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Approaching your front gate, you are suddenly visited
by a representative of the Department of Guardians.
He has been sent to tell you why Aquatania is losing
its luck -- and that you have been chosen to
do something about it.
A
group of mischievous witches have been plotting behind
the scenes to subvert society and change the fortunes
of the land, the Guardian explains. Continuing, he tells
you that to combat these evil enterprises you must find
five special charms and a broken magic bracelet.
Once
all these have been located, the bracelet can be reassembled
and together with the charms, used to combat the power
of the witches and return good fortune to the land.
Jinxter
is full of characters you can communicate with, including
a megalomaniac gardener, a trigger-happy postmistress
and a none-too-intelligent postman called Poor Bloody
Lebling -- presumably a reference to Infocom programmer
David (Zork, Sorcerer) Lebling!
But
none of these Aquatanians, or even the many dangers
that are to be found in Jinxter, should bother
the player too much -- you can't die. This may at first
take the thrill out of the adventure, but as its style
becomes familiar, the player finds it works very well,
allowing you to get the most enjoyment out of Jinxter
without too much caution.
Unfortunately,
disk access is horrifically slow. Waiting as long as
40 seconds for a reply is common, and no matter how
good an adventure is, that's quite a drawback.
The
graphics are detailed and colourful (although slow to
load), and some objects in them can be manipulated in
minor ways even when their presence isn't mentioned
in the text description.
The
prose itself is positively dripping with atmosphere,
and often amusing.
Jinxter
is a large game with a multitude of tasks to attempt,
a very impressive parser and an unusual plot. It's a
must for all disk-drive-owning adventurers, though the
disk-access time is extreme and contributes to the low
interaction percentage.
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