Still Laughing at my Cardigan - author Bev Truter
                    On this issue's disk

                      Reviewed by Sue

Back in the dim and distant past that was Issue 22 of SynTax, Tom
Lorimer reviewed a game called Space Aliens Laughed at my
Cardigan. Having been intrigued by the title, he'd been looking
forward to playing it but he was disappointed, to say the least,
to find that it was bug ridden and full of atrocious spelling
mistakes and bad grammar. He did finally finish it and the
solution was in a later issue, but I think that the general
opinion of anyone who played the game was 'Nice idea but badly
executed'.

Enter Bev Truter, who was of a similar opinion and having seen
that one reviewer jokingly had suggested that it should be
rewritten, decided to do just that. The result is Still Laughing
at my Cardigan which has lost its bugs, bad spelling, grammatical
errors, awful jokes and dodgy scoring system.

The storyline is very original. You're sitting in the garden
unpacking your birthday presents when a spaceship lands and two
aliens pop out. Chortling with mirth at the new cardigan you're
wearing, one of them whips out a laser and zaps it - and it
disappears with a 'fizzbrtzzz'. You explain to the aliens that the
cardy was a present from your mum and you'll be in Big Trouble
when she finds out that it's gone, but rather than returning it,
they zap YOU and when you can see again, you find you're on a
patch of deserted land just outside the village of Nether
Puddleton when your grandparents live.

At the centre of the village is a small shopping area with a
bakery and a handicraft shop, neither of which are open so early
in the day. To the north you find your grandparents' cottage and
are thrilled when granny offers to knit you a new cardy when you
tell her what happened to the one your mum gave you. But you'll
have to find the pattern, wool and needles. And, she continues,
something to eat and drink would be nice, as would some flowers to
brighten up the room. As if that wasn't enough, granddad also
wants a few things. Being a doting grandchild (and also wanting
your cardy!), you set off to find them.

Wandering along the village streets you immediately find a few
puzzles to think about - a bad tempered dog lies in a field and a
chessplayer sits at a board which has a piece missing. An
intoxicated tramp lies on the floor of a ruined cottage, just
blocking your route to an interesting-looking dark corner of the
room. As in most text adventures, talking to people is important
if you're going to find out what they want. And the most important
ones to help are your granny and granddad. Once you've given them
all the things they want, granddad will give you some money and
granny will knit your jumper while you have a nap. By the time
this happens you will have met two familiar space travellers from
a favourite story, the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and also
spotted a spacecraft.  When you've got all the items you need,
it's time to use the strange device you've been carrying since the
start of the game and signal the spacecraft. Once you've found the
right place, there's even more adventures still to come!

Most of the inputs are straightforward - except for one. I found
some rubbish bins in yards at the back of a block of flats and
knew there was something to find there. But despite trying every
input I could think of, nothing worked. In the end I asked Bev
what word to use. In hindsight, maybe I should have thought of it
but it would have been nice if some synonyms had been provided.
But that was my only moan and it's a minor one.

When I played 'Still Laughing', I ran the original game in another
window alongside of it so that I could compare the two games. I
know which I preferred (and yes, Bev, it WAS your rewrite!). This
is the game that 'Aliens' SHOULD have been and I was so impressed
that I've put it onto this issue's disk for you all to enjoy.






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