''System's Twilight: An Abstract Fairy Tale'' is a graphical
interactive fiction
Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...
computer game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...
created by
Andrew Plotkin
Andrew Plotkin (born May 15, 1970), also known as Zarf, is an American programmer and writer. He is a central figure in the modern interactive fiction (IF) community. Having both written a number of award-winning games and developed a range of ne ...
and released in 1994.
Summary
The game is a combination of puzzle and story, combining several different kinds of logic puzzles and word puzzles. The puzzles include variations of
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
,
Black Box
In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
, and
Sokoban
is a puzzle video game in which the player pushes boxes around in a warehouse, trying to get them to storage locations. The game was designed in 1981 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi and first published in Japan in 1982 by his company Thinking Rabbit for ...
, as well as many others. The overarching story is an
allegory
As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
in which the player and other characters are programs in a broken, dysfunctional computer environment.
Originally, Plotkin released System's Twilight as
shareware
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...
. Since 2000, it has been re-released as binary-only
freeware
Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...
. It runs only on the
Mac OS Classic environment, but can be run in
emulation on other platforms.
Reception
''
MacAddict
''MacLife'' (stylized as ''Mac, Life'') is an American monthly magazine published by Future US. It focuses on products produced by Apple, including the Macintosh personal computer, iPad, and iPhone. It was sold as a print product on newsstands, ...
'' commented that ''System's Twilight'' felt similar to ''
3 in Three'', with hard puzzles, quality sound and graphics, and a witty storyline. ''
Inside Mac Games'' rated the game four out of five, and also noted the game's similarity to ''3 in Three'', saying it took "the genre of
Cliff Johnson game
..to new heights." ''Inside Mac Games'' called the game "very well crafted in all aspects": the story is involved and complex and the puzzles are clever and original. The review also praised the interface, graphics, and sound.
''
Adventure Gamers
''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1999 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game de ...
'' felt that ''System's Twilight'' improved on "Cliff Johnson’s
metapuzzle adventures" by adding "some much-needed nonlinearity as well as a stronger narrative." The game "synthesizes abstract puzzle-solving into an adventure game to great effect", with an ending that is rewarding "in terms of both adventuring and puzzle-solving."
AllGame
RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
rated ''System's Twilight'' three and a half out of five stars, calling it "a very unusual game" with an ending that was "something of a letdown", and suggesting that it would appeal to people who like hard puzzles. For the AllGame reviewer, the graphics were average while the weird and amusing sounds complemented the gameplay.
References
{{Reflist
External links
System's TwilightSystem's Twilight Hint Guideby
Wei-Hwa Huang
1990s interactive fiction
1994 video games
Classic Mac OS games
Classic Mac OS-only games
Single-player video games
Video games developed in the United States