An text adventure game released by Audiogenic. The Secret of St. Brides is written in Quill. So if you like Quill designed games from previous experiences you will like this game.
One of these games that makes us think of the extraordinary fantasy these authors have. The key to an excellent adventure is the fantasy but also how the parts connect to eachother – the descriptions, the items and the action.
Given that there are no illustrations in the game it is a struck of genious to make a comic inspired cover with some inputs for the imagination to the descriptions.
In the Magazines
Regular readers of this column will know that I have a distinct partiality for odd storylines and original plots. The Secret of St Bride’s falls smack dab into that category. St Bride’s is a real school in Ireland but its set up is like a girls’ boarding school fifty years ago. The, er, more mature lady may enjoy spending a week or so there to see what a private school was like in that remote era. This Quilled adventure, with loca-tion graphics, is set in that abode of learning and begins as Trixie Trinian arrives there for her hols. Having donned your gymslip you start to wonder just what on earth this odd place is about, with its ancient wirelesses and copies of newspapers from the 1920s.
Your main task is to find out what the secret of the school is and then return it to present day normality. Built into the game is a search for a mysterious amulet — almost a game in itself. Anyone discovering the Secret will be awarded a St Bride’s Certificate of Merit by the Games Mistresses who direct this bizarre school. I kid you not . . . it really exists! Play commences in the dorm where your chums Fiona and Cynthia join in your hunt. An exploration of the school shows that all exits are blocked. Only the Forbidden Door offers a way out. Escape from here can be managed through a special Use command built into the game which helps to get round the two word input system of the Quill.
By using a pencil and then placing it in the keyhole you’ll get the key . . . there’s slightly more to it than that but I shan’t spoil your fun —write to the Fat One next door if you’re stuck. The Secret of St Bride’s is humorous, well written and full of odd connections. It is a tongue in cheek romp through the realms of Angela Brazil — if you like the sound of it you should send your £6.95 to St Bride’s School, Burtonport, County Donegal, Ireland. The Games Mistresses tell me they may have a distributor soon — keep an eye out for it.
From the Covers
What is the secret of St. Brides? Why do all the pupils and mistresses of the school seem to be living in the 1930s? To find out, start by exploring the classrooms and dormitories – but be warned, the quest will take you way beyond the confines of the school – back to Cromwell’s time, to the wild fantasy world of ancient Ireland and right across the country to the glittering Dublin of the turn of the century – and you still may not have answer!
