<!--
	Title: Disk-Drive Detectives
	Subtitle: Make Fiction Come Alive with Mystery Games: Become the Sleuth Trying to Crack the Case
	Author: Shay Addams
	Source: Family Computing, v4(12)
	Date: December 1986
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<figure>
<img style="display: block; margin: auto; max-width: 90%;" src="/public/img/articles/family-computing-disk-drive-detectives/title-image.png" alt="Disk-Drive Detectives">
<figcaption class="smaller right">ILLUSTRATION BY MARK FRESH</figcaption>
</figure>

<p class="dropcap-3">Half the fun of reading a mystery
novel is trying to figure out
"whodunnit" before you finish the
book. Disk-drive detective games are
even more fun because they transport
you *inside* the story to solve a
crime. Instead of passively reading
about how a detective shrewdly digs
up evidence and solves the mystery,
*you* become the detective and actively
participate in the drama. Cracking a
case on your own — and you can't just
flip to the last chapter to see who
killed the butler — delivers a singular
sense of accomplishment. Another
important difference is that a novel's
events always unfold in a fixed order
set by the author. But many events in
a detective game hinge on your decisions;
arriving at the scene of the
crime, you might choose to walk in
the front door or sneak around back
to look for footprints. And though
they differ in presentation, the plot
twists in disk-drive detective stories
are often as surprising as those in a
tale by Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler.</p>

Most are adventure games in which
you type actions such as "open desk"
or "inspect gun for fingerprints" into
the program's parser, which interprets
your commands and displays
an all-text or illustrated response
that varies with the program. A few
detective games assume other forms
that may appeal to the non-adventuring
mystery fan. To get a range of
gaming opinions, I asked some readers
of *QuestBusters* (an adventure
game newsletter I edit) and various
inhabitants of CompuServe's Gaming
Forum for comments on people's favorite
mystery games. Their quotes
follow throughout the article.

## PUT ON YOUR FEDORA, AND GET TO WORK

*Deadline*, an all-text game from Infocom,
elicited the biggest response.
Patricia Fitzgibbons, who has played
many mystery games, said, "I still
have a soft spot for *Deadline*. I was
amazed by the sophisticated prose
and parser." One of the most difficult
mysteries on disk, this story casts
you as a police officer assigned to the
murder of the wealthy Marshall
Robner. In detective novels. *Deadline*
would be called a "locked-room" mystery:
the body is found in a study
with a door that locks from the inside
only. This means the first thing you
must do is establish that the victim
didn't commit suicide. The scene of
the crime is a palatial, two-story Connecticut
house, where you can grill
the numerous suspects about each
other as well as about any evidence
you dig up. (As in most adventures,
you'll have to draw a map of the
game's many locations as you go
along.) Your assistant, Duffy, will
take items back to the station to have
them analyzed for fingerprints, poison,
or other clues.

*Deadline*'s formula has been emulated
often by subsequent games: After
amassing enough evidence, you
arrest one or more suspects, whose
guilt or innocence is determined by a
jury that reports its verdict months
later. By talking to characters and
discovering evidence, you must es
tablish a motive, method, and opportunity
in order to get a conviction.
There are 24 alternative endings to
*Deadline*, including one in which
the grand jury dismisses the charges.
(I was even arrested once and thrown
off the police force!)

## PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS SOLVE THE PUZZLES

A less common kind of mystery adventure
has no provision for presenting
evidence. It plays more like a
typical adventure in which you solve
a series of logical puzzles that lead to
the final problem; that's when you
apprehend the outlaw. One such
game is *Masquerade*. Illustrated with
cartoon-like graphics, *Masquerade*
sends you after a major criminal and
is as deadly as *Deadline*. The puzzles
are equally hard, but because you are
concentrating on object-oriented puzzles,
not people, the sense of participating
in a novel-like mystery is
somewhat diluted.

This is also true of *Mindshadow*,
in which the mystery is your own
name (remember Robert Ludlum's
*The Bourne Identity*?}. From the
opening scene, which finds you
stranded on a desert island, to the
exciting climax when you confront a
gunman in a Luxembourg hotel
room, the game features colorful
graphics and the most interesting
story line in the series of Interplay
adventures from Activision. But you
won't really solve the crime by arresting
anyone, only by unriddling puzzle
after puzzle until you reach the conclusion.
Lazy typists will appreciate
the list of commonly used nouns and
verbs that covers one-third of the
screen; in many instances, you can
issue commands by choosing words
with the joystick or mouse instead of
typing them in. Brightly colored
graphics cover the other two-thirds of
the screen.

The same user interface is employed in *Borrowed
Time*, in which
you play a hard-boiled private eye patterned
after trenchcoat-wearing P.I.'s
like Mike Hammer and Sam Spade.
This caper kicks off in your office.
You must study files on the suspects
before setting out to rescue a kidnap
victim, nab an arsonist, and apprehend
the town's crime czar (by showing
evidence to the police). The crime
boss has put a pair of hit men on
your trail, and the tense chase scenes
that result often prove deadly. Graphics
sparkle with spot animation that
shows heads turning when you enter
the bar, a phone jangling off the
hook, and other diverting special effects.
The only disappointment with
*Borrowed Time* is the characters.
They're stereotypes straight out of a
pulp novel and lack the personalities
of the inhabitants in other mysteries,
especially the talkative souls in the
Infocom games.

One of those games, *The Witness*,
transports you to a ritzy southern
California suburb in 1938, where the
victim is gunned down before your
(reading) eyes. Did Phong, the oriental
butler, do it? Only by interrogating
everyone and securing some incriminating
evidence will you find
out. An all-text game, its best feature
is the Chandleresque prose style, and
authentic lingo and settings from the
thirties enrich the sense of intrigue.
While *The Witness* has been criticized
by advanced players who were
able to race right through it, that
same ease-of-play makes it a good introductory
case for new cops on the
beat.

Another period piece, *Déjà Vu*, is
set in Chicago in the forties. As often
happens to detectives in mystery novels,
someone has "slipped you a mickey"
that wiped out your memory. You
awake in Joe's Bar, where you struggle
to solve a murder and kidnapping,
as well as remember your
name. Otherwise, you'll have to take
the fall for the crime. The unique presentation
uses icons and windows in
addition to a type-in-the-words input.
You can pick up objects by dragging
an icon, shaped like a pistol or
other item, into your inventory window;
you examine things by "clicking" on
them with the mouse.

If gangland Chicago is not your milieu,
book a stateroom on a 19th-century
paddle-wheel riverboat in *Murder
on the Mississippi*. This
animated tale lets you wear the gumshoes
of Sir Charles Foxworth, a British
sleuth vacationing on the Delta
Princess, when he stumbles across a
body. Instead of typing, you make
your moves by choosing actions from
a menu: you explore the staterooms
by guiding Foxworth and his assistant,
Regis Phelps, with a joystick. "It
has good music and sound effects,"
said Susan Riley, an avid game player,
"and I like using the menu for
commands."

## THE PRIVATE EYE AS AN AVERAGE GUY OR GAL

As mystery games proliferated, the
"player as detective" perspective was
joined by a fresh viewpoint in which
you participate as an ordinary citizen
Who must solve the crime. In *Suspect*,
a text-only adventure, you're a
reporter attending a costume-party
ball whose hostess is found strangled
by a lasso that was part of your cowboy
outfit. Unless you can lead the
cops to the real killer, they'll arrest
you. James Donnelly, a Gaming Forum
habitue, called it his favorite
mystery. "If you lose, you haven't
just lost your job [in the game],
but your life as well," he said.

It's off to the circus in *Ballyhoo*,
where, as an innocent bystander, you
have to rescue a kidnapped girl by
participating in such big-top activities
as walking a tightrope, visiting
the fat lady, and taming a lion. And
then you've got to save the girl from a
runaway gorilla! Terry Clayton said.
"I liked both *Deadline* and *Suspect*.
but *Ballyhoo* is my favorite mystery
because it requires a lot of puzzle-solving
along with collecting evidence."

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/family-computing-disk-drive-detectives/detective-portrait.jpg" alt="A cartoon portrait of a detective">

In *Earthly Delights*, you awake to
find a burglar stealing a painting
from your living room, and you must
trail him to Paris to uncover an international
gang of criminals with more
than art theft on their minds. "It was
like a real trip to Paris," recalled my
son, Noel Moore. "I saw the Eiffel
Tower. Napoleon's tomb, and the Can-Can
dancers. And there were no terrorists
to worry about, either."

## THE "REAL" DETECTIVES ENTER THE CASE

The latest trend is games based on
the detectives that inspired the
genre — games that let you assume
the identity of your favorite crime
solver. Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the
most famous detective of all, is the
subject of games from several companies
(mainly because Holmes is in the
public domain and the name doesn't
have to be licensed). *Sherlock
Holmes in Another Bow* is the title of
a game that takes place on an ocean
liner. It entails five related cases that
must be unraveled before you polish
off the main one. The cast includes
historical characters such as Henry
Ford and Gertrude Stein, and the
graphics are well done. But it's not
my idea of an adventure since it unfolds
in a linear fashion, demanding
that you be in the right place at the
right time. I missed having the freedom
to move about at will. And the
parser, despite its 2.000-word vocabulary,
makes communicating with
the characters more frustrating than
talking to a New York cabbie! However,
Byron Byrd said, "I liked the
graphics and writing style, and the
plot was really good because the killer
has you fooled all along."

I found *Baker Street Detective*
more entertaining. It offers two murder
cases to investigate: one victim is
a bank president, the other a government
witness in an extortion trial. As
you cab back and forth across London
(in 1893) to a variety of atmospheric
locations, you'll notice that
Holmes and Watson are portrayed
more convincingly here than in **Another
Bow** — even without graphics.
This game employs a unique method
for testing the results of your investigation
with an eight-question quiz
that you can take up to three times
during each time around. A third
Holmes program, *221 B Baker Street*,
includes 30 crimes to solve, and it
blends animation with text. It can be
played solo or with up to four people
in competition.

<div class="float-right article-sidebar-dark" style="background: #DCD; border: 1px solid;">
<h3>DETECTIVE GAME INFORMATION</h3>

**221 B Baker Street (DS)**. Apple, Atari, C 64/128.
$30. **Baker Street Detective (AX)**. Apple,
Atari, Atari ST, C 64/128, Macintosh. $10-$18.
**Ballyhoo (IC)**. Amiga, Apple, Atari,
Atari ST, C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh,
Tandy Models I/III/4. $35-$40. **Borrowed
Time (AC)**. Amiga, Apple, Atari ST,
C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh. $30-$50.
**Deadline (IC)**. Amiga, Apple, Atari,
Atari ST, C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh,
Tandy Models I/III/4. $45-$50. **Déjà Vu
(MN)**. Macintosh. $50. **Earthly Delights
(DL)**. Apple, IBM PC, Macintosh. $33. **High
Stakes (MN)**. Apple, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh.
$40. **Masquerade (AE)**. Apple, C 64/128.
$35. **Mindshadow (AC)**. Amiga, Apple,
Atari ST, C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh.
$30-$50. **Murder on the Mississippi (AC)**.
64K Apple, C 64/128. $35-$40. **Perry Mason:
The Case of the Mandarin Murder (TS)**. Apple,
Atari ST, C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr. $33-$50.
**The Scoop (TS)**. 128K Apple IIe/IIc. $40.
**Sherlock Holmes In Another Bow (BS)**. Apple,
C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh. $40.
**Suspect (IC)**. Amiga, Apple, Atari, Atari ST,
C 64/128, IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh, Tandy
Models I/III/4. $40-$45. **The Witness (IC)**.
Amiga, Apple, Atari, Atari ST, C 64/128,
IBM PC/PCjr, Macintosh, Tandy Models I/III/4.
$35-$40.

PUBLISHER KEY
**AC:** Activision. (415) 960-0410.<br>
**AE:** American Eagle. (312) 792-1227.<br>
**AX:** Artworx. (716) 425-2833.<br>
**BS:** Bantam Software. (212) 765-6500.<br>
**DL:** Dan'l Leviton Co., (714) 639-8433.<br>
**DS:** Datasoft/IntelliCreations. (818) 886-5922.<br>
**IC:** Infocom. (617) 492-6000.<br>
**MM:** Mindscape, (312) 480-7667.<br>
**TS:** Telarium/Spinnaker, (617) 494-1200.

<p class="smaller">Unless otherwise noted, minimum memory requirements
are 48K for Apple II series, 48K for Atari 800/XL/XE
series. 128K for IBM PC/PCjr or compatibles, and
128K for Macintosh. Titles listed for the IBM PC/PCjr will
also run on many IBM PC compatibles; owing to the
proliferation of compatibles, check with the program's
publisher or your dealer for compatibility.</p>

</div>

Perry Mason, the creation of novelist
Erle Stanley Gardner, always uncovers
the killer by cleverly manipulating
witnesses until they break
down in court and confess. As Mason
in *Perry Mason: The Case of the
Mandarin Murder*, you must defend
a woman charged with her husbands
death. Paul Drake, Mason's ace detective,
will race from the courtroom to
sniff out evidence or pursue leads.
Meanwhile, you devote your time to
the duties of a lawyer: introducing
evidence, objecting to the prosecutor's
line of questioning, and even
"whirling to face the jury" and other
courtroom theatrics. *Mandarin Murder*
exhibits an unusual graphics
presentation. Instead of showing a
full-screen picture with text below, it
hangs a vertical illustration on one
side and text on the other. You're offered
several alternative endings,
among them a hung jury. "Getting to
make objections was my favorite part
of the game." according to QuestBuster
Ken Jameson. "The judge overrules
me most of the time, but I still
enjoy it."

If the idea of staying inside a court
room throughout an entire game
makes you claustrophobic, head for
the racetrack in *High Stakes*. Adapted
from a novel by former jockey Dick
Francis, it puts you in the saddle as a
wealthy British horse owner out to
foil a sinister (what else!) plot to
cheat you. Also set in England,
Agatha Christie's *The Scoop* casts
you as a newspaper reporter assigned
to unravel the murder of a Mrs. Tracy.
Was she knifed by the same person
who killed the first reporter researching
the story? As in most
mystery games, you'll become just an
other crime statistic if you're not
careful. It uses a menu filled with
words you select via joystick and in
corporates animation into the full
screen graphics.

What's the next trend for disk-drive
detective games? Since mysteries
based on detective novels have been
so well received, don't be surprised if
television-show detectives soon apply
for work in the world of computer
entertainment. I've got my fingers
crossed for 64K *Colombo* and *Murder,
She Programmed*.

---

SHAY ADDAMS *wrote about ["Board Games
That Think"](/library/family-computing-board-games) in the last issue of* FAMILY
COMPUTING.
