At least one person is anticipating my final post on Mystery Mansion, so let me share what has me stuck. While two word parsers (which I’ll be seeing more of in 1978) are problematic, usually with a verb list it is possible to work out how to communicate. There’s also the ideal of Zork and [...]

I’m not that far in Stuga yet (I’m close to a finish on Mystery Mansion and should have an ending post soon) but some things are immediately striking. A short excerpt should illustrate what playing is like in general. SOUTH You are in the forest, southwest of the lake. EAST You are south of the [...]

I’m not done with Mystery Mansion, but I’m in dire need of hints on a few things so I’ve emailed Bob Sorem and James Garnett (authors of the two ports I’ve been using) to see if either can help. If that fails I’ve done enough on my own (including source diving) to wrap things up. [...]

Usually I write posts after I’ve had a play session, but this time I’m doing one before. I’m at the point I need a serious push to make progress and this is the point where it helps me to step back and make a plan of what I plan to investigate and how. For an [...]

Please note the maps below are only in progress. Click them for PDF files. After a lot of confusion I finally read James Garnett’s Mystery Mansion Spoilers, which serve enough to clarify what is going on without giving too much away. * There are treasures to collect, but it’s much more nonobvious than Adventure or [...]

Jimmy Maher mentions in the comments to my last post that “If nothing else, Mystery Mansion is very important for being the first non-fantasy IF.” The genre is specifically a blend of mystery and horror and fantasy, and it’s rather confusing how they relate: The “Fantasy” Part There’s a maze with a dwarf found either [...]

HI ODYSSEUS! WELCOME TO MYSTERY MANSION, MYSTERY # 301, A COMPUTERIZED FANTASY ADAPTED BY BOB SOREM FROM AN HP-1000 FORTRAN PROGRAM BY BILL WOLPERT. THE ELEMENTS OF MYSTERY MANSION ARE BASED ON THE FACTS, FICTIONS AND FANTASIES OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. THE SCENARIO WAS DESIGNED TO CHALLENGE THE DARING AND YET, ENTERTAIN THE [...]