Twisty

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Friday, September 5th, 2008 | Programs

For more including Author's Notes download the eBook pages with this program's code listing.

Twisty is a minimalist interactive fiction adventure game somewhat like Zork. You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

This program is a rather nostalgic little labyrinth game. Start out by typing “get lamp”, then use the direction words “left”, “right”, “forward”, and “back” to explore the caves. Note that these words can refer to different passages depending on which way you’re facing. “back” always takes you back the way you came. Type “quit” to quit.

The maze is randomly generated each time you play. The algorithm ensures that you start at least 6 hops away from the exit. All passages are two-way. (There is a trick, well-known among adventure game fans, to keeping one’s bearings in games like this. Unless you know the trick, it can be very difficult to find your way around. Try it out first; I’ll give away the secret at the bottom of the PDF.)

The goal is to collect 8 treasures (plus the lamp) and escape into the sunlight - or moonlight, as the case may be. After a few minutes, the lamp runs out of oil, and things become perilous. If you manage to escape, you score 50 points for your hide, 50 points per item, and bonus points for speed.

Twisty was written by Jason Orendorff.

Tags: Jason Orendorff

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