Jinxter
Encyclopedia
Jinxter is a text adventure computer game developed by Magnetic Scrolls
and published by Rainbird
in 1987 for popular 8-bit and 16-bit machines of the time as well as the 32-bit Acorn Archimedes
. The game was originally conceived as an answer to Infocom
's Enchanter.
Jinxter was originally written by Georgina Sinclair, the sister of Magnetic Scrolls' founder Anita Sinclair who had previously written the novella A Tale of Kerovnia for the game The Pawn
, later script-doctored by Michael Bywater.
. The central characters in the story are the Guardians, immortal guardian angel
-like beings who look after and help people. The Guardians are described as liking to wear herringbone overcoat
s and eating cheese sandwich
es. Centuries ago the country was threatened by the rising dark power of the evil Green Witches until the good magician Turani created a magical object, called the Bracelet, which holds luck and distributes it throughout Aquitania to limit and keep in check the menacing magic of the witches, banning the dangerous parts of the witchcraft
and rendering them relatively harmless. However, the high witch Jannedor has enough of the restraints and plots to re-establish the old power and glory of the Green Witches. To this end, she obtained and disassembled the Bracelet, stripped it of its five magical charms and hid them in various places (the bracelet itself is worn by Jannedor), waiting for its powers to be weakened enough it could be destroyed so she would fulfill her schemes of conquest.
If the charms of Turani aren't reunited soon with the legendary Bracelet of Turani then luck could completely run out and the Green Witches will regain all of their old magic and the country will again fall under their influence. The player character is, pretty much accidentally, recruited by the Guardians to rescue his friend Xam, kidnapped by the witches, retrieve the charms, fix the Bracelet and then use its powers against Jannedor in her castle, defeating the witches and restoring luck to Aquitania.
Jinxter was famous for its quirky, eccentric humour. Many of the textual descriptions are very long and have a humorous aspect. Each of the five charms provides a magic spell, and the words to trigger these spells are common placeholder name
s. Unlike many other text adventures, in Jinxter the player character almost never dies during the course of gameplay: even if he gets into otherwise lethal situations, one of the Guardians will appear in some absurd way, and save his life (the only exception to this rule is an encounter with Jannedor). Once Jannedor's evil ambitions are put to an end, however, the player's character is put back just where he before he began his adventure—in front of a speeding bus—and killed.
magazine, as well as 88% from Amstrad Action
. It also received the ratings of 70% from Amiga Computing
, 7/10 from Amiga User International
, 8/10 from Power Play
and 92% from The Games Machine
.
Magnetic Scrolls
Magnetic Scrolls was a British computer game developer during the mid 1980s and early 1990s. It was one of two largest interactive fiction game makers of the 1980s...
and published by Rainbird
Rainbird
Rainbird, Rain Bird or Rainbirds may refer to:- Birds :* Rainbird, colloquial name given to various birds thought to sing before rain, including the European Green Woodpecker, Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo, Pacific Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Burchell's Coucal and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, as well as...
in 1987 for popular 8-bit and 16-bit machines of the time as well as the 32-bit Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...
. The game was originally conceived as an answer to Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
's Enchanter.
Jinxter was originally written by Georgina Sinclair, the sister of Magnetic Scrolls' founder Anita Sinclair who had previously written the novella A Tale of Kerovnia for the game The Pawn
The Pawn
The Pawn is an interactive fiction game by Magnetic Scrolls which was first published by Rainbird in 1986. It is remembered for its excellent graphics and the opening music available in some game versions. Also the game itself - story and parser - got mostly positive reviews...
, later script-doctored by Michael Bywater.
Plot
The game is set in the fictional country of Aquitania, which bears a strong resemblance to early-to-middle 20th century BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The central characters in the story are the Guardians, immortal guardian angel
Guardian angel
A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity...
-like beings who look after and help people. The Guardians are described as liking to wear herringbone overcoat
Overcoat
An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment. Overcoats usually extend below the knee, but are sometimes mistakenly referred to as topcoats, which are short coats that end at or above the knees. Topcoats and overcoats together are known as outercoats...
s and eating cheese sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
es. Centuries ago the country was threatened by the rising dark power of the evil Green Witches until the good magician Turani created a magical object, called the Bracelet, which holds luck and distributes it throughout Aquitania to limit and keep in check the menacing magic of the witches, banning the dangerous parts of the witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
and rendering them relatively harmless. However, the high witch Jannedor has enough of the restraints and plots to re-establish the old power and glory of the Green Witches. To this end, she obtained and disassembled the Bracelet, stripped it of its five magical charms and hid them in various places (the bracelet itself is worn by Jannedor), waiting for its powers to be weakened enough it could be destroyed so she would fulfill her schemes of conquest.
If the charms of Turani aren't reunited soon with the legendary Bracelet of Turani then luck could completely run out and the Green Witches will regain all of their old magic and the country will again fall under their influence. The player character is, pretty much accidentally, recruited by the Guardians to rescue his friend Xam, kidnapped by the witches, retrieve the charms, fix the Bracelet and then use its powers against Jannedor in her castle, defeating the witches and restoring luck to Aquitania.
Jinxter was famous for its quirky, eccentric humour. Many of the textual descriptions are very long and have a humorous aspect. Each of the five charms provides a magic spell, and the words to trigger these spells are common placeholder name
Placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed...
s. Unlike many other text adventures, in Jinxter the player character almost never dies during the course of gameplay: even if he gets into otherwise lethal situations, one of the Guardians will appear in some absurd way, and save his life (the only exception to this rule is an encounter with Jannedor). Once Jannedor's evil ambitions are put to an end, however, the player's character is put back just where he before he began his adventure—in front of a speeding bus—and killed.
Reception
The game received the score of 92% and a Crash Smash award from the CrashCRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
magazine, as well as 88% from Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, which catered to owners of home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console....
. It also received the ratings of 70% from Amiga Computing
Amiga Computing
Amiga Computing was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later Amiga Action was incorporated into the magazine and became the games section.- External...
, 7/10 from Amiga User International
Amiga User International
Amiga User International was a monthly computer magazine published in its later years by AUI Limited, it was the first dedicated Amiga magazine in Europe and in comparison to other Amiga magazines, AUI had a more serious perspective...
, 8/10 from Power Play
Commodore Power Play
Commodore Power/Play was a one of a pair of computer magazines published by Commodore Business Machines in the United States in support of their 8-bit home computer lines of the 1980s. The other was called Commodore Microcomputers...
and 92% from The Games Machine
The Games Machine
The Games Machine was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published CRASH, Zzap!64, Amtix! and other magazines.-History:...
.