The Coveted Mirror

The Coveted Mirror was a graphical text-based adventure game published for the Apple II. It was created by Eagle Berns and Holly Thomason and released by Penguin Software in 1983.[1]

The Coveted Mirror
Apple II cover art
Developer(s)Eagle Berns
Holly Thomason
Publisher(s)Penguin Software
Platform(s)Apple II
Release1983
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Plot

The land of Starbury was taken over by Voar the evil. During his grasp for power, Voar tried to seize the magic mirror but broke it into five pieces; luckily, he was only able to grab four of the pieces. it is up to you, the hero, to find the fifth and final piece in order to break Voar's rule and save the people of Starbury.[2]

Gameplay
Screenshot of gameplay

The Coveted Mirror utilizes a text parser, in which the player types commands to perform actions in the game.[3] Additionally, part of the challenge of The Coveted Mirror involves frequent, timed escapes from the jail tower. Within a limited timeframe, indicated by an hourglass, the player must search the castle, find objects, and talk to people and return to the cell by the time the jailer makes his rounds. This timed element adds another dimension to the exploration and puzzle solving.[4] The original version also included several little arcade style scenes that work into the solution of the adventure, such as a jousting game and a fishing game. The later Comprehend version[5] released in 1986 replaced the two-word parser with a full-sentence parser and was released for more computer systems than the original Apple II version, but omitted the arcade-style scenes and replaced them with other puzzles.[6]

Reception

Softline called The Coveted Mirror "a great balance of magic and mystery". The magazine liked the "intelligent" parser with built-in hints and the "remarkably well done yet nonviolent" arcade sequences, and concluded that it "is probably the best graphic adventure of the year".[7]

See also

References
  1. Title Screen, The Coveted Mirror
  2. http://www.lysator.liu.se/adventure/Penguin_Software_Inc.html
  3. "Adventure Games". Polarware Archive site. Polarware. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  4. Shapiro, Neil (April 1984). "The Evil King". Popular Mechanics magazine. p. 52. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  5. Maher, Jimmy. "Comprehend". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  6. "The Comprehend Adventures". Polarware Archive site. Polarware. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  7. Pape, Jerry Jr. (Jan–Feb 1984). "The Coveted Mirror". Softline magazine. p. 53. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
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