

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Game – 30th Anniversary Edition - ArtDev
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-game-30th-anniversary-edition

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sp332
A few notes for anyone who hasn't seen it before: This game is not very "good"
in the way it's put together. It's easy to get into an unwinnable situation
without realizing it. (For example, if you don't take the screwdriver from the
first room all the way through to the end of the game, you can't finish the
game.) But it has an incredible sense of humor, and the way it responds to
your bungling is definitely funny enough to be worth playing for a while.
There are lots of hidden funny things that you'll never find without a
walkthrough, so here's one:
[http://www.eristic.net/games/infocom/hhg.html](http://www.eristic.net/games/infocom/hhg.html)

Edit for clarity: I recommend exploring and trying out each puzzle without the
walkthrough, because it's funnier that way :)

~~~
Kronopath
You're right on that point. I remember the first time I came across this game
online. If I remember, it went something like this:

\----------------------------------------------------

 _You wake up. The room is spinning very gently round your head. Or at least
it would be if you could see it which you can 't.

It is pitch black.

> get up

Very difficult, but you manage it. The room is still spinning. It dips and
sways a little.

>slap self

Done.

\---- You have died ----_

\----------------------------------------------------

I tried to play through it again, and then I made the mistake of taking the
towel from Ford instead of saying the magic words "Ford, what about my home".
My house was bulldozed and I died again.

I stopped playing after that. Maybe that means I'll miss out on the humor of
the game, but I can't really get into a game that is so deliberately obtuse
and actively hostile.

~~~
ctdonath
Read the book or listen to the original radio show. That will help you
understand the deliberate and pervasive sarcasm, non-sequiturs, and
Pythonesque absurdism (the author actually knew & hung out with the Monty
Python crew).

~~~
Kronopath
Don't make the mistake of thinking I don't understand the humor. I've read the
books, all five of them, and the humor in them is great. I just don't really
care for gating that humor behind the obtuse "puzzles" of this game. I don't
have the patience for that, and having to follow a step-by-step walkthrough
defeats most of the purpose of it being a game in the first place.

------
ctdonath
Still have the PC original, complete with Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses and
Microscopic Invasion Starfleet (in a baggie).

This new version may be much more playable, having added a rough sketch of
each scene. Bare text was great for the time, but a little imagery goes a long
way.

