Karyssia: Queen of Diamonds

Karyssia: Queen of Diamonds is a fantasy-themed, text-based graphic adventure game designed and published by Incentive Software in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum. In Karyssia, the player is cast in a role of an adventurer on a quest to rid the realm of the titular evil queen. The game received positive reviews.

Cover by Peter Carter
Developer(s)Incentive Software
Publisher(s)Incentive Software
Designer(s)D&R Shacklady
EngineGraphic Adventure Creator
Platform(s)ZX Spectrum
Release1987
Genre(s)Text adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Plot

Loranin, the rightful heir to the throne of Arduarin, has asked the protagonist to end the evil reign of Queen Karyssia. This will involve a long journey to reach Karyssia's castle and kill her.

Reception

ACE gave it an overall review score of 695/1000, calling it certainly one of the better GAC games released by Incentive."[1] Mike Gerrard of Your Sinclair wrote that "apart from a few careless screen layouts this is one of the best GAC games I've yet seen. The speech function is often limited to saying 'Hello' just to get a response from the characters, but I liked the way the authors seem to have successfully packed lots of features into the program. Highly recommended."[2]

According to Popular Computing Weekly, apart from spell casting gameplay element, "the game is an average fantasy romp, OK, but not outstanding."[3] On the other hand, a reviewer for Crash gave it an overall score of 87/100: "Karyssia is a fine adventure with many admirable features. The pretty 3-D graphics are thin on the ground, and the location descriptions aren't the most evocative I've read, but the plot, which unwinds along three separately loading parts, holds the attention marvelously."[4]

References
  1. ACE 11/1987, page 89.
  2. "Karyssia, Queen Of Diamonds". Ysrnry.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  3. Popular Computing Weekly 10/1987, page 143.
  4. Crash, 11/1987, page 106.
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