Quest: World of Kharne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quest: World of Kharne is an open-ended, fantasy, turn-based game. It was originally published in 1991 as a play-by-mail game by the UK company KJC Games internationally and Adventures By Mail in the United States.

Development[]

Quest was designed by Kevin Cropper, David Bolton, Nigel Mitchell, and Steven Fairbrother. By early 1994, the "game [had] been popular in Europe for about three years ... and [had] been recently introduced to the US by Adventures by Mail".[1] Reviewer Richard L Smith identified KJC Games as the game's European publisher (based in England) in 1994.[2]

Peter Lambeck identified in 1994 that, in the U.S. version, there were two games underway, each with a capacity of 1000 parties.[2]

Gameplay[]

Quest is an open-ended PBM game which takes place on the Island of Kharne.[3] In 1994, games comprised about 300 groups of players each with goals chosen by the respective groups.[3] Parties could range in size from six to fifteen characters.[2] Races available for players included Dwarves, Elves, Half-Bloods, and Humans, while available professions were Fighter, Mage, Priest, and Thief.[3] Character attributes consisted of: "Gold, weapons, skill, toughness, awareness, charisma, experience, % of load, energy level and health".[3]

Population centers across the island provide the groups of adventurers with various options, including shopping, transport, training, and obtaining quests.[3] Players can interact with non-player characters in and around population centers with a "talk" command.[3] While adventuring, magic, religion, and gods will likely come into play, as well as creatures such as goblins, sewer demons, lizard men, and even dragons.[3]

Reception[]

Quest: World of Kharne won the 1993 Origins Award for Best New Play-by-Mail Game of 1993.[4] In the Nov–Dec 1994 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine, Richard L. Smith outlined multiple improvements he recommended for the game while stating that he "continued to play despite the amount of frustration [he] had with the game".[2] In the Mar–Apr 1995 issue of Paper Mayhem, Quest tied for 44th place out of 65 in the PBM Game Ratings list with a 6.241 out of 9 possible points. On the same list, Quest received the 4th largest number of reader responses of the 65 games considered.[5][a]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Paper Mayhem used reader ratings through responses to tabulate game rankings. Of the 65 games rated, Quest received 84 total responses, surpassed only by Legends with 88 responses, Middle-Earth PBM with 106 responses, and Victory! with 140 responses.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Paper Mayhem 1994. p. 15.
  2. ^ a b c d Paper Mayhem 1994. p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Paper Mayhem 1994. p. 12.
  4. ^ Origins 1993.
  5. ^ Paper Mayhem 1995. p. 60.
  6. ^ .Paper Mayhem 1995. p. 59–60.

Bibliography[]

  • "PBM Game Ratings". Paper Mayhem. No. 71. Mar–Apr 1995. pp. 59–60.
  • Smith, Richard L. (Nov–Dec 1994). "Quest: A Riddle Without Answers". Paper Mayhem. No. 69. pp. 12–16.
  • Lambeck, Peter (Jan–Feb 1994). "Questing on the Right Foot". Paper Mayhem. No. 64. pp. 15–16.
  • "Origins Award Winners (1993)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2008-03-24.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""