Russell Glasser Speaks:

EDIFICE

Score: 9

I've always had a special fondness for epic games that take a broad view of Time as a theme. A Mind Forever Voyaging, the time travelling segments of Spellbreaker, TimeQuest,... I just eat this stuff up.

So when I figured out what "Edifice" was all about, after a little weirdness in the beginning of the game, I was delighted! This game is a one-man (or one-Beast) evolutionary saga, chronicling the progress of a species (definitely humanoid, possibly historical or possibly in a parallel universe) from an unintelligible grunting animal, up through the ages of the hunter-gatherer stage, to become a caveman developing the roots of communication, and finally a great tribal chief leading his people in a war for survival.

As a story, the execution is marvelous. Particularly delightful was the language scene, where you are given all the tools to communicate in a new language with a foreign stranger. As my dictionary grew steadily, I felt a fine sense of accomplishment to rival any of the best puzzles I've played. The Stranger's vocabulary was broad enough to make him a genuinely loveable NPC, with only a little frustration that he wasn't understanding me (after all, he wasn't supposed to).

The game is a little bit long, and I found myself hurrying through the walkthrough at the end because I wanted to see where the game would lead before my two hours were up. This was disappointing, especially since I was really hoping for the satisfaction of solving the language puzzle by myself, but wasn't allowed due to time constraints. Then, too, the game was slightly marred by some minor "guess what I'm thinking" puzzles. I was stumped by the need to draw pictures on bark ("crush berries?" huh?), and also found throwing sticks at stumps a slightly questionable demand in the walkthrough. I imagine some players might have figured these things out, but I'm pretty sure I would never have gotten them without hints.

On the whole, though, I got a great deal of pleasure out of Edifice, and I congratulate Lucian on an excellent effort. It was the first game that I played, and I originally gave it an 8. After playing a few more games, I bumped it up by one more point: this game is a truly outstanding entry.
This line last updated January 12th, 1998 AD
lpsmith @rice.edu