Ralph + The Mind Electric + Of Forms Unknown (SynTax Disk Library - Part of Disk 1076 (PC)) Reviewed by Steve Provost Ralph by Miron Schmidt, Calix Software -------------------------------------- You play the part of Ralph the dog in search of a bone you buried some time ago, the trouble is, as you're getting old, your memory is failing and you just can't quite remember where it was you put it. Your nose isn't up to much either these days so you can't sniff it out. In your search around the house and garden you meet several characters whose help you may need in order to complete the game. There's the cat, but how can a cat help you find your bone? Besides, cats hate dogs. What about the little human, Christopher Robin? No, he just sits around all day playing with his toys. Perhaps one of the bigger humans will help? That bone must be somewhere. Be careful where you dig, though, or you will find yourself in trouble again! This has to be one of the smallest adventures I've ever played, with only a handful of locations (7 to be precise) and a few simple puzzles that won't keep you occupied for much more than an hour or so. A walkthrough is included if you feel the need to cheat but you shouldn't need it. The Mind Electric by Jason Dyer ------------------------------- You have been caught spying by the Kaden who have locked your mind essence in a digital cell. Your companions, the Souden, are close to beginning their assault on the Kaden but they are unaware of your predicament and you have only a limited amount of time before your mind is destroyed. Escaping from the containment grid is a fairly simple task as you enter a small labyrinth of rooms below. The first puzzle is easily solved but they quickly get more difficult from here on and you will need to do a bit of wandering around first before you can get any further. Character interaction is the clue to this game. I was stuck in the cave for quite some time before I realised what I had to do. Again there are only a few locations but there is more to do in this one. The puzzles are fairly easy, though one or two are quite contrived and may need quite a bit of thinking about. Also, you tend to die a lot as you are only given a limited number of turns to solve a problem before being dumped back at the restore/restart prompt. Jason has relaxed the time pressures in this latest version but I feel they are still tighter than they need be. However, despite this it's not a difficult game, and if you do get stuck a comprehensive hints section is available. I hate to admit it, but I don't think I would have got through it without cheating just a little bit. Of Forms Unknown by Chris Markwyn --------------------------------- Spending summer working on the college campus is boring and there are still a few weeks to go before everyone returns and classes begin again. You are restless, maybe something will come along to entertain you... Having found your way out of the campus you work your way through the puzzles in each scenario in order to get to the next and the next until you find yourself... back on campus! There is no plot to this game as Chris will readily admit: it's basically just a "wander around and solve the puzzles type" adventure. He started writing it the day after finishing Andrew Potkin's SO FAR on which it is loosely based and the whole thing took him around three weeks. Time was running short so, rather than waste it, he entered it in the Interactive Fiction competition in a semi-finished state. There obviously wasn't much time for play-testing, this shows in the number of bugs to be found in the game. For instance, one item disappears completely on performing a certain action taking with it two vital pieces of equipment without which you can't complete the game. Fortunately there is an alternative solution to this problem. In another case an object that I had already used continued to show up in my inventory, and one appeared where it shouldn't have, automatically solving part of a puzzle. It all gets a bit confusing when (if) you do find it later on in its correct location! When I got to the end I thought I had completed the game - it said I had - but on checking through the hints list afterwards to see if I had missed anything I found a full section that I hadn't visited - the boat and the island. I couldn't find the boat anywhere! I assume you need the boat to get to the island? If anyone finds it please let me know. It's certainly well hidden. Could this be yet another (major) bug? Not a great adventure but enjoyable as far as it goes. With a plot and some serious bug correction it could be a good 'un. - o -