Adventure Gamers - Forums

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

If this screen looks familiar for some reason, it might just be because I stole borrowed it from Diego’s recent caption competition! Partly laziness on my part and partly the fact that I had trouble re-sizing some other screenshots from the game without them looking as blurry as some of those pics from Lady K’s avatar quiz! Cheers Diego!

ATOTK is from 2007 and is by Crystal Shard Studios who have released several freeware adventures/other games, including the more recent Heroine’s Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok (which you can pick up on Steam/elsewhere for the grand price of £Free.)

This is one of those games that loads of people have seen or played but no-one ever seems to talk about. It was a huge thing at the time though, and remained in the top 5 weekly downloaded games from the AGS website for years. I was actually surprised to find out it’s not still there when I checked recently!

It is full length, in the pseudo medieval fantasy style of castles, knights and dragons, with some clear King’s Quest influence here and there. I think the thing that stood out to me most was the size and attention to detail for a freeware game. It has different endings, optional side quests, puzzles with multiple solutions and even a “game within a game” board game you can play or ignore as you like. (Witcher 3 who? ) If you’re into “heyday Sierra” type games then you need to play this.

It does fall a little short of greatness for me and it’s hard to put my finger on why. I think it is just that the game can feel a little impersonal somehow, the characters can be a little bit too one-dimensional in their chivalrous knight stuff and… well… what do I know anyway! Don’t be deceived, this is a really great game and would sit alongside Conquests of the Longbow or KQV without feeling too embarrassed if it had been released at the same time.

The old man hated boy’s guts. Sure, the annual Keeper of the Sacred Well was one of the biggest privileges, but it was nothing compared to the Crossroad Officer.

Uhh.. what?! Not a Caption Co… ummm, sorry. Well, yes, I agree with ID, although I think that many have seen it, but less have played it actually - I downloaded it years ago, waiting for a quick and easy AGS fun and was stunned at its comprehensiveness. It’s also one of those “classic traps” for a “guess the scene” games - everyone would think: “Hell, this is a Sierra game, yet I don’t recognize it!”, and no one would suspect it’s from 2007.

Oh no, i’ve accidentally started a new Caption Competition! It’s only a matter of time until the mods catch up with me!

Going for your 4th “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award?

I think that we can all agree that I should never be given the chance!