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Text only adventures are a rarity these days. Distributors and, dare I say it, some adventurers themselves actually appear to like graphics in their games. As far as I am concerned though, text only games are the purest form of the art, especially if they are as good as this one.

The game is a re-working of the very first Colossal Caves adventure by Crowther and Woods but is none the worst or that. The Serf's Tale is an expanded version with 33% more locations than the original and with most of the problems reworked. The text has been completely re-written and very well done indeed. Location descriptions are both lengthy and atmospheric.

The game uses traditional verb-noun input and I did not come across any problems with obscure vocabulary. The choice of verb-noun was made because that was how the game was originally written and not because of any problems with programming. No doubt future games will have a more complex parser. The verb 'examine' is well supported and should be used frequently. Other features include the ability to put items in your pockets, although you must remember to take them out before you use them. This is especially true of the map at the beginning of the game.

The Serf's Tale was originally written as a demonstration program, hence the lack of originality. For anyone who has never had a go at getting past the snake or the Troll's toll bridge and other such classic problems it is highly recommended. And I am certainly looking forward to the next text adventure.