Suzanne Skinner Speaks:

Note: You can read all of Suzanne's reviews at her web site

* Edifice, by Lucian Smith (8)

Edifice is an allegory of sorts about the evolution from ape to man, and the major steps we went through during the journey. The edifice has three levels, each of which leads to a different world with you at a particular turning point in evolution. The game has a certain stark simplicity about it, one which is perhaps suited to the allegorical nature and to the primitive mind of the character you are playing. I might have scored it around 5 or 6 for overall gameplay, but it won my heart with an extremely clever and well-implemented set of linguistic puzzles on level 2--one of my favorite types of puzzles, and one I don't encounter nearly often enough. The level of immersion in level 1 is also very good--the grassland is portrayed in rich detail, using all 5 senses rather than just sight and giving a feeling of vast open space. These details made me feel quite forgiving about the game's drawbacks in other areas.

This line last updated January 12th, 1998 AD
lpsmith @rice.edu