Infocom Games

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Recommendations by Xervosh (San Jose, Northern California)

  1. Infocom Games Online
  2. Infocom Games For Mac
  3. Infocom Games Free

The ones I personally enjoyed, and on that admittedly flawed basis, extrapolate you might enjoy the most as well. Presented in chronological order of release.

1. Zork I
by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling
(1980)
Average member rating: (191 ratings)

Xervosh says:

  1. Developer and publisher of interactive fiction ('text adventure') games in the early 1980s; purchased by Activision in 1987. Infocom never went out of business. It went deeply into debt to develop a database product (named Cornerstone) that was a commercial flop. It went shopping for a merger and found Activision, which later changed its name.
  2. All products by Infocom in chronological order. Releases past 1989 are not included, as on those Infocom is only used as a label.
Surprisingly challenging in many respects. I still feel pride in the fact I figured out how to enter Hades, and to acquire the Pot o' Gold, entirely on my own. Two mazes are a pain in the ass, however.

Infocom still wrote great adventures, but did not have enough experience in doing graphical games. Titles like ' Journey ' failed and on May 5, 1989 Activision forced Infocom to lay off 16 of at that time 26 employees (in contrast, Infocom employed about a hundred people in 1984 to get 'Cornerstone' finished).

2. Zork II
by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank
(1981)
Average member rating: (81 ratings)

Xervosh says:

Infocom
A worthy, somewhat more challenging sequel. No actual maze per se, but a very annoying, maze-like puzzle does mar the game.

3. Enchanter
by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling
(1983)
Average member rating: (88 ratings)

Xervosh says:

While perhaps not as aesthetically compelling as the first two Zork games, its hugely enjoyable, and I really can't think of anything in particular that's wrong with it. Somewhat less difficult than most Infocom games.

4. Planetfall
by Steve Meretzky
(1983)
Average member rating: (103 ratings)

Xervosh says:

A magnificent game, loads of fun. Perhaps Infocom's best. The robot Floyd is certainly the best NPC in the commercial IF era. The ending bothers some people, but it wouldn't have bothered them, had the game not been so well made in the first place.

5. The Lurking Horror
by Dave Lebling
(1987)
Average member rating: (80 ratings)

Xervosh says:

Infocom Games Online

Amusing, pseudo-Lovecraftian collegiate horror romp. Never managed to solve this one (yet), but I got far enough with it to heartily endorse it.

6. Plundered Hearts
by Amy Briggs
(1987)
Average member rating: (53 ratings)

Xervosh says:

Games
I'm taking a little risk by including this one, as I'm fairly new to it, and thus haven't gotten very far as yet, but from what I can see, its enormously promising. I feel confident in recommending this highly influential game (prior to Plundered Hearts, PCs were all just generic adventurers with little or no innate qualities; this game makes you a specific person - an attractive woman, no less - and limits your actions based on what is socially conceivable for a person in your position). Plus, the whole pirate motif is a great IF setting.

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  1. Deadline

Deadline

DOS - 1984

Also available on: Mac - Commodore 64 - Amiga - Amstrad CPC - Atari 8-bit

4.64 / 5 - 11 votes

Description of Deadline

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Deadline was the first murder mystery game from Infocom and their third game overall (after Zork I and Zork II). Despite the limitations of an early parser and very difficult puzzles that require multiple restores, Deadline in my opinion is the best mystery game of all the ones Infocom released. Deadline was not only the first non-fantasy release for Infocom; it was was also the first Infocom game to ship with feelies: the original game was sold in an eye-catching 'police folio' folder.

In it, you find materials that resemble contents of a real case folder: interviews with the suspects, 3 pills in a plastic bag (found at the crime scene), a photograph of the murder scene, a letter from the attorney, and a coroner's autopsy report. These feelies are remarkable in their authenticity, and help set the atmosphere for the game even before you start it.

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Deadline marks the beginning of what make Infocom games special and worth collecting in original boxes: Infocom went on to include feelies with every one of their games, and they serve as copy-protection device (i.e. you need the information to solve the games) in addition to boosting the games' collectible value.

The story: you are a police detective asked to investigate the death of Marshall Robner, a wealthy industrialist found dead in his own library from an apparent drug overdose. You have twelve hours to expose the foul play and catch the killer. But before you arrest someone, you'd better have evidence for all three ingredients of a successful prosecution: the murderer's motive, the method, and the opportunity. There are many possible endings the game, but only one 'optimal ending' that explains all the loose ends and sees the suspect in jail.

One of the most memorable things about Deadline is the excellent NPCs who behave much more realistically than in most of today's games. All of the game's six main characters are fleshed out with well-written scripts: each character acts in a way that is consistent with his or her motive. Since the game proceeds in 'real time' in a sense that NPCs carry out their own agenda no matter what you do, and there are dozens of events you can witness and questions you can ask, you are guaranteed to see something new whenever you replay the game.

True to the detective genre, a successful resolution of the case requires detailed interrogations and careful observations of NPCs' reactions to your questions and objects you show them. You can follow them around, or even accuse them outright and see what they have to say. The puzzles are very difficult in a sense that many of them suffer from either the 'guess the exact syntax the designer wants' syndrome, or the 'you need to either be prescient or restore a lot to see all the right things' problem that also burden other mystery games.

You can miss crucial plot points simply because you are not in the right place at the right time, and there is sometimes insufficient hints about when or where that event may take place. This is aggravated by limitations inherent in Infocom's early parser: it doesn't understand many synonyms or sentence variations. The game is also buggy, but that is forgivable given the game's complexity and scope vis-a-vis hardware limitations in 1982.

Even with a very high difficulty level and a buggy and limited parser, Deadline still ranks as one of the best Infocom - and murder mystery - games ever made. It is very well-written, full of believable and memorable characters, and offers a deep gameplay that will truly make you feel like a real detective. A must-have.

Review By HOTUD

Captures and Snapshots

    Screenshots from MobyGames.com

    Screenshots from MobyGames.com

    Screenshots from MobyGames.com

    Screenshots from MobyGames.com

    Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Comments and reviews

Joi2020-06-30-1 point DOS version

wondering if you have a download for 64 bit for Deadline?

detective2017-07-110 point DOS version

How is buggy this game? Will i able to finish it?

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Download Deadline

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DOS Version

Mac Version

  • Year:1984
  • Publisher:Infocom, Inc.
  • Developer:Infocom, Inc.

Commodore 64 Version

  • Year:1983
  • Publisher:Commodore Business Machines (UK) Ltd.
  • Developer:Infocom, Inc.

Amiga ROM

  • Year:1986
  • Publisher:Infocom, Inc.
  • Developer:Infocom, Inc.

Amstrad CPC Version

  • Year:1986
  • Publisher:Infocom, Inc.
  • Developer:Infocom, Inc.

Atari 8-bit ROM

  • Year:1982
  • Publisher:Infocom, Inc.
  • Developer:Infocom, Inc.

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