Thaumistry: In Charm's Way

All in all, I liked this game. I'm an adventure game fan but I never much liked text-based adventures because of dying all the time, illogical puzzles, etc. Thaumistry is well written and mostly fun (I particularly like the no-death aspect) that has mostly well-designed puzzles. (There was one really stupid puzzle that blocked me for ever because I missed a sentence somewhere that couldn't be repeated. As a hint, look at the dial frequently.) Other than that, the game was fun, the spell system is interesting and well used and the dialogues / descriptions were interesting and funny. Note, though, that there's probably not much replay value. I'd say 7 out of 10 - recommended.

Really fun text adventure by an Infocom alumni. Feels similar to games from that era but also very modern. No dead ends, deaths, and has an in-game map and hint system.

I'm taking it slow, but I'm enjoying it so far. If you're a fan of Infocom and Steve Meretzky type games, this one's for you. I'll update if the game takes any radical turns, but so far it's been nothing but that, and I want to ensure it lands well and is entertaining throughout.

An enjoyable story, with puzzles of the right difficulty, making me feel like I'm smarter than I am while guiding me along.

I played only a few text adventures (aka interactive fiction games) before to completion, because either the interface annoyed me or the story couldn't keep me interested, but Thaumistry was different: I enjoyed the story a lot, the forgiving parser combined with the map and hint system never left me stuck and I finished the game in one playthrough within two days. I really hope Bob continues to make these type of games, as reading and imagining the written depictions can sometimes be as (or even more) entertaining as seeing them in computer graphics.

Wenn man einmal in den Genuss von Interactive Fiction gekommen ist, und, wie Sheldon Cooper sagen würde, "den leistungsstärksten Grafikprozessor der Welt" nutzen möchte (sein Gehirn), dann ist dieses Spiel wärmsten zu empfehlen. Ich bin nicht mit diesem Genre aufgewachsen, nein, ich habe mich irgendwann mal gefragt, wie jemand Textadventures wie "Zork" überhaupt spielen kann und hab es dann ausprobiert - danach wurde ich wirklich süchtig nach diesem Genre. Schreckt nicht zurück, sondern probiert es aus - es ist eine Wahnsinnserfahrung. Dieses Spiel ist fantastisch gut geschrieben und hat viel Humor. Quality-of-life-features sind ebenfalls inklusive. Bevor man 80 Euro im Gulli für einen Dreck von EA udgl. versenkt, sollte man hier die 3-4 Euro investieren und sich über das Spiel und sein Leben freuen :)

It's fun, not too hard and doesn't take too long to play. It feels just right and has all the right touches. Playing this took me back to the 8-bit days. Thanks!

This is a new Zork-style text adventure with a variety of player aids like maps and GUI's. Recently updated to improve gameplay experience. If you played Infocom games back in the day, definitely get this one!

This is a really good example of interactive fiction (IF). The primary input is text. It was primarily written by Infocom and Legend Software-alumnus Bob Bates. It is not particularly serious. There is a lot that is funny in this game. It is not as much of a pure spoof as Eric the Unready (Bob Bates' other IF game on Steam). but it is a game where at one point you will summon an alpaca to progress. I enjoyed it very much, and along with Andrew Plotkin's Hadean Lands, and the games by Steve Meretzky, I would put Bob Bates' IF as amongst the very best on Steam.