One of my earliest gaming memories is in screaming in rage at this game.
It would say something like “you can see a bent fork.” I would type “Pick up bent fork.” It would say something like “I don’t understand the word “bent.” I would scream.
The game was released in 1893 and I was only just able to read properly when i was playing it so it’s not surprising that i got frustrating.
The basic idea is to move around the island and to try to escape. Part of the joy for me was the time that it took to draw the picture of each scene which you were in. There was new and fairly evocative art for every area and it was the height of excitement back then. It’s an old-skool game though i.e. you can die. There are lots of ways to die and i found most of them.
It’s still available in various spectrum emulator sites and d a “one click” version which plays reggae music during the game, killing the sinister atmosphere.
I’m feeling like a game – hope I can escape the natives!