Zenobi Software
£.99

Hob's Hoard is a two-part text adventure that tells the tragic tale of your brother's death, a victim of a hit-and-run accident in the quaint Cornish village of Polarity. You return to the scene of the crime to sort out your brother's affairs and while sorting through his papers you stumble on evidence of a hoard of treasure.

Hob's Hoard begins in an original way by giving you the option of listing the characters as if you were about to watch a play. Character interaction is one of the main features of the game and, unfortunately, the principle gremlin in the works. I found communicating with the characters a strain at times; sometimes I found it difficult to get any sort of response, while at others I received garbled answers. Asking one character about my brother, I received a re-description of my location, the word 'Okay', and beneath all of this, a 'Please rephrase that'-type response.

The game never game me a sense of freedom and the design fell a little clunky. Sorry, but I didn't enjoy Hob's Hoard. It would have been more intriguing to see this game as a 128K version, offering more freedom with the interactive side of play.