<!--
	Title: (REVIEWS) Wishbringer
	Author: James V. Trunzo
	Source: COMPUTE!, v7(12)
	Date: December, 1985
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

*Requirements: Commodore 64; Apple II-series computer with at least 48K RAM;
Atari 400/800, XL, or XE with at least 48K RAM; IBM PC with at least 48K
RAM; Expanded Model PCjr; Amiga; Atari 520ST; Macintosh; Kaypro CP/M;
or a TRS-80 Model HI. All versions require a disk drive. The Commodore 64
version was reviewed.*

The latest entry from Infocom, the software industry's most prolific producer
of text adventures, is a novel mystery/adventure entitled *Wishbringer*. It's
billed as an introductory-level adventure, but veteran gamers should not be
put off by the label. When Infocom calls a game "introductory," it simply means
you might need only 20 or 30 hours to solve the adventure instead of 60 or 70
hours.

Actually, *Wishbringer* offers several very challenging puzzles, starting at the
very beginning of the game when you have to map your way over the mountain
leading to the Majick Shoppe. What makes *Wishbringer* slightly easier
than a more advanced Infocom game is that some of the mapping is done for
you, the scope of the storyline is not as broad, and the puzzles are slightly less
devious. However, this should not be construed to mean that the game is
child's play — far from it.

As the accompanying storybook says, you're in the role of an ordinary
postal clerk in an "ordinary little town, and you've been performing your
ordinary mail clerk's duties in an altogether ordinary way. But there's something
quite extraordinary about today's mail." From that point your adventure
begins, and nothing is the same any more.

## A Piece Of The Rock

The adventure is twofold: First, you must seek out and obtain a magic stone
known as the Wishbringer. To keep track of your location in the game's
imaginary world, you should compile a map as you go along, even though a
general map is included. If you find the Wishbringer, your second job is to use
the powers of the stone (which are awe some in some ways, yet limited in
others) to save your town — a town that no longer resembles what it was at the
start of the adventure. Now it's filled with trolls, vultures, and other evil
creatures.

*Wishbringer* conforms to the usual Infocom style. That is, it employs no
graphics, relying on detailed descriptions and the player's imagination to
provide the "pictures." The sophisticated parser, an Infocom trademark, lets
you type in compound sentences rather than just primitive verb-noun
commands. Other features let you save games in progress and send text to a
printer. And as always with an Infocom package, *Wishbringer* is attractively
designed. It includes a beautifully illustrated storybook, "The Legend of
Wishbringer," and even a plastic Wishbringer stone that glows in the dark.

Starting with a simple premise — one that may seem almost childish at
first — *Wishbringer* quickly becomes an enjoyable, playable adventure for all
but the most hardened veterans of adventure games.

Wishbringer<br>
*Infocom<br>
125 Cambridge Park Drive<br>
Cambridge, MA 02140<br>
$39.95*