very feeble snake which is easily charmed by uttering The
Magic Word that was bellowed at you when you ambled through one of
the previous locations; or the magical suits of armour which are
automatically defeated if you're carrying a weapon. Some of the
treasures you have to find are suspiciously unrealistic, but then I
suppose this miser who owns the house could be a raving nut case,
who knows?

Miser has QUIT and SCORE functions, but no SAVE or RESTORE. This
isn't a huge drawback, as the game is so short and simple that it
can be finished easily in under an hour. The text is plain old
no-frills light grey on black. Miser's House is yet another HOG to
haul out on a wet winter's night when you've run out of absolutely
everything else to play, and you're really desperate for 30 minutes
of thieving, er... sorry, adventuring. To end the review on a
cheerier note, I found no programming errors or glitches or bugs,
which means you won't be stuck at a crucial point with no hope of
winning the game, eg, "undefined error in line 123".  WHAT???


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