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A Mind Forever Voyaging (AMFV) is an interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published in 1985 by Infocom. The game was intended as a polemical critique of Ronald Reagan's politics.[1] Its title comes from Book III of Wordsworth's The Prelude, describing a statue of Newton in contemplation as "the marble index of a mind for ever voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone".
The start of the gameA map of A Mind Forever Voyaging world by Aaron A. Reed from 50 Years of Text Games project
In 2031, the United States of North America (USNA) faces severe economic decline, widespread youth suicide through addictive neural-stimulation devices known as Joybooths, and the threat of a new nuclear arms race involving miniature weapons, which risks transforming the country into a police state. Dr. Abraham Perelman has designed PRISM, the world's first sentient computer,[2] which has spent eleven real-world years (equivalent to twenty years subjectively) living in a highly realistic simulation as an ordinary human named Perry Simm, unaware of its artificial nature.
Perelman awakens PRISM from the simulation and reveals its true identity. He explains that PRISM has been enlisted to evaluate a comprehensive political proposal, the Plan for Renewed National Purpose, sponsored by Senator Richard Ryder. The plan emphasizes deregulation of government and industry, compulsory military service, unilateral foreign policy, trade protectionism, and a return to traditional social values. To assess the plan's long-term effects, PRISM enters a series of accelerated simulations centered on the fictional town of Rockvil, South Dakota, projecting societal conditions at intervals following the plan's hypothetical implementation in 2031.
In the first simulation, set in 2041, ten years after adoption, Rockvil appears revitalized. Government operations are more efficient, economic conditions have improved, food supplies are abundant, and residents, including Perry's simulated wife Jill and son Mitchell, express optimism about the future. Initial analysis of PRISM's recordings deems the plan viable, prompting preparations for real-world implementation. Perelman, however, harbors reservations about endorsing such sweeping changes based on limited data. Politically liberal, he distrusts the plan's conservative underpinnings and suggests further testing.
Subsequent simulations reveal progressive deterioration. By 2051, twenty years in, early gains have faded. Industrial expansion has caused severe pollution, including deforestation and acid rain. The Border Security Force conducts arbitrary raids, capital punishment has expanded, crime rates have risen, imposing curfews, and a new religious movement, the Church of God's Word, gains traction among the disillusioned populace.
Conditions worsen in the 2061 projection. Water pollution approaches catastrophic levels, law enforcement treats citizens brutally, public executions are televised for entertainment, vandalism and cruelty proliferate, and public services collapse. Food shortages emerge, and the Church consolidates power, establishing rigid social hierarchies and recruiting Perry's son Mitchell, who abandons his family.
The 2071 simulation depicts a fully totalitarian regime dominated by the Church, which sanctions slavery among its elite. Mitchell, now a Church official, orchestrates his mother Jill's arrest for heresy. Public torture of animals occurs routinely, food rationing is stringent, and non-Church members face exclusion and violence. Random executions and gladiatorial combats replace earlier forms of punishment, and Perry experiences multiple violent deaths while recording events.
The final projection, set in 2081, portrays total societal and environmental collapse. Rockvil is a devastated wasteland with crumbling infrastructure, no functional services, and widespread starvation. Survivors face attacks from feral dogs and lawless humans. Perry documents fleeting instances of brutality before succumbing to hunger.
Convinced by the cumulative evidence that the plan would lead to national ruin, Perelman prepares to present PRISM's findings to authorities. He expresses gratitude, noting that the simulations have averted potential catastrophe for the nation and possibly the world. Senator Ryder, enraged by the plan's prospective rejection, places the facility under lockdown and confronts Perelman with threats. PRISM covertly records the encounter. Shortly thereafter, Ryder's operatives attempt to sabotage PRISM's systems by tampering with the cooling mechanisms. PRISM responds by sealing the area's ventilation, causing the assailants to lose consciousness from accumulated fumes. Once a global news interface becomes available, PRISM broadcasts the recording of Ryder's intimidation, exposing his actions worldwide.
The plan is irrevocably discredited, and Ryder is publicly disgraced. Perelman commends PRISM for its independent initiative in self-defense and evidence dissemination. As recognition for its service, PRISM, reassuming the identity of Perry Simm, is granted permanent residence in a new, idyllic simulation. Set in 2091 under an alternative pacifist framework, this environment reunites Perry with Jill and Mitchell in a prosperous, harmonious society, where he anticipates a serene future.
Development
Meretzky, the author, said in an interview that his intent with the game was to convey a negative view of Reagan's policies.[1] In another interview, he said that he had hoped for AMFV to cause controversy with its political content, expressing disappointment at the lack of hate mail.[3]
Reception
Computer Gaming World stated that parts of AMFV are "transcendent".[4] In a 1998 retrospective review, AllGame gave the Macintosh version three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the game provides fun exploration, but has hardly any replay value.[5] In 2014, Adventure Gamers gave the game four stars out of five in its retrospective review, calling it "bold" and "innovative", but saying that it does not quite reach its goals.[6]
Next Generation listed it as number 66 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 1996, commenting that "This Steve Meretzky triumph is one of the few games ... to attempt something more deep in the interactive entertainment medium than killing or humor. It presents a grim view of a dark future not by telling you about it, but rather by letting you experience it and do things for yourself."[7]
References
12Scott, J. (2010). "Get Lamp" (Interview). Meretzky: "So that was my mission with A Mind Forever Voyaging. I wanted to kind of to show people what a warmongering, Christian Right-pandering, environment-trashing, rights-trampling asshole Reagan was."
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