Wonderland

A SAM adventure written by Robyn Campbell, graphics by Ken Gager. 
Published by F9 Software, Price £4
Reviewed by Phil Glover 
 
Robyn Campbell is a new name to many SAM users, and certainly the first lady SAM adventure-writer I have heard of.  In the introduction to WONDERLAND, Robyn explains how she wrote this game with her children in mind. The game features characters from the works of Lewis Carroll and popular nursery rhymes. Although aimed primarily at children, judging by the content, the game could also be ideal for people new to adventuring. 
 
The game is quite easy to play, with no red herrings and no mazes. There isn't one main storyline to the adventure, as you simply need to explore the game, meet characters and give them things they need. Every item found will have a purpose. 
 
Whenever you meet a character, simply talk to them and they'll tell you what they need, or have lost. A simple example would be when talking to Jack and Jill, who need to find a pail. Earlier in the game you may just have noticed a bucket somewhere. Most items can be found by examining things, but sometimes you'll need to give a person something in order to be given another item to use. You're limited to the amount of things you can carry, so choose a few locations as object-dumps. Don't worry, they'll still be there when you return! There are a couple of sudden death scenarios, but you can guess when these are about to happen, so use of RAMSAVE is recommended. 
 
The game covers quite a good-sized area, with puzzles well distributed, to encourage you to play on. The later stages of the game has puzzles nearly at every turn, and point-scoring can be delightfully prolific. I had little difficulty with the parser, as good, clear english is used. The main problem I had was right at the end of the game, when a rather obscure input is needed, when you want to OPEN something, you need to UNLOCK it instead, even though no key is required.  The last line won't spoil the puzzle, as you'll know exactly what needs doing, but may struggle with the wording.  
 
Graphics initially look simple, but they suit the style of the game. They're bright and cheerful, and are numerous. As with many home-grown games, a longer time spent on the designs may have been preferred, but screen designs can take too much time when they're being done for little reward. 
 
Text is yellow on blue, and is a plain font. Also, only one data-save can be made per disk. There are SAS routines that can be added to offer a choice of colours and fonts, as well as multiple saves. I've only seen a pre-release version of WONDERLAND, and the final version may have these features. Even if they aren't implemented, your enjoyment won't suffer too much. 
 
I didn't notice any glaring bugs, and spelling was generally very good, with the exception of CATERPILLAR being spelt as CATEPILLAR. 
 
This also may have been corrected before the game is released. Descriptions are clear and easily understood, and the author seems to have given a lot of thought to making sure that the puzzles won't be obscure. 
 
I completed the game at the second attempt, but I enjoyed the game greatly, even if I was deprived of many late nights of scratching my head over tricky puzzles. I enjoyed the amusing text and bright, cheery graphics. This is a very good game for a first adventure, and I hope Robyn and Ken decide to try their hands at another one, perhaps with a few trickier puzzles aimed at an older market. They obviously have talent and I'd risk buying any other games simply on the strength of WONDERLAND. 

The game is a welcome addition to the steadily increasing range of SAM adventures being written, and deserves to enjoy a modest success.