Posted June 15, 2017
Not everyone (especially Americans) may remember these folks, but back in the 1980s, Magnetic Scrolls were basically "the British Infocom." They released 7 interactive fiction games total, including classics like The Pawn, Fish! and Corruption, not to mention Wonderland. They sold really well (especially The Pawn), won countless awards, and picked up universally great reviews.
Unlike Infocom, all of Scrolls' games had graphics of some sort, and most of them used the company's proprietary "windows" interface, which is really similar to the one used in Legend's Spellcasting 101 series. (GOG won't let me post links, but try filfre[dot]net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/wonderland-2.gif and filfre[dot]net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/game_001-1.png.)
Apparently, back in May some of the original Magnetic Scrolls team members got together to retrieve the licenses to their games, and remaster their catalog. This is their website: strandgames[dot]com/about
They've already created a mobile/desktop version of The Pawn that they're selling on itch.io: strandgames[dot]itch[dot]io/the-pawn-by-magnetic-scrolls/devlog/2489/067.
With these licenses back on the table, this is an incredible chance to get some of interactive fiction history on GOG. We may not have Hitchhiker's yet, but getting a Magnetic Scrolls collection on GOG would be huge for IF fans (especially after the long wait for more IF since the Zork Anthology...). Plus, imagine if we could get the remasters AND the original versions?
The voting pages for the Scrolls' catalog are pretty neglected, but you can find them here:
*Magnetic Scrolls Collection: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/magnetic_scrolls_collection
*The Guild of Thieves: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/the_guild_of_thieves
*Jinxter: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/jinxter
*Wonderland: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/wonderland_dos
*Corruption: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/corruption
*The Pawn: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/the_pawn
*Fish!: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/fish
*Myth: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/myth_magnetic_scrolls_1989
Unlike Infocom, all of Scrolls' games had graphics of some sort, and most of them used the company's proprietary "windows" interface, which is really similar to the one used in Legend's Spellcasting 101 series. (GOG won't let me post links, but try filfre[dot]net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/wonderland-2.gif and filfre[dot]net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/game_001-1.png.)
Apparently, back in May some of the original Magnetic Scrolls team members got together to retrieve the licenses to their games, and remaster their catalog. This is their website: strandgames[dot]com/about
They've already created a mobile/desktop version of The Pawn that they're selling on itch.io: strandgames[dot]itch[dot]io/the-pawn-by-magnetic-scrolls/devlog/2489/067.
With these licenses back on the table, this is an incredible chance to get some of interactive fiction history on GOG. We may not have Hitchhiker's yet, but getting a Magnetic Scrolls collection on GOG would be huge for IF fans (especially after the long wait for more IF since the Zork Anthology...). Plus, imagine if we could get the remasters AND the original versions?
The voting pages for the Scrolls' catalog are pretty neglected, but you can find them here:
*Magnetic Scrolls Collection: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/magnetic_scrolls_collection
*The Guild of Thieves: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/the_guild_of_thieves
*Jinxter: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/jinxter
*Wonderland: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/wonderland_dos
*Corruption: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/corruption
*The Pawn: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/the_pawn
*Fish!: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/fish
*Myth: gog[dot]com/wishlist/games/myth_magnetic_scrolls_1989
