Madness and the Minotaur is a text adventure game, published in 1981 for the TRS-80 Color Computer by Radio Shack in North America and by Microdeal in the United Kingdom. It was developed by Spectral Associates founder, Thomas Rosenbaum.
A Dragon 32 version was published in 1982 by Dragon Data.
Gameplay
The goal of the game is to retrieve a number of treasures. In the course of doing this, the player will encounter other objects that may or may not be useful. Often, the player needs one object to act as a “key” for another. There is no rhyme or reason to this. The player doesn’t use the key object to obtain the other; he just needs to be carrying it. For example, the player may see a shield. Perhaps the player needs to be carrying the dagger to get the shield. If the player has the dagger, the shield is reachable; if he does not, it is not. With the exception of a randomly appearing “oracle”, the game gives no indication of what objects are needed to reach a treasure. There are various magic spells that can be learned throughout the game that have various effects.
References
External links
- Madness and the Minotaur in the Interactive Fiction Database
Gamer24h Editor's Take
Put under the Gamer24h team's microscope, Madness and the Minotaur raises the bar considerably with both its storytelling and technical polish. Thanks to Spectral Associates's meticulous craftsmanship and Radio Shack, Microdeal (EU), Dragon Data (Dragon 32)'s strong presentation, the high production quality is evident in every moment of the game. Masterfully blending Interactive fiction mechanics with modern standards, the game's fluid gameplay makes hours fly by unnoticed. If you're looking for an absorbing world and satisfying mechanics that pull you right in, this game might be exactly what you've been searching for.