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About the StoryYour home town, Portcullis, has been taken over by an evil sorcerer (because that's what evil sorcerers do) and a party of adventurers has arrived to overthrow him (because that's what adventurers do.) An old-school-feel comic fantasy game, written to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Zork and the 40th anniversary of Adventure. Game Details
Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: January 3, 2016 Current Version: Unknown License: Freeware Development System: Custom Forgiveness Rating: Polite IFID: Unknown TUID: ee014ekfuc0pje8f |
Awards
Winner - The Neinth annual New Year's Minicomp
Participant - The Year of Adventure
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Member Reviews
| Average Rating:  Number of Reviews: 5 Write a review |
Most Helpful Member Reviews
Goldilocks of Games, March 10, 2016I'm glad the previous review was one of the first reviews I've seen since joining this site. I was lucky enough to find the game a few months back and give it a go. It has an old school feel which I love. Very nostalgic. The simple artwork suited the game perfectly.
As for length, difficulty, and design? Not too long or short, not too hard or too easy. Not simple and not overly complicated in design. Everything was just right! I'd recommend this to all IF fans.
Well done.
A nostalgic and witty tribute, March 10, 2016Johnson's* wit has never been in doubt (anybody who has ever played "Aunts and Butlers" can testify to that) but here he's chosen another topic ripe for satire, that 35 year old Infocom adventure classic Zork.
From that oh-so familiar cover to the charming simple illustrations dotted throughout, it's a wry look at some classic fantasy tropes, and I genuinely laughed out loud on more than one occasion. It's a rare game indeed where even the 'game over' screen raises a smile. It's also running under an excellent parser and I only struggled over the puzzles, not how to word their solution. Top notch all round, and thoroughly recommended.
* - As an aside, isn't it odd how it's acceptable to refer to somebody by their surname when you're reviewing their work. I'd never dream of calling him Johnson to his face.
A Scott Adams/Zork-type web parser game about a local necromancer, March 28, 2016This game is in green text on a black background and is a home-brew web parser. However, it is more polished than most such games.
You play a simple village resident who decides to help some adventurers defeat an evil necromancer. By dealing with some clever puzzles (a color-based code, some animals, a trading game, etc.), you can deal with the necromancer and your adventurer friends.
The puzzles were occasionally too clever for their own good ((Spoiler - click to show)I'm thinking of the mummy solution, or the hellhound), but this should appeal to the game's main target demographic of old school fans.
Strongly recommended for fans of Scott Adam's games.
See All 5 Member Reviews
Portcullis on IFDB
Recommended Lists
Portcullis appears in the following Recommended Lists:Zorkian fantasy games by MathBrush
My best fantasy games list is getting too long, so I decided to branch off a list of all Zorkian fantasy games. These are games that have a vague fantasy setting where anachronisms or inconsistencies are allowed, the game is goofy or...
Polls
The following polls include votes for Portcullis:The most underrated game you've authored by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Interpret "under-rated" however that means to you. Perhaps it's one that's simply not played very much for whatever reason. Or it's a game you consider flawed but still worth playing, or an early effort that you are fond of.
For your consideration: XYZZY-eligible Puzzles of 2016 by MathBrush
This is for suggesting games released in 2016 which you think might be worth considering for Best Puzzles in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. The category will still be text-entry, and games not mentioned here...
The Modern Zorkalikes by Ghalev
My desire is straightforward, but proving difficult to satisfy. I want games that are like the Zork games might have been, given a more contemporary set of design ideals. It seems to be an abandoned playing field in some ways, as if the...
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