Enchanter

About

Enchanter is a 1983 interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. It belongs to the fantasy genre and was the first fantasy game published by Infocom after the Zork trilogy (it was originally intended to be Zork IV). The game had a parser that understood over 700 words, making it the most advanced interactive fiction game of its time. It was Infocom's ninth game.

Krill, an incredibly powerful evil warlock, is spreading chaos and destruction. None of the more experienced members of the Circle of Enchanters dare to attempt to stop him. In desperation, the player, a novice Enchanter with only a few weak spells in his spell book, is sent in hopes that Krill will either fail to detect him or dismiss him as harmless. More powerful spells can be found on scrolls hidden in various locations, but as the player becomes more of a threat, Krill will respond accordingly.

This game features an innovative new spell system based partially on Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series and partially Dungeons and Dragons' Vancian spell system, where spells must be prepared through "memorization" before being cast. As in the Earthsea series, each spell is represented by some nonsense "magic word" which is treated as a verb by the game's text parser, so that one can use the FROTZ spell (which causes objects to glow and give off light) by typing >FROTZ BOOK, in exactly the same way as one might type >PICK UP BOOK or >READ BOOK.

Storyline

Welcome to the world of the Enchanter saga - a world where magic is commonplace, a world where guilds of professional magic-users spend their lifetimes mastering the intricacies of thaumaturgy, a world where great forces of evil must constantly be held at bay.

An Evil Warlock has subjugated the land to his power. All who have opposed him have failed. But many years ago, in another age, the great Elders of the Circle of Enchanters foresaw the possibility of these dreaded occurrences. They realized that no fully accomplished Enchanter could penetrate the Warlock's defenses unrecognized, and knew that the task of freeing the land would fall to a journeyman conjurer.

You have been identified as the Apprentice Enchanter who must save the land from the Warlock. As a fledgling Enchanter, you have learned your lessons but have not faced all your tests. You possess great power, but in the ranks of necromancers you are a lowly and ignorant person indeed. You have been well trained in the basics of magic, and you will be greatly aided by the spells you know and the spells you will learn. But you must also rely on your powers of observation and quick wits.

Screenshots

Release Dates by Platform

More From The Enchanter Trilogy

61

Spellbreaker

Sep 16, 1985

Atari8bit C64 Atari-ST Mac

71

Sorcerer

Jan 31, 1984

Atari8bit C64 Atari-ST Mac