Gargoyle Castle by Kit Domenico was a hidden gem for me from 1980. I completely understand that value, appreciation, and entertainment where games are concerned are completely subjective. It’s no different than the Coke vs. Pepsi taste test. Some prefer Coke while there are others who prefer Pepsi. Whether or not you LIKE one game over another is completely subjective. We can make objective observations to support our opinion but at the end of the day one man’s trash may be another man’s treasure.
Reality Ends falls into the latter category for me. I now have played and reviewed 70 games from this era and when a unique one comes along it causes me to sit up in my chair a little bit straighter. Reality Ends was written by William F. Denman Jr. and published by Med Systems.
The game format is unique in that location descriptions are shown at the top of the screen, inventory is located on the bottom left, and your map is depicted on the lower right side of the screen. It is the map and way that you move about it that is one of the unique features of this game. The game advertises over 200 different locations. When you move about the map, rather than type in a direction such as WEST, you use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move around. I elected not to use Trizbort to map out the locations and instead chose a good old fashioned piece of graph paper.
There may be over 200 locations on the map but there are really only 22 locations of importance that you interact with. The grid is 12 rows high and 18 columns across. The entire game takes place outdoors and the world environment is split into forests, grasslands, and what is referred to as a dead place zone. A result of the dreaded Citadel Baldir which is also located in this region. Each location on the grid is described as a parallel universe that you are moving through. I found this format and setup extremely original and unique for the time period and I was excited for something different. Astute players will notice that the game environment or landscape gets progressively worse as you move from left to right on the map. This is meant to reinforce the negative impact that the evil Citadel is having on reality.
Since I began this review with the subject of bias I would like to take the time to extrapolate on that. It is a marvel that game designers did so much with so little in this era. There simply was not a lot of computer memory and technology had not yet taken off by leaps and bounds. Up to this point I have embarked on many treasure hunts and navigated my way through many mazes. Therefore my expectations for a relatively obscure game for the TRS-80 were rather low. While I applauded the “uniqueness” or novelty of the map in Reality Ends I expected the locations or the puzzles to be mundane or rather simple affairs. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself wrong on both counts. Where subjective observations our concerned, was my enjoyment of this game so high because it shattered my preconceived biases? Now that I have declared for you that I feel that Reality Ends is another undiscovered gem from 1980, will your own expectations now be so high that you are ultimately disappointed by what you find? Ah the joys of objective vs. subjective observations.
I enjoyed the puzzles and the way the game had you use your inventory to react with the environment. A few of the puzzles were devious and required some thought such as the Seedy Tavern with the strange brew, the quicksand pit, and the Tel Aviv gun market. Successfully procuring some silver which you need to win the game was a multiple step affair. Trying to wrest the Amulet of Sangi from the City of Margon was another tricky puzzle. You also have to wrest a sword from a dragon and steal a book of lore from a minotaur. Good luck! You win the game by ultimately laying siege to the Citadel of Baldir in order to destroy it and thus save reality. Even the ending comes across as a bit cinematic.
I really enjoyed my experience with this game and I look forward to trying other games from this author and the company. Don’t take my word for it though. Remember our experience with these games is completely subjective. Try it out for yourself. You can play Reality Ends here: Play Reality Ends. I hope that you enjoy yourself and I look forward to hearing from you.