''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' (''AMFV'') is a 1985

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

game designed and implemented by

Steve Meretzky Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011. is an American

and published by

Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...

. It is Infocom's seventeenth game. The game was intended as a

polemical Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

critique of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's politics.

Plot

The story is set in the United States of North America, which is similar to the real-world US, in the year 2031. The player controls PRISM, the world's first sentient computer. PRISM is instructed by its creator, Dr. Abraham Perelman, to run a simulation of Senator Richard Ryder's "Plan for Renewed National Purpose". This plan is intended to address the nation's failing economy, the high

teenage suicide Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. You ...

rate, and to strengthen the nation's position in a

nuclear arms race The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuc ...

. PRISM simulates the life of a man called Perry Simm, ten years after the plan has gone into effect. The player experiences some time in Perry's life. The plan appears to have had positive effects. Based on this simulation, the plan is deemed viable and preparations are set in motion. However, Perelman feels that the ten-year simulation isn't enough, and makes PRISM do a simulation of the situation 20 years after the plan started, and then 30 years. Perelman is concerned by the simulations, but he needs more evidence to discredit the plan, as there are powerful people behind it. PRISM does a 40-year simulation, and with that still not quite satisfying Perelman, a 50-year simulation. The simulations show the situation becoming worse and worse with time. PRISM goes into sleep mode while Perelman is preparing to present the findings to the government. When it wakes up, the facility is locked down by the military. Senator Ryder comes into Perelman's office and starts shouting at him. PRISM starts recording his words. After Ryder has left, suspicious "maintenance workers" come to the facility and make their way to PRISM's core, but PRISM renders them harmless. Then a news interface becomes available, and PRISM broadcasts the recording of Ryder's intimidation. The plan is thoroughly discredited and Senator Ryder is publicly disgraced.

Development

Meretzky, the author, said in an interview that his intent with the game was to convey a negative view of Reagan's policies. In another interview, he said that he had hoped for ''AMFV'' to cause controversy with its political content, expressing disappointment at the lack of hate mail.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' states that parts of ''AMFV'' are "transcendent". In a 1998 retrospective review,

AllGame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

gives the Macintosh version three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the game provides fun exploration, but has hardly any

replay value Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

. In 2014,

Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game des ...

gave the game four stars out of five in its retrospective review, calling it "bold" and "innovative", but saying that it does not quite reach its goals. '' Next Generation'' lists it as number 66 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 1996, commending the game for trying to be more "deep" than most other games.

References

External links

*
Overview of ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' (archived)
* ttp://infocom.elsewhere.org/gallery/amfv/amfv.html The Infocom Gallery entry for ''A Mind Forever Voyaging''with photos of all feelies, manual and decoder table
The Infocom Bugs List entry for ''A Mind Forever Voyaging''"How ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' Took Aim at Right-Wing Politics"
February 28, 2017 entry from

Glixel ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...

Infocom Cabinet: A Mind Forever Voyaging
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mind Forever Voyaging 1980s interactive fiction 1985 video games Adventure games Amiga games Apple II games Atari ST games Commodore 128 games Classic Mac OS games DOS games Infocom games Political video games Single-player video games Steve Meretzky games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in South Dakota Video games set in the 2030s Video games set in the 2040s Video games set in the 2050s Video games set in the 2060s Video games set in the 2070s Video games set in the 2080s Video games set in the 2090s

Plot

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links