<!--
	Title: (Games & Books) A Mind Forever Voyaging
	Author: Burt Hochberg
	Source: Games, v10(1)
	Date: January 1986
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: var(--article-sidebar), Arial, sans-serif;">A Mind Forever Voyaging</span>
by Steven Meretsky (Infocom; Apple II 128K, IBM, Macintosh, Atari ST; $44.95)

<hr>

The year is 2031. Perry Sim, 20 years old, has just been told
that his entire life, from infancy to adulthood, has been a simulation.
He is not a human, as he'd always believed, but a
cyborg, a computer in human form. Now, after 20 years of
preparation, he is ready to play his part in the crucial experiment
known as PRISM.

Thus begins Infocom’s latest work of interactive fiction, an
ambitious departure from anything Infocom has done before
and a major event in software entertainment. Although it
plays much like any other Infocom text game (you move
through the story by typing commands on the keyboard), this
is no fantasy world of wizards or treasures, and the intricate
puzzles typical of Infocom games are subordinated here to
an almost incidental role. This is a game with a social
conscience.

The United States of North America is in serious trouble.
Crime is rampant, teenagers are committing suicide in "joy-booths"
(psychoactive environments intended as escapist
entertainment), the economy is failing, an extremist sect has
forcibly occupied a federal installation, our leaders seem
helpless. A USNA senator has proposed a radical, far-reaching
plan to deal with these problems, and a group of
scientists has devised an experiment to test it. If the plan is
adopted, what will our society be like in 10 years? In 20
years?

This is the PRISM experiment, and its instrument is Perry
Sim. As a human, he can enter the two simulated futures and
observe, interact, and accomplish certain tasks. As a computer,
he can link up electronically with a news network, plug
into a library mode to retrieve information about himself, his
creators, and the real world, and even enter the heart of the
PRISM program itself, where he can...


But perhaps we've said too much already. The game's secrets,
like the puzzles in traditional adventures will be
revealed only to the thoughtful, patient traveler. Of particular
note is the game's lack of a specific goal. This is for the
player to set for himself, when he Is ready.

For its attention to detail, incredibly smooth parser (the part
of the software that analyzes your sentences and makes it
possible for you and the computer to communicate), crisply
written prose, and intriguing story, this games deserves the
highest praise.