Non-Infocom games of commercial era worth playing - an IFDB Poll
by tekket
RSS FeedWhat commercial games published between 1980-1993 other than those by Infocom do you think are worth playing?
| Eric the Unready, by Bob Bates 8 votes "Legend games were high quality" [+]"Legend games were high quality" --Hanon Ondricek... "Genuinely funny in parts, nice balance of puzzles" [+]"Genuinely funny in parts, nice balance of puzzles" --Mikalye... "A Classic" [+]"A Classic: Just a handful of games balance humor and puzzles (more on the beginners side) so well. " --Anatol Locker... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --deathbytroggles... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Nomad...  Vote for this game | |
| Spellcasting 101 - Sorcerers Get All The Girls, by Steve Meretzky 7 votes "Steve Meretsky" [+]"Steve Meretsky: A sort of bawdy precursor to Harry Potter from the author of Leather Goddeses of Phobos" --Hanon Ondricek... "Very clean" [+]"Very clean: The Island of Lost Souls can get a little tedious, but the island where time runs backwards is brilliant, and the final puzzle is very clever indeed." --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| The Hobbit, by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler 6 votes "The classic of classics. " [+]"The classic of classics. " ( ) --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu... "If The Hobbit,..." [+]"If The Hobbit, rather than Infocom, had become the industry "standard", then we would have seen a very different kind of games in terms of storytelling and game mechanics." () --Fredrik... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) --patrick.brian.mooney... Vote for this game | |
| Fish!, by John Molloy, Pete Kemp, Phil South, Rob Steggles 6 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... "Magnetic Scrolls..." [+]"Magnetic Scrolls released some good games." --Simon Deimel... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Gateway, by Mike Verdu, Michael Lindner, and Glen Dahlgren 6 votes "Inspired by Heechee trilogy, sense of wonder, interesting hybrid user interface" [+]"Inspired by Heechee trilogy, sense of wonder, interesting hybrid user interface" ( ) --tekket... "I'm playing this now. Awe and wonder. Very engaging. Not too hard (for now...)" [+]"I'm playing this now. Awe and wonder. Very engaging. Not too hard (for now...)" ( - Full review) --Rovarsson... (No comment) [+](No comment) --MattC... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Form 27b-6... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| The Guild of Thieves, by Rob Steggles 5 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Knight Orc, by Pete Austin 4 votes "Classic Level 9 adventure" [+]"Classic Level 9 adventure" ( ) --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Mikalye... "Chaos..." [+]"Chaos personified." () --Robb Sherwin... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Wonderland, by David Bishop, Bob Coles, Paul Findley, Ken Gordon, Richard Huddy, Steve Lacey, Doug Rabson, Anita Sinclair, Hugh Steers and Mark Taylor 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --LaFey... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --bolucpap... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| TimeQuest, by Bob Bates 3 votes "Brilliant multi-layered time travel game" [+]"Brilliant multi-layered time travel game" --Mikalye... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Gateway 2: Homeworld, by Mike Verdu and Glen Dahlgren 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Gnome Ranger, by Pete Austin 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance, by Steve Meretzky 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Jinxter, by Georgina Sinclair, Michael Bywater 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| The Pawn, by Rob Steggles, Peter Kemp, Hugh Steers, Ken Gordon, and Geoff Quilley 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Spellcasting 301: Spring Break, by Steve Meretzky 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Walter Sandsquish... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Demon's Tomb - The Awakening, by Simon Price 2 votes "good writing, atmospheric, good parser." [+]"good writing, atmospheric, good parser." ( ) --The Defiant... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Walter Sandsquish... Vote for this game | |
| The Horror of Rylvania, by D. A. Leary 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --patrick.brian.mooney... Vote for this game | |
| Scapeghost, by Pete Austin 2 votes "atmospheric with strong parser" [+]"atmospheric with strong parser" ( ) --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Nomad... Vote for this game | |
| Countdown to Doom, by Peter D. Killworth 2 votes "I love all of Peter Killworth's Doom series - proper old school sci-fi." [+]"I love all of Peter Killworth's Doom series - proper old school sci-fi." --J. J. Guest... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... Vote for this game | |
| An Everyday Tale of a Seeker of Gold, by John Wilson and Sean Doran 1 vote "Zenobi's adventures were great fun too!" [+]"Zenobi's adventures were great fun too!" ( - Full review) --LaFey... Vote for this game | |
| Spy Snatcher, by Jonathan Partington and Jon Thackray 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... Vote for this game | |
| Avon, by Jon Thackray and Jonathan Partington 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --shornet... Vote for this game | |
| Mindfighter, by Anna Popkess and Fergus McNeill 1 vote "Dystopian story..." [+]"Dystopian story which is quite intriguing, despite the confusing connections between the locations." --Simon Deimel... Vote for this game | |
| Lords of Time, by Sue Gazzard and Ian Buxton 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Terrormolinos, by Peter Jones, Trevor Lever, Mike Robinson, James Byrne, and Roger Taylor 1 vote "Take ten photos..." [+]"Take ten photos on your summer holiday. I surely remember this game." ( ) --Simon Deimel... Vote for this game | |
| Tass Times in Tonetown, by Michael Berlyn and Muffy Berlyn 1 vote "First game I played with "feelies"" [+]"First game I played with "feelies": Even if the world model is a bit oversimplified, and even if the pseudo-futuristic post-New Wave backdrop seems dated, there's something curious about the game that keeps me coming back to play it again. The included broadsheet certainly helped." ( - Full review) --mjhayes... Vote for this game | |
| Corruption, by Rob Steggles, Hugh Steers 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --The Defiant... Vote for this game | |
| La diosa de Cozumel, by Andrés Roberto Samudio Monro, Andrés Roberto Samudio Monro, Tim Gilberts, Juan Antonio Darder, Carlos Marqués, and Francisco Carrión 1 vote "Probably the best example of Spanish commercial IF" [+]"Probably the best example of Spanish commercial IF" ( ) --LaFey... Vote for this game | |
| Transylvania, by Antonio Antiochia 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --Robb Sherwin... Vote for this game | |
| Lancelot, by Christina Erskin, Joan Lamb, Neil Scrimgeour, Dicken Peeke, Nusarath Jahan, Mike Austin, Nick Austin, John Jones-Steele, and Mike Bryant 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| T-Zero, by Dennis Cunningham 1 vote "Beautifully written and cleverly abstract game through different time zones; quite unique." [+]"Beautifully written and cleverly abstract game through different time zones; quite unique.: Dennis Cunningham is a wonderful writer - few can match him in the history of IF. The game too is Proustian in its dealings with time, decay and Ozymandian hubris. All interwoven with some excellent puzzles." ( ) --Canalboy... Vote for this game | |
| Myth, by Paul Findley 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Walter Sandsquish... Vote for this game | |
| Ingrid's Back, by Pete Austin, Peter McBride, Godfrey Dowson, Graham Jones 1 vote "Best of Level 9" [+]"Best of Level 9" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Alien Research Centre, by Ian Smith and Sean McClure 1 vote "Semi-commercial I think" [+]"Semi-commercial I think: Not sure if the authors made this in their sparetime or if they were professionals. Anyway, a great two-word parser sci-fi game. " ( - Full review) --Denk... Vote for this game | |