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About the StoryThe glitterings of Gold, Jewels, Tapestries, &c. belie the Corruption of he who 'til recently occupied this high Seat. A white Carpet, once flanked by Sycophants & Counsellors, now lies untravelled. It leads away from the Seat & towards the Sunrise.The cruel Baron lies at your feet, dyeing the carpet scarlet with his blood. Game Details
Language: English (en)
Current Version: 0.50 License: Freeware Development System: Inform 6 Baf's Guide ID: 1330 IFID: ZCODE-1-010331-09D3 TUID: teyeu9x87mf2tbhv |
Awards
Nominee, Best Puzzles - 2001 XYZZY Awards
Editorial Reviews
Baf's Guide

-- Carl Muckenhoupt
SPAG
The puzzles aren't especially exciting--there are only a few of them, and reading the manuals you find is essentially all you need to do--but there's lots of fun to be had in the writing. Much of it is mock-Elizabethan or thereabouts--lots of Surprising Capitalizations, for one thing, often put to amusing purposes. [...]
As mentioned, there's a trick of sorts in the game, on which I won't elaborate here. It's not a total success; some players, I know, thought it was a bug, which it most certainly isn't. There are indications that something's afoot well before the trick happens, though they depend to some extent, I think, on whether the player's moving around--fewer, if any, of the clues would be apparent to a player who's staying in one room working on a puzzle.
-- Duncan Stevens
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Member Reviews
| Average Rating: ![]() Number of Reviews: 3 Write a review |

Saying anything else about this game's plot threatens to ruin the core mechanic, which gradually reveals itself as you attempt to explore the castle. It's clever, but it's also a tad irritating. As the game closes in around you, your options diminish. This means it's very easy to waste time at the beginning, examining objects and rooms and whatnot, before you even realize that you're wasting time. When you do realize what's happening, it's probably too late.
The outcome leaves me conflicted. It's necessary to go into the game without preconceptions in order to get the most from the experience. However, this means that it will also likely punish you a few times until you learn to economize your puzzle-solving. The "optimal" good ending is also not as rewarding as the "normal" good ending, as though, after you've solved everything, the game is in a hurry to tidy up.
Nevertheless, it's well worth playing for the writing, mood, light humor, and the overall concept. Just be prepared to undo or restart.

The main attraction of the game is the nature of the curse, which messes with IF conventions.(Spoiler - click to show)As the game progresses, room descriptions and objects become less and less implemented, until each room is just a number with nothing in it.

Its merit is in the quality of the gimmick's implementation. There isn't any point in playung the game, unless you're having trouble understanding the source.
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Recommended Lists
Degeneracy appears in the following Recommended Lists:Forgotten Treasures of IFDB by MathBrush
These are games that are great, either in my opinion or in many others, but which have been forgotten. By forgotten, I mean it satisfies the following: 1. Not an IfComp or XYZZY Best Game winner, 2. Not in Best 50 Interactive Fiction...
Polls
The following polls include votes for Degeneracy:Games Theoretically but not Practically Beatable on First Attempt by Floating Info
I'm looking for a very specific level of difficulty: a game where you theoretically could beat it on your first attempt, but you won't. At some point in the game you'll fail, but that point may vary from person to person, and when you...
forgotten gems by Marius Müller
I'm looking for games that don't show up in the IF histories or recommended lists, for what reason whatsover. Old games that maybe weren't boundary-pushing or noteworthy, but still give you a fun play experience. If you ever thought...
More than it appears to be... by dacharya64
I'm looking for games that aren't exactly what they seem. Perhaps they come across as simple or romantic or anything really, the point is that things take a turn for the worse (or perhaps the better) and everything begins to change....
This is version 6 of this page, edited by Zape on 23 May 2020 at 9:13pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item