Game Classification

Steve Jackson's Sorcery!: The Shamutanti Hills Bright Artificial Intelligence Ltd., Bright Artificial Intelligence Ltd., 2010  

Informations Analyses Serious Gaming
 

Classification

VIDEO GAME

Keywords

Purpose

Besides play, this title features the following intents:
  • Licensed title

Market

This title is used by the following domains:
  • Entertainment

Audience

This title targets the following audience:
Age : 12 to 16 years old / 17 to 25 years old
General Public

Gameplay

The gameplay of this title is Game-based
(designed with stated goals)

The core of gameplay is defined by the rules below:

Similar games


The player controls the actions of a lone hero championing for the sake of the kingdom of Analand, part of a confederacy of civilized lands on the continent of The Old World, itself comfortably remote from other sites of interest on the stock Fighting Fantasy game world of Titan.

This hero, a warrior or mage in the service of King Chalanna, quests to the distant northeast in pursuit of the Birdmen of Xamen who have robbed his sovereign of a magical Crown of Kings, shared among civilized rulers but desired by the Birdmens' master, the Archmage who governs cruelly from his fortress of Mampang.

This, the first of a four-part quest (a sub-series of linked games under an overarching narrative branded Sorcery! among the Fighting Fantasy gamebook line) to retrieve the artifact, concerns the player's journey through the titular Shamutanti Hills, dividing the player's native Analand from the setting of part two: Kharé, the Cityport of Traps. In addition to a protracted endgame section concerning a game of cat-and-mouse with a manticore in a cave complex, it also introduces the character of Jann the Minimite, a magic-cancelling nuisance interfering with the natural laws governing their magical world.

The game adaptation adheres to most conventions of the original gamebook written and published decades hence, retaining its original illustrations (now enhanced in colour) and Steve Jackson's original prose linking choose-your-own-adventure decision-crossroads. Gamebook players would originally keep track of their inventory and track three statistics (SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK) manually with a pencil, eraser and a pair of 6-sided dice, but here the machine presenting the story also takes care of all such accounting -- and prevents casual cheating. Tapping the screen "flips pages" (advances the text), while the dice can be "rolled" by shaking the mobile device and tripping its accelerometer. New to the work, this adaptation features some sound effects. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : iPhone / iPod Touch

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