Desert

Desert description

Survival simulator, established already in 1982 - with full text, written in basic, and "re-opened" only in the middle of 2010-ies. Intriguing, isn't it?

The plot is very conventional: we have to play for a "camel rider", which mentioned riding animal runs away from an angry tribe of pygmies (!), while being in the Gobi desert (!!!). Actually announced the fact very disappointing and it is unclear, for reasons of political correctness or some other undersized Africans took the place of at least not less warlike nomadic Uighurs, which in the real Gobi enough. On the other hand, it is possible that "pygmies" have been named as a fictional tribe of dwarfs, it does not matter one word.

Formally, the task is trivial: you need to be able to cross through the desert distance with a length of 40 miles with a camel and a small supply of water, and also the "tail" of the very evil pygmies, while located at a distance of a few miles, but the leading persistent pursuit. Before you start be sure to read the short rules of the game - let complete understanding of it, they do not give: there are six types of commands, denoted by the numbers 1 to 6, and you have to print them exclusively, after referring to the description of the current situation changing after every crime you action (in other words, one order is identical to the course).

The following: drink of water (initially available amount is enough to quench the thirst of six times); to move forward on a camel with the usual speed; the same, but at the highest speed possible (in fact, you can apply only if the camel before it rested, otherwise the animal will die, and the result of course will be your death and as a consequence - the loss of); to sleep (this is, in particular, will allow for a camel to recover); check out "state of Affairs" - the team is very important (while it, like all the others, spent a whole turn): displays information about how many miles you have gone, how's the camel, how much you have left of water, how many moves you can do before again, will feel intolerable thirst (of that figure it is necessary to remember, otherwise you'll die in case you choose at some point the wrong team) and at what distance from you are pygmies; finally, ask for help - a kind of lottery: the result can be as obtaining a reliable supply of water from, apparently, some kind of randomly encountered natives, and instant loss. There are also three types of random events: the discovery of the oasis - it is possible to fully restore the supply of water and strength of the camel; getting into a sand storm (in which the protagonist, apparently, straying from the path, so the total number of remaining miles to the target increases); getting captured by the nomads (the death). Sad endings are often accompanied by unpleasant comments - for example, we can tell that the local Sheikh made your skull a box for their trinkets.

Verdict - a measure of fun, the ability to attract the lovers of word games unusual surroundings, no need to print commands from letters, but someone might - and short duration; the descriptive texts are very short and simple so that you can pass with a minimum knowledge of the English language. However, it should be borne in mind that the element of chance is good or not, is very large, so dying is quite real even after the first command. So in conclusion, recall that the Desert is a hefty and rare - after all - live classics, miraculously returned to the players after all these years.

Tired of your same old routine, want to add some entertainment and fun element in hour life? Play one of the best videogame Desert online now and change your boring oold routine for good.

Source: Archive.org, Mobygames.com