Run TavernQuest now open for business on Steam

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Demo also available for reverse text adventure in which you control the command parser

We all know how text adventures work: Player types out commands, game responds accordingly (or can't because it doesn't know how), and the story evolves as progress is made. Just for kicks, we'll probably type in some goofy things to see how the computer will handle it. Standard stuff, right? Well, forget all that, because in Silicon Sundial's newly released Run TavernQuest, the roles are completely reversed. 

At first glance, this is just another all-text fantasy adventure about a princess in need of rescuing by a brave and noble protagonist. Look a little closer, however, and you'll find that YOU are not that protagonist. Instead you're the "command parser and game master" who determines how the story plays out. There's just one very big problem: the player, STEVE, is "an idiot." As he types in silly, nonsensical, often "enigmatic" and perhaps even self-defeating commands, it's up to you to oversee "the game's inner workings ... and decide how NPCs react to him." Only with your guidance – and a whole lot of perseverance – can you hope to guide the hapless STEVE "away from his poor decisions so he can save the princess." 

Written and designed by Collin Eddings and fully narrated by Jack Dundon, Run TavernQuest is described as a "role-reversing twist on old-school text adventure games." It certainly looks the part, with a black background and coloured (or greyscale) text, customized to your liking, including font and text speed. But not only does the game not put you in the role of the player character, it also doesn't involve any typing. (You're a CPU, after all.) Instead, as STEVE types in one dopey command after another, players will select from predetermined responses to "control the environment and every NPC." Your choices can "lead him down drastically different paths, but it's ultimately up to STEVE to win the game," despite his worst efforts. 

If you choose for yourself to jump into Run TavernQuest, you can do so right away as the game has now launched on Steam for Windows PC. Even here you have options, however, as a playable demo is also available to try it out first.