Alice in Wonderland is a delightful little Windham Classic, similar in style to Below the Root. Join Alice as she falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange land of talking mice, caterpillars, eggs, and both friendly and hostile humans. Inventory and actions are controlled through the use of a selection menu. Tapping left, right, up, or down controls whether Alice walks, runs, jumps, and climbs up or down ladders. Most puzzles are inventory based, and it helps to know the Lewis Carroll story intimately while playing the game.
Alice in Wonderland is a delightful little Windham Classic, similar in style to Below the Root. Join Alice as she falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange land of talking mice, caterpillars, eggs, and both friendly and hostile humans. Inventory and actions are controlled through the use of a selection menu. Tapping left, right, up, or down controls whether Alice walks, runs, jumps, and climbs up or down ladders. Most puzzles are inventory based, and it helps to know the Lewis Carroll story intimately while playing the game. Potions and cakes that make you either grow or shrink, pipes that smoking caterpillars desire, and music to ward off your evil twin are all featured.
You might remember this classic from
the Apple 2 or Commodore 64 in the early 1980's, which is where I first played it. Windham published this game, Below the Root, Treasure Island, and several other text or text and graphical adventures based on literature. The graphics are not much to speak of, being meant for much earlier generation systems, but what they lack in graphical capability they more than make up in the fun of exploration and a reminder of your favourite books.
Alice in Wonderland is one of the more difficult of these games, the puzzles being occasionally more obscure than those featured in Below the Root. There are many "fetch" style quests, and once some areas are left they cannot be gone back to. There is a save and load feature in case you find yourself stuck with no chance of going back. Alice does not have health and cannot be permanently injured. Many of the puzzles are environment-based and involve precision running or jumping. The jumping puzzles are made easier by the use of Alice's parasol.
Don't expect a platformer that matches today's technology, but if you can put the dated graphics and PC speaker beeps and boops behind you, Alice holds up as an early exploration game. Even if the controls frustrate you, hopefully nostalgia for the days of early computer gaming will keep you exploring Wonderland through until the end. Many of today's games hide derivative play and uninteresting environments behind flashy graphics and sound. Alice in Wonderland is worth playing because of its rich world.
