External Links

Commercial game not available for download.
Salvaged Copy
The source files and a precompiled ZMachine storyfile of this adventure were recovered from a salvaged "Infocom hard drive", and made publicly available on GitHub in an effort to preserve them.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

Plundered Hearts

by Amy Briggs

Romance , Pirates
1987

About the Story

In the 17th century, the seas are as wild as the untamed heart of a young woman. But when you set out on the schooner Lafond Deux, bound for the West Indies, your thoughts are only of your ailing father who awaits your care. Little do you know that your innocent journey will soon turn to dangerous adventure.
You barely survive an encounter with pirates, whose plans for you include a fate worse than death. The explosives, the rocky reefs, the vicious crocodile - all these are obstacles which you must overcome with cunning and agility. True, it's not easy; but at least you can control your fate. What you cannot control is much more dangerous: your passion for Nicholas Jamison, the handsome pirate captain.

Tall and lean, with azure eyes that penetrate deep into your soul, he makes your blood quicken despite his unsavory past. When you're in his arms, swirling around the dance floor or secluded in the flowered depths of the gazebo, you are apt to forget your mission.

But don't dally too long with Nick. For your father is waiting, and on his rescue lies the fate of more than one man. Prepare for adventure on the high seas, lass. You'll need every bit of pluck you can muster.

In Plundered Hearts, Infocom brings your wildest fantasies to life. You'll throll to spine-tingling peril, heart-pounding romance, and challenging predicaments. To create this exotic adventure, author Amy Briggs read hundreds of romance novels, researched 17th century costumes and ships, and was wooed by a dashing pirate.


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG
The game's strongest point though is in its characterization. Not in the other characters; Crulley, Jamison, Lafonde and the others are rather standard, thus my character rating of 1.2. Rather, this game characterizes you, the player, more than any other of Infocom's offerings.

In most Infocom games, who YOU are is either unimportant or doesn't affect the plot much. [...] Plundered Hearts, more than any other game gave me the feeling of really being inside someone ELSE'S head.
See the full review

SynTax
Amy Briggs's extensive research into the period shows in the wonderful descriptions of people and places and this has the effect of making the story thoroughly believable. The attention to detail throughout is up to the very high standard you expect from Infocom. The responses to many of your actions differ depending on what clothes you are wearing, what items you are carrying and where you happen to be at the time. Also, a number of the puzzles have more than one solution so, should you not have a particular object with you, something else may work equally as well.
See the full review

ferkung
Plundered Hearts (1987) - Full Playthrough
ferkung plays through maybe their favorite Infocom game, Plundered Hearts (1987). It's a surprisingly modern game, absolutely in the interactive fiction vein rather than the Zork-ish text adventure vein.
See the full review

50 Years of Text Games, by Aaron A. Reed
Plundered Hearts, in short, asks you to embody and perform a role that’s laden in a genre’s gender stereotypes. Few previous games had done this so consciously, and not everyone was willing to play along (as we’ll come to shortly). But it’s worth noting that Briggs certainly did this deliberately, and often pushed back against tropes in both obvious and subtle ways.
[...]
While a critical and commercial dud in the 1980s, Briggs’ game has been fondly remembered. Plenty of young women could overlook the flaws in its representation for the sheer novelty of having some, and fewer men today are afraid to admit that “abandoning the trousers for a cotton frock” can be pretty fun. Many reviews even at the time were positive—one called it “a wonderful adventure, bursting at the seams with atmosphere, interesting puzzles and tense situations”—and the game’s focus on story over puzzles proved ahead of its time, forecasting the turn most amateur interactive fiction would take in the decades to come.
See the full review

Page Update History

  v.9: 13-Jun-2023 22:32 - JTN (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed external review links
v.8: 17-Sep-2022 11:02 - autumnc
Changed external review links
v.7: 17-Apr-2021 03:28 - Zape
Changed download links
v.6: 23-Aug-2020 01:17 - Zape
Changed download links
v.5: 21-Apr-2019 05:24 - Tristano
Changed download links
v.4: 06-Mar-2013 04:35 - Edward Lacey
Changed genre, external review links
v.3: 11-Dec-2010 15:37 - Michael Roberts
v.2: 03-Jul-2008 21:20 - System Folder
Changed IFIDs
v.1: 19-Feb-2008 21:12 - Emily Short
Created page