Name: Pawn, The
Platform: Atari 800
Region: United Kingdom
Media: Disk
Controller: Keyboard
Genre: Adventure - Graphic - Text
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1985
Developer: Magnetic Scrolls
Publisher: Rainbird
Players: 1
Programmer: Ken Gordon, Hugh Steers
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The aim of this interactive fiction with graphics is to escape from the land of Kerovnia, where strange occurrences are routine. The Roobikyoub dwarves have been banished from the kingdom, which is not good as they produce high-quality whisky. King Erik is not popular for this decision, as some feel that ale brewers and mineral water bottlers have influenced him. Honest John the trader and Kronos the Magician play a key role in your journey, each offering sub-quests to attempt.

The package includes a novella complete with map and decipherable hints, which are accessed by typing 'hint' followed by the code into the computer. Therefore, those with only a pirated copy would struggle to complete the game.

Your score and the number of locations visited are both displayed in the title bar. The parser allows whole words to be deleted and unaccepted previous entries to be re-edited.

Trivia:

Release history

The game was initially released for the Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) as a pure text adventure. Since it was not very successful on that platform, Magnetic Scrolls released it a little later for the other home computers of that time and added graphics (at least for most of the platforms). 

Translations

The parser system was originally designed to allow easy translation to other languages. But, according to programmer Anita Sinclair, the German and French grammar proved to be too impossible to implement. 


http://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-8-bit/pawn
