Threading the Labyrinth - Author Kevin F Doughty
                    On this issue's disk

                      Reviewed by Sue

There are some games I play where I think - is this game
incredibly profound or is it total rubbish? It's a bit like modern
art. Some people think piles of bricks, half a pickled sheep or an
unmade bed are marvellous examples of creativity. Others, like me,
think "What the heck is THAT about?"

Threading the Labyrinth, one of the games from the 6th Annual IF
Comp, is one of those games which comes into that category.

The author urges you to read the introduction. I displayed it but
only scan-read it and so my first attempt at playing the game was
a disaster. It went something like this from the first location
description:


Minos-proud and Theseus-confident
I approach the labyrinth

>i
"I" is the eye through which you see things

>in
That word is not here

>enter
That word is not here

>enter labyrinth
I don't understand that sentence

>arggh
I don't know the word "arghh"

In the end, I restarted and read the intro. It turns out that you
can ONLY use the words which are the equivalent of the room
description. Curiouser and curiouser. Some of the responses you
get are sensible, others are so strange they are no help at all.
Occasionally one will elicit the sort of result which does the
equivalent of moving you to another location. I say 'equivalent'
because the only 'description' you get is another of these weird
and wonderful headings.

Am I just dismissing this game under the heading of 'rubbish'? I
don't think so. On the other hand, maybe the author felt he had
something important to say. Maybe the whole thing was just an
experiment or a joke. Maybe it was his first attempt at writing a
game. Maybe I'm just making excuses for him ... In its defence the
game, though pretentious, is mercifully short. Writing this review
took longer than playing the game.

I don't know where Threading the Labyrinth came in the
competition. I would imagine it was pretty low. If it wasn't, I'd
hate to play the ones it beat!

                              - o -