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A Mind Forever Voyaging
As detailed in a previous TenSpot, Infocom's A Mind Forever Voyaging was a strange, experimental adventure game that broke almost all the rules of the genre. There were only a few puzzles, and these were all clumped together at the end. Instead, the game presented you with a simulated life and let you explore an increasingly dystopian future as projected in ten-year increments.
This life was a simulation in the game as well. You played PRISM, an advanced computer system designed to test the viability of a government plan. When you entered the simulation mode you became everyman Perry Simm, with a wife and son tucked away in your cozy apartment. At least, this was the case in the first decade. As the years pass, you witness society crumbling, your wife growing more distant until she is finally abducted in a police raid, and the disappearance of your son, who finally resurfaces as a member of the Church of God's Word, a menacing cult of zealots.
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With your recordings of this simulated future, you had to find a way to put an end to The Plan. And if you did, you were treated to one of the most rewarding computer game endings ever.
Once The Plan was recognized as a stepping stone to a police state, PRISM was given the ultimate reward: the ability to live out the rest of his life as Perry Simm. You were allowed to reenter simulation mode, but not to the frightening world you had explored before. Instead, what awaited you was a near-utopia.
What makes the end of A Mind Forever Voyaging so satisfying is that it was not just a screen of scrolling text, as was the case in many Infocom games. It was a chapter of the game itself. While you had little control, you could move around within the simulation, until the transport finally arrived to carry you and your happy family off to a better life.
It was fascinating, because during the epilogue, it was almost as if you and PRISM had really become one. You knew it was just a simulation, that this utopian future was yet another hypothetical simulation. And despite this, it was truly satisfying and rewarding.
Next: The custom-made conclusion
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