Enchanter (computer game)

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Enchanter

Developer(s)	Infocom
Publisher(s)	Infocom
Designer(s)	Marc Blank and Dave Lebling
Engine	ZIL
Release date(s)	Release 10: August 10, 1983 Release 15: November 7, 1983 Release 16: November 18, 1983 Release 24: November 18, 1985 Release 29: August 20, 1986
Genre(s)	Text adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
Media	3½" or 5¼" disk
System requirements	No special requirements
Input	Keyboard

Enchanter is a 1983 interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. It belongs to the fantasy genre and was the first fantasy game published by Infocom after the Zork trilogy (it was originally intended to be Zork IV). The game had a parser that understood over 700 words, making it the most advanced interactive fiction game of its time.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Krill, an incredibly powerful evil warlock, is spreading chaos and destruction. None of the more experienced members of the Circle of Enchanters dare to attempt to stop him. In desperation, the player, a novice Enchanter with only a few weak spells in his spell book, is sent in hopes that Krill will either fail to detect him or dismiss him as harmless. More powerful spells can be found on scrolls hidden in various locations, but as the player becomes more of a threat, Krill will respond accordingly.

[edit] Notes

Frotz, a modern open-source interpreter for Infocom games (as well as independently written interactive fiction) draws its name from a spell ("cause object to glow with illumination") in Enchanter and its sequels. Another spell, Blorb ("hide an object in a strongbox"), is the name of a standard wrapper for interactive fiction multimedia resources. Several other IF tools have also been named after spells from the series.

This was the first game of a trilogy, usually referred to as "The Enchanter Trilogy". The others in the series are 1984's Sorcerer and 1985's Spellbreaker. It was also intended, at one point, to be a sequel of sorts to the Zork trilogy. In the game Zork III, a device slowly cycles through "scenes" from each of the Zork games as a number is displayed above it. A depiction of the sacrifical altar from then-unreleased Enchanter appeared under the number "IV".

Robin Wayne Bailey's 1989 novel Enchanter is a companion rather than a novelisation.

Infocom rated Enchanter as "Standard" in difficulty.