The Guild of Thieves

Last updated
The Guild of Thieves
The Guild of Thieves - cover art (ZX Spectrum).jpg
ZX Spectrum cover art
Developer(s) Magnetic Scrolls
Publisher(s) Rainbird Software
Designer(s) Rob Steggles
Platform(s) Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Archimedes, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Mac, ZX Spectrum [1]
Release1987
Genre(s) Interactive fiction
Mode(s) Single-player

The Guild of Thieves is an interactive fiction game by Magnetic Scrolls first published by Rainbird in 1987. The game takes place in Kerovnia, the setting of the company's earlier The Pawn .

Contents

Gameplay

Start of the Amiga version Guild of thieves.jpg
Start of the Amiga version

The player's character is "an aspiring member of the infamous Guild of Thieves" and is to steal all the valuables that can be found in and around an island castle. The game features "extremely atmospheric" [2] descriptions and 30 artistic renditions of key locations. Included in the game package are a faux newsletter of the Guild of Thieves titled What Burglar providing instructions and hints for the game, a Bank of Kerovnia Trading Account Card, a guild contract detailing the arrangement between the player's character and the Guild of Thieves, and small dice.

Reception

The game was voted Best Adventure Game Of The Year at the Golden Joystick Awards. [3]

Dragon complimented the game, calling it an "exciting sequel" to The Pawn , citing its "witty dialogue, outstanding graphics, wry humor, and challenging puzzles". [4] Computer Gaming World in 1988 approved of the game's sophisticated parser, British humor, and high-quality graphics. It concluded, "the game must be highly recommended and it is tough ... it compares well with the best of Infocom". [5] The magazine's Charles Ardai in 1992 called its puzzles "pretty good, requiring a certain amount of ingenuity ... None are particularly memorable, though. The game is good, but lacks the sparks of innovation that would elevate it above the level of dozens of similar games". [6]

Antic stated "The outstanding graphics of The Pawn are matched by those in Guild of Thieves. High-resolution pictures transport you into a medieval world of thieves, castles and treasure. The only complaint I have about the Atari XE/XL version is that most of the detailed graphics had only shades of one or two colors." [7]

Legacy

The game was re-released in 1992 as part of the Magnetic Scrolls Collection. [6] The new version had an updated user interface and came with an art poster depicting the island.

In June 2017, Magnetic Scrolls successfully recovered the source code of The Guild of Thieves (among other games) to remaster and re-release them. [8] [9] In December 2017, the remastered and enhanced edition of the game was published. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 5200</span> Home video game console

The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout, which had already appeared on previous Atari home platforms.

<i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure</i> 1989 video game

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphic adventure game, released in 1989 by Lucasfilm Games, coinciding with the release of the film of the same name. It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.

Magnetic Scrolls was a British video game developer active between 1984 and 1990. A pioneer of audiovisually elaborate text adventure games, it was one of the largest and most acclaimed interactive fiction developers of the 1980s, and one of the "Big Two" with Infocom according to some.

<i>Dungeon Master</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Dungeon Master is a role-playing video game featuring a pseudo-3D first-person perspective. It was developed and published by FTL Games for the Atari ST in 1987, almost identical Amiga and PC (DOS) ports following in 1988 and 1992.

<i>Wizards Crown</i> 1986 video game

Wizard's Crown is a top-down role-playing video game published by Strategic Simulations in 1986. It was released for the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST, IBM PC compatibles, Apple II, and Commodore 64. A sequel, The Eternal Dagger, was released in 1987.

<i>Jinxter</i> 1987 video game

Jinxter is an interactive fiction video game developed by Magnetic Scrolls and published by Rainbird in 1987 for 8-bit and 16-bit home computers of the time. Jinxter tells the story of a man on a mission to save the fictional land of Aquitania from the looming threat of evil witches. The game was well received by critics upon its release.

<i>The Pawn</i> (video game) 1985 video game

The Pawn is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rainbird.

<i>The Last Ninja</i> 1987 video game

The Last Ninja is an action-adventure game developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. It was converted to the Apple IIGS, MS-DOS, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988, the Apple II in 1989, the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990, and the Acorn Archimedes in 1991.

<i>Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony</i> 1985 video game

Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony is a video game produced by Origin Systems and designed by Greg Malone. It was originally released in 1985 for the Apple II. Versions were also released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, and MS-DOS. The game is primarily a top-down view tile-based role-playing video game, but it has action-based combat sequences which use a side view, roughly similar to games such as Karateka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 8-bit computer software</span>

Many games, utilities, and educational programs were available for Atari 8-bit computers. Atari, Inc. was primarily the publisher following the launch of the Atari 400/800 in 1979, then increasingly by third parties. Atari also distributed "user written" software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984. After APX folded, many titles were picked up by Antic Software.

<i>Legionnaire</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Legionnaire is a computer wargame for Atari 8-bit computers created by Chris Crawford released through Avalon Hill in 1982. Recreating Julius Caesar's campaigns in a semi-historical setting, the player takes command of the Roman legions in real-time battles against the barbarians.

<i>Shanghai</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Shanghai is a computerized version of mahjong solitaire published by Activision in 1986 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, classic Mac OS, Apple IIGS, and Master System. Shanghai was originally programmed by Brodie Lockard. It was released as an arcade video game by Sunsoft in 1988.

<i>Questron II</i> 1988 video game

Questron II a 1988 role-playing video game published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, and Amiga. It is the sequel to 1984's Questron. The story and original design is credited to Quest Software, while the programming and artwork is credited to Westwood Associates.

<i>Fish!</i> 1988 video game

Fish! is a text adventure game by Magnetic Scrolls released in 1988. The game was designed by John Molloy, Phil South and Peter Kemp with contributions by Rob Steggles.

<i>Corruption</i> (1988 video game) 1988 video game

Corruption is an interactive fiction game by Magnetic Scrolls released in 1988. In this game, a successful stockbroker suddenly finds himself embroiled in a world of crime and danger.

<i>Alternate Reality: The City</i> 1985 video game

Alternate Reality: The City is a video game published by Datasoft, the first game in the Alternate Reality series. It was created by Philip Price and was released in 1985 for a variety of systems. Gary Gilbertson created the music.

<i>Nine Princes in Amber</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Nine Princes in Amber is an interactive fiction video game with graphics. The game was published by Telarium, a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software, in 1985. The game is based upon the fantasy novels Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny.

<i>Preppie!</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Preppie! is an action video game for Atari 8-bit computers published by Adventure International in 1982. It was programmed by Russ Wetmore of Star Systems Software, whose name is prominently on the box cover. Leaning on the preppy trend of the early 1980s, the game follows prep schooler Wadsworth Overcash as he navigates the hazards of a country club to retrieve golf balls. Preppie! borrows heavily from Konami's Frogger, with lanes of traffic in the bottom half of the screen and a river crossing the top portion. Alligators are an element from both Frogger and preppy fashion; an open-mouthed gator is the icon of shirt brand Izod. Reviewers recognized the game as derivative, but called the music and visuals some of the best for Atari 8-bit computers.

Russ Wetmore is an American programmer and video game designer best known for writing commercial games and applications for Atari 8-bit computers in the early to mid 1980s. His Frogger-inspired Preppie! was published by Adventure International and praised by reviewers for the music and visuals. He also wrote the maze-game sequel, Preppie! II. Wetmore stopped writing games after the video game crash of 1983 and developed the integrated HomePak productivity suite for Batteries Included. He has remained in software development in director and architecture roles.

<i>Action Quest</i> 1982 video game

Action Quest is a video game written by Jack Verson for Atari 8-bit computers. It was published in 1982 by his company, JV Software. Action Quest combines real-time action with puzzle solving as the player explores 30 rooms in an attempt to collect 20 treasures. Reviewers found the combination to be different from how puzzles in games—such as graphic adventures—worked at the time.

References

  1. ↑ Meier, Stefan. "Magnetic Scrolls Fact Sheet" . Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Adventure Trail". CRASH . No. 51. Newsfield Publications. April 1988. pp. 42–43. Alt URL
  3. ↑ "Golden Joystick Awards 1988". Computer and Video Games . No. 79. Future Publishing. May 1988. p. 39.
  4. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (November 1987). "The Role of Computers". Dragon. No. 127. pp. 74–80.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Alan (February 1988). "Guild of Thieves". Computer Gaming World. p. 38. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  6. 1 2 Ardai, Charles (November 1992). "Virgin Software's Magnetic Scrolls Collection". Computer Gaming World. p. 64. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Manor, John (May 1988). "Product Reviews". Antic. Vol. 7, no. 1.
  8. ↑ Wawro, Alex (June 28, 2017). "Dev rescues '80s text adventure source code by baking tapes in an oven". Gamasutra.com .
  9. ↑ Magnetic Scrolls Original Games Source Code Recovered! on strandgames.com (June 19, 2017)
  10. ↑ "The Guild of Thieves by Magnetic Scrolls Restored". strandgames.com. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.