<!--
	Title: Hooray for Hollywood (Hijinx)
	Source: QuestBusters, v4(4)
	Date: April 1987
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

Something funny is going on at Infocom. First they drop the categories
from their packaging, so games are no longer described as being science fiction,
mystery or fantasy. And almost simultaneously they pioneer a brand new
category—comedy. Douglas Adams did the first one, of course, with *Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy*. More recently, Steve Meretzky satirized Fifties science
fiction in *Leather Goddesses*. But not until a third comedy arrived were there
enough such games to qualify comedic adventure as a category. Now *Hijinx*
makes it official: Comedy has become as popular in adventure games as it is on
late night TV. (Maybe Dave Letterman will do the next one and have a puzzle
based on stupid parser tricks.)

In the first scene you emerge from a black limo at the Malibu estate of your
Uncle Buddy and Aunt Hildegarde. Their attorney says her will stated you stand to
inherit the mansion and Buddy's film studio if you can find ten treasures
concealed in the house and on the property. (Buddy died years ago and left
everything to her.) You've got until nine the next morning to do so, and it's
already dark. As you investigate the two-story house, the nearby beach and the
flower gardens, you realize you are not alone. Floorboards creak. things fall onto
the floor in distant rooms, and you get the uneasy feeling someone is watching
you.

The house, once you manage to get inside, is as weird as the home of the
Addams family. Buddy, who produced B-movies like *Vampire Penguins of the
North* and *Cannibal Meatloaf Party*, rigged the house with props and
boobytraps left over from the films. My favorite was the scale model of Tokyo
used in his Godzilla-type film, *Atomic Chihuahuas from Hell*. By pressing
colored buttons you maneuver a mechanical Atomic Chihuahua as it
demolishes the town. Tanks and planes attack, just like in a typical low-budget
monster movie, and you've got to defeat them in order to obtain one of the
treasures, a Big Diamond Ring.

All the problems are object-oriented, which makes *Hijinx* a good old-fashioned
treasure hunt in the tradition of *Colossal Cave*. Sometimes you have to solve a
puzzle to get the treasure, while some of them consist of figuring out how to get
into a location where the object, a stuffed penguin, for instance, is lying in plain
sight. They are progressively more difficult but are logical and quite original.
Clues are clear and ingeniously concealed; one is hidden in the poem on the back of
Buddy's photo, included with the packaging. You can acquire at least one
treasure without solving the puzzle, but won't get any points for it this way. Top
score is 150 points. Unfortunately, you don't get rewarded with new ranks like
Intermediate Enchanter as your score advances.

A couple of simple graphics flesh out the text. One treasure lies within the
estate's convoluted hedge maze, its location pinpointed on an onscreen map.
The map, a puzzle in itself, is drawn with dashes and lines in a mini-graphics
display that reminded me of Dave Lebling's maze puzzle in *Zork III*.
Another graphic effect is triggered by inserting colored cards into a computer.
They change the computer's display, which is depicted with columns of zeros,
to reveal a clue—if you used the right cards.

Until recently, adventure game humor consisted mainly of understated, often
snide responses to commands the parser didn't understand or wouldn't let you
perform. The humor was added to lighten up a frustrating situation, or to provide
entertaining responses to the most unlikely actions a player might attempt,
such as eating a mushroom in *Tass Times*.

That changed with *Hitchhiker*, which featured funny characters, puzzles and
situations—portrayed from Douglas Adams' cock-eyed perspective on life, the
universe and everything. Meretzky's *Leather* relied on another traditional type
of adventure game humor, the pun, which he built upon with double entendres.

In *Hijinx*, "Hollywood" Dave Anderson begins with puns on B-movie titles but
doesn't stop there. Irreverent, witty oneliners are sprinkled throughout his
descriptions of locations, objects and events: The Atomic Chihuahua, reeling
in pain after being blasted by planes and tanks, pauses to "recall happier days with
Xavier Cugal" In most adventures the phone is worthless except for making that
one vital call, or to receive a message at the right time. Here you should try
dialing your own number a few times, or 911, or information. Better still, dial
492-6000, a real phone number that has been programmed into the game.

## *Surprise Ending*

And Anderson invented lots of of amusing responses to unprofitable
commands, and even a fitting reply if you answer yes after typing quit The story's
plot doesn't reveal itself until the end game, which has two possible
conclusions. It cleverly wraps up the story and leaves you with a sense of
having done more than just found a series of assorted treasures. Like Meretzky,
Anderson, started as an Infocom game tester (in 1985), and this is his first
game. It was based on a concept by Liz-Cyr Jones, who heads up Infocom's
testing department.

Have you noticed how the Infocom parser now handles pronouns? If you
enter a room that contains only one object, you can just "take it" instead of
typing "take thin piece of paper." Then you can "examine it," which is the only
way other programs deal with pronouns (and many don't even do this). It's a
subtle enhancement, but how much more can the Infocom parser be improved?

With the game you get a photo of Buddy, a manual that parodies the
*Hollywood Tattler*, and a genuine "lucky palm tree swizzle stick" that's guaranteed
to help you find treasure in your own home. (We've been using it five-six
times a day in the QuestBusters office but still haven't turned up anything except a
tattered map of the maze in *Zork I*.)<br>
**Conclusions:** *Hijinx* has everything going for it good problems, good
writing, good clues. Its fresh slant on the classic treasure hunt theme—and original
puzzles—provides welcome relief for anyone weary of solving puzzles by
talking to other characters.

<hr style="border-top: 4px double;">

**System:** All Home Computers<br>
**Skill Level:** Intermediate<br>
**Price:** $34.95, C-64/128 & Atari 8-bit; $39.95, others<br>
**Company:** Infocom
