Maze of Madness

[lurkio]

Maze of Madness was sent to me and described as "a demo of an idea for a very cruel puzzle".

But to me it just looks like a text adventure game with a single room, a very limited vocabulary, and no obvious way to win.

Can't really make head or tail of it but, still, here it is...

Play online or download:

• Maze of Madness

Blog:

• Retroactive Fiction

IFDB:

• http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=qffy5phbtkpgxkia

EDIT: Version 1.2 of Maze Of Madness has been uploaded to bbcmicro.co.uk and includes some extremely minor changes and bugfixes. The original version had been attached to this forum post and was downloaded 25 times. Version 1.1 was downloaded 77 times.

[richardtoohey]

You're not in marketing, are you?

[leenew]

You're not in marketing, are you?

Ha ha!
In fact it could be the "negative sell"!
"You wouldn't want this car madam. Too fast, and not very economical"....
It looks as if the author ran out of enthusiasm once the title screen was done.
I will try and give it a go this aft once the family have eaten all my roast lamb and gone home.

Lee.

[lurkio]

You're not in marketing, are you?

Well, I don't really know too much about the game -- although the person who sent it to me did mention that it made him "clinically insane".

In fact it could be the "negative sell"!

It's more of a warning. I think the game's cursed. (It's certainly annoying.)

[Lee Chant]

I have lurked on this forum for a little while, but I felt I had to register to post a comment when I solved this maze. Incredibly frustrating, but I couldn't help but laugh once I saw what was going on. A gem of a puzzle!

[lurkio]

I have lurked on this forum for a little while, but I felt I had to register to post a comment when I solved this maze. Incredibly frustrating, but I couldn't help but laugh once I saw what was going on. A gem of a puzzle!

Thank you, and well done!



Out of interest, and without any spoilers, what gave the game away? Did it just click, or did you use the hints?

[Lee Chant]

I used the hints. I won't give anything away here, but I thought the execution was very clever. I was swearing at the same time I was laughing. Really nice idea.

[lcww1]

Missed this earlier - love the look of the title screen! And intrigued by what this is all about .........

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

I also solved it!

Not exactly sure if I did it 'right' as my method was a bit hit or miss. The hints were helpful, yes, although I'm not quite sure what they were trying to tell me towards the end.

An intriguing little puzzle - and it's worth mentioning that not all the commands it recognises are listed in the HELP (not that the main one will help you much once you discover it ).

Nice work Lurkio... erm, I mean, whoever sent it to you!

[Diminished]

*shakes head*

[lurkio]

Nice work Lurkio

Thanks, Rich!

I've sent you a PM.

[lurkio]

*shakes head*

*isn't sure what you're saying*

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

My doubts were valid as Lurkio confirmed that I found a loophole rather than solving it in the intended way.

So back to square one Time to do it properly!

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

Cracked it!! Properly this time!

Very inventive and original Definitely very satisfying when you figure out the trick

Bravo Lurkio!

[lurkio]

Cracked it!! Properly this time! Very inventive and original Definitely very satisfying when you figure out the trick Bravo Lurkio!

Well done, and many thanks!

I'm always happy to have entertained and diverted!

[Lee Chant]

May I circulate this more widely? I think this is a top puzzle (and there are a number of aspects of it that I admire, at what for me is a deep-ish level) that I think other puzzling communities might enjoy.

I can't repeat enough how much I liked it.

[Diminished]

Well, I know of one way to solve it, but I think it's a bug. At least, after the hype it felt like an anticlimax. But given the date and time it was published, I wondered if that was perhaps the intention.

Having thought about it a bit more, now I'm thinking actually maybe the bug was unintentional, and there is a proper way to solve it. But I may have had enough at this point.

[lurkio]

May I circulate this more widely?

Yes, please feel free! And thanks again for your extremely encouraging comments.

[lurkio]

Having thought about it a bit more, now I'm thinking actually maybe the bug was unintentional, and there is a proper way to solve it.

Can you PM me the bug report, please?

[richardtoohey]

You're not in marketing, are you?

Well, I don't really know too much about the game -- although the person who sent it to me did mention that it made him "clinically insane".

Ah, so it was marketing all along! Or was I meant to be looking at the date posted?

You've made some people happy.

[joachim]

Oh, my goodness, that is evil. Like others, I found a loophole to win the game the first time, but suspected it wasn't the real solution because it didn't seem to match up with the in-game HINTs. (Although now, having solved the puzzle properly, I don't think the hints ended up helping me much.)

[lurkio]

Oh, my goodness, that is evil. Like others, I found a loophole to win the game the first time

Good grief! I might have known that this game wouldn't be half as devious as the Stardotters hell-bent on finding loopholes in it!

Can u PM me and tell me what the bug/loophole is, please?

[lurkio]

Thank you to Diminished, who PM'd me and confirmed that there was indeed a bug or loophole in the game.

I've now fixed the bug and attached the updated version of the game to the first post in this thread.

I've uploaded the fix to bbcmicro.co.uk too.

[lcww1]

the person who sent it to me did mention that it made him "clinically insane".

Well, I very much hope that the author recovers his sanity after a suitable period of rest! What else might this mind be capable of producing? We need to know.

[barbarossa69]

That was a-maze-ing

Very cleverly done.

[Diminished]

OK, I solved it, finally.

There was a brief moment of horror when I figured it out. All I'll say is that I've experienced something like this before.

[lurkio]

the person who sent it to me did mention that it made him "clinically insane".

Well, I very much hope that the author recovers his sanity after a suitable period of rest! What else might this mind be capable of producing? We need to know.

I'll ask him -- but I'll have to wait till visiting hours.

That was a-maze-ing

Groan!

Very cleverly done.

Cheers!

There was a brief moment of horror when I figured it out.

"Achievement Unlocked"..?

[streaks]

>GET SUMMAT
There's nowt to get.

>GAN SOMEWHERE
Ah cannit!

>INV
Yer've got nowt.

>AHM NORTHERN, AREN'T AH?
Aye.