Your name is Jorge Harris and you’re a detective for the Sacramento Police Department in the not too distant future.
You were sent to the Toyland factory to look for evidence in a crime case, but you weren’t able to find anything incriminating, so you’re now heading back to the office. When you get to the exit, you find that you can’t leave unless accompanied by an android. It’s probably something to do with security. Why didn’t anyone tell you about this before you entered the factory?
Thus begins the Andrea trilogy of text adventures. The trilogy consists of:
- The Toy Factory
- The Boarding House Murder
- Blue Eyes and Board Wax
In the first game, you have to find an android to accompany you out of the factory. In the second game, this android becomes your partner and helps you to solve three crimes oriented around the murder of a boarding house owner. In the third game, your boss rewards you with a couple of days off, so you take your android partner to the beach.
The games are self contained, but each game leads into the next and they get progressively harder and longer, so it’s recommended that you play them in sequence. For experienced players, the first game should take about 15 to 30 minutes. The second and third games should take an hour or more. Allow extra time for testing, as there is a lot to explore.
The one thing that characterises all three games is that your android companion has a problem with her memory, so she occasionally needs you to help her remember a word so that she can offer suggestions or give you a clue. This is handled slightly differently in each game.
If you would like to test these games, send me a private message and I’ll send you the url and password. I plan to enter these in Bare-Bones Jam, so feedback is required by mid-October. I realise this is a busy time of year with IFComp and ECTOCOMP, so feel free to sort your priorities as you see fit.
The games are written with PunyInform and compiled to z5 files, so you will need a z-code interpreter to play them or you can use iplayif.com. Other playing options will be available when the games are released for the jam.
Incidentally, these games are vastly enhanced versions of three unpublished games that were originally written by @Dooriddle. For further background, see I need to hire someone to write a TA.