8th Day has been around for quite a while, specialising in cheap Quill-generated games. Some of its games have been quite good value at £2, but times change and now the going rate is £3 (less the proverbial penny). HRH is the most recent release, and the publisher is at pains to declare that it is not designed to be defamatory...
"I point out, however, that although the game is irreverent towards the Royal Family, in no way is it offensive to minors, and contains no material whatsoever that could be considered in poor taste."
This is one of those games that definitely requires perseverance on a grand scale. By that I mean that, due to Quill limitations, many of the objects do not have descriptions and the vocabulary is restricted. That essentially means little to do to pass the time other than try your best to work out what to do in each sticky situation. Since you can't do much in the way of conversing, this is really confined to finding and using objects in the right way.
The game is written with a good deal of humour some of it, I thought, rather unfair to the Royals, but then I doubt whether many people will get worked up over that. The sequence most likely to cause offence, I would have thought, is that in which you must tell Andy the results of his girlfriends' pregnancy tests. However it's handled in a jocular manner which one would hope will not cause writs to fly.
For a Quill-based game there are a good many puzzling problems here, not all of which can be solved by logic alone, but most of which will either challenge, amuse, or both. I think I'd probably splash out £3 for it (minus the persistent penny), though 8th Day should remember that "Quilled" games without graphics have to compete with GAC products these days.
As it is, HRH looks a little dated, but (with the exception of the appalling loading screen) carries itself off quite nicely!
1st May 1987
