It's easy to lose yourself in Sorcery!'s text-based quest. Based on Steve Jackson's choose-your-own-adventure novels, it weaves game mechanics and fantasy prose into a wonderful, personalized tale. My choices led me past a pack of goblins and into a darkened cave; your choices might steer you north miles earlier. We'll ultimately end up in the same place a little too soon, but it doesn't matter – Sorcery! is about the journey.
The story is told through snippets of second-person text. These words aren't just descriptive for immersion's sake; they're descriptive in a way that informs your gameplay choices. Once, I happened across an old man in a tree who told me he'd been robbed and left to die. Was all as it seemed, or was he a convincing actor, stealing my attention while his goons surround us? I read that he was "thin as sticks, and dressed in dirt rags." I could have left him there, but the details led me to believe he was genuinely mistreated. When I climbed to help him – in hopes of a reward, to be honest – he retreated, probably wary of another mugging. I had to decide whether to go back down or reach even higher. Sorcery! can be pleasantly devious with its scenarios, but wonderful things happen when a game is brave enough to demand your attention.
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