Game #89: World’s Edge

World’s Edge is a text adventure that was published in 1980 and written by Gregory Hassett. The 14 year old would create and publish 10 different text adventures between the years of 1979 and 1980. We have played and reviewed them all except Mystery Mansion which I finally found a copy of and is coming up in the que soon.

I was extremely frustrated with Hassett’s Devil’s Palace however I found this offering to be rather enjoyable. The puzzles were fair and rather typical of what you’d expect to find in a Gregory Hassett game. What made the puzzles atypical for a Gregory Hassett game was their seamless integration into the narrative and how they were used to add color and enjoyment to the game (more on this later).

I was impressed with the parser and the general flow of the game but surprised at how short the game seemed. This is likely a consequence caused by the puzzles matching the narrative thus creating an orderly flow.

It is rather unfair to say that World’s Edge is an easy game. It is certainly easier than Hassett’s Devil’s Palace however the ease of play is a ripple effect of the narrative and the interesting puzzles.

There are two different pivotal points in the game and getting by both of these pivot points opens up several new locations. One pivotal point is discovering the jetpak and the second pivotal point (and probably the game’s hardest puzzle) is getting by the space amoeba. I really enjoyed the use of the different objects and the role that they played in solving the puzzles of the game. The puzzles were not difficult but they were interesting and colorful and helped to drive the narrative. It is what, in my humble opinion, made the game so enjoyable and made it also feel so fast.

It is refreshing to encounter a puzzle that helps to drive the narrative in a colorful and fun way. The difficulty level of the puzzle is irrelevant as long as it serves the narrative’s larger purpose. Too often in these early games we are subjected to a maze or two as part of the game whose sole purpose seems to be to make the games longer or we are presented with a puzzle that makes no logical sense or doesn’t serve the plot in any way but makes perfect “adventure game sense.”

When I reached the end of World’s Edge I did not feel the disappointment that I felt at the end of Devil’s Palace but instead had a fun time. It had everything to do with the parser and puzzles rolling right along in seamless fashion. Most every object had a pragmatic use that also made the game fun in a colorful way. Whether it was the puddle of the amoeba or the sickle or laser pistol or piece of plastic or the holocube they all served to drive the narrative thus creating an enjoyable experience.

It took me roughly an hour to play and finish World’s Edge. When I finally play Hassett’s Mystery Mansion; I will have played all of his games and I will likely rank all 10 of them. I believe that World’s Edge is going to find itself somewhere near the top of that list.