~2 minute readLoad & Run
Wishbringer
Designed by Brian Moriarty
Infocom, 1985 / Most systems / Disk / $39.95
Infocom's latest is an introductory-level adventure game written by a new addition to the company, Brian Moriarty (naturally nicknamed Professor Moriarty), who brings with him a fondness for Lovecraft, Hawthorne, and things that go bump in the night.
Wishbringer is a story about what happens to a child who helps deliver the mail in the small, rural New England town of Festeron. Today you're bringing a special delivery letter to an old woman who runs a magic shop. An ancient enemy of the woman has stolen her black cat, and is demanding the fabulous Wishbringer Stone in return. Somehow you get drafted as hero of the day, and embark upon a fantasy quest to rescue the purloined feline.
When you step out of Ye Olde Magick Shoppe, the world is somehow different. A dense fog covers everything and a sinister tower stands where the Post Office used to be. Climbing safely down the hill in the fog is an adventure in itself. At the bottom of the hill, a nasty surprise awaits -- a troll is guarding the only bridge back into town. Dealing with the troll opens a whole can of worms, for you soon discover that the town across the bridge is no longer safe, comfortable Festeron, but is now Witchville.
Witchville seems to be a sinister, cloudy double of Festeron. Most of the buildings are in the same places, but they're now evil caricatures of their former selves. It is up to you to solve the mystery of this transformation. To aid you is Wishbringer, the Magick Stone of Dreams. It will grant seven different wishes, but only with the aid of certain props, such as an umbrella, a horseshoe, a conch shell, or even a piece of candy. Receiving periodic advice via a phone inside a conch shell has a delightful Get Smart quality to it. Graveyards are very terrifying after this transformation, and wait until you see the local arcade parlor. The movie theater shows only the far-, far-outest films in 3-D. And in the end, only you can decide what's a dream, and what's real.
Wishbringer is a delightful beginner's level adventure. It's a great introduction for newcomers to the Adventure Experience, and is suitable for all ages. A seven-year-old boy had a delightful time playing the game -- and even finished it.
Infocom's writers have always been noted for their wit (or is it wits?), and Moriarty seems an eminently qualified citizen of the Underground Empire. It is not every day that you find that the opposite of cosmic evil is that shining paragon of virtue, the U.S. Post Office.
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