The King of Shreds and Patches -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author(s): Jimmy Maher Genre: Game Adaptation/Horror/Lovecraftian/Historical Website: http://maher.filfre.net/King/ Language: en First Publication Date: 2009 License: Freeware Rating: 4.5 (based on 87 ratings) ABOUT THE STORY January 14th Dear friend. My sojourn in parts foreign is at an ende. I am at lodgings in Southwark not far from the bridge at Stoney Street, come dine with me two days hence to ring in the newe year. I have not enjoyed amiable English companie for some long time and it would be refreshing to hear my mother tongue used in its proper manner again. Your friend, John Croft. When you receive this note from your old acquantence John Croft, you expect nothing but an evening of good food and drink and Croft's lecherous tales. Instead, you quickly find yourself plunged into a conspiracy of black magic that involves not only Croft but some of the most powerful and important men in London -- and possibly even someone else, someone much closer to your own heart. The King of Shreds and Patches is a novel-length work of interactive fiction. In it you will explore an historically accurate recreation of Elizabethan London, circa 1603, interact with some fascinating characters both historical and fictional, and (if you are clever and lucky) thwart an occult conspiracy that threatens to bring down the entire city -- or worse. EXTERNAL LINKS Full version Requires a Glulx interpreter[1] All the IntroComp 2007 games Requires a Z-Code interpreter[2] Walkthrough and maps Verbose walkthrough and maps by David Welbourn. TVTropes page EDITORIAL REVIEWS Gaming Enthusiast > The game is long and very entertaining, keeping the player on edge all the > time. Perhaps a little cheesy and frustrating at times, but a real page > turner nonetheless. Jay Is Games > Adapted from a scenario written by Justin Tynes for the Call of Cthulhu > tabletop RPG, The King of Shreds and patches looks and feels like the > massive labour of love it is. It's huge and labyrinthian, packed with > memorable characters who look, feel, and act distinct in ways that help > engage you in the plot. Interactive fiction has always been better at this > than other genres, but the cast here feels far less like actors and NPCs and > more like allies and enemies than many other titles ever pull off. The > amount of detail and freedom can be a little overwhelming at first. Fish > markets! Jugglers! Street urchins! Unspeakable murders and ancient symbols! > Ale! Play This Thing! (Don't) Look Away > A characteristic it shares with some other very recent releases -- notably > Aaron Reed's massive Blue Lacuna -- is its willingness to adopt gameplay > conventions from other forms of gaming in order to make play more accessible > to people who haven't spent their whole lives playing IF. > > In other formal respects, The King of Shreds and Patches is notable not so > much for any specific features as for its scope, solidity, and ability to > pull together many already-known IF virtues. There's extensive conversation, > and (more surprisingly) combat; not randomized fight scenes, but combat > puzzles of the sort where there are multiple ways to block or disarm the > opponent but you only have a few moves to think of one. The setting is > Elizabethan London, just -- the Queen is dying -- and the geography and > props give a sense of period, though the dialogue and conception of the > universe sometimes seem a bit more modern; both of which elements are > probably true to the original RPG module, though I imagine Jimmy must have > done a fair amount of research to fill in such details as the correct > working of a printing press ca. 1600. SPAG SPAG Specifics: The King of Shreds and Patches > Here we have a true page turner, a well-told horror story of considerable > length that we are eager to explore; and we get puzzles thrown in our way > that we will always solve within minutes and that create exactly the sense > of being involved in the action that they are meant to. King is not supposed > to be a tough puzzle game where we stare at the screen for hours as we > attempt to get into Joseph's house; indeed, it would be fatal to the tension > created by the quickly unfolding narrative if we did. REFERENCES [1] [2]