In Two Heads of the Coin you play the role of a detective who is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. Your sidekick is a Dr. Grimsby rather than Dr. Watson.
We have spent a lot of time in past reviews looking at the historical progression of interactive fiction and identifying the common tropes during that period. This game is historically significant in that it tries and accomplishes something which, up to this point, has never been done before.
Robert LaFore has his entire story take place in the detective’s sitting room. The entire plot and game progresses through conversation between the characters. The game begins with a visitor knocking upon your door at a late hour looking for help. The visitor is a Mr. James Conway. In character, you show Mr. Conway into the sitting room and have him sit down; at which point you then ask him how you can be of assistance. Mr. Conway explains that he wants you to investigate the disappearance of his wife.
The game progresses and you obtain clues and information by talking to Mr. Conway and asking him questions. This is where the game becomes really unique and it really shines. You are not “choosing” questions from a menu or playing a “pick your path to adventure” game. You have to quite literally play the role of detective and ask the right kinds of questions that will elicit “clues” which allow you to piece together the solution. We are also not talking about a two word parser here. Your questions can use proper grammar and be rather lengthy; as if you’re having an actual conversation! I am sure the program is just working off of key words in your sentences but it comes off as rather sophisticated for 1979.
If you find yourself struggling during the interview you can ask Dr. Grimsby for help who will usually do a good job of asking the questions that you did not think to ask. He will not hesitate to make you aware of that either.
This is not a long game and will probably be solved in about a 45 minute session. The idea of obtaining clues through an actual dialogue in 1979 was quite novel. I was able to work the puzzle out though I found the solution a bit difficult to swallow. If you’re interested in trying something completely different that won’t take up too much of your time I strongly recommend you sit down with Lafore’s Two Heads of a Coin. In hindsight; I wonder if Lafore’s work influenced Infocom’s Deadline or Witness which would come much later.