SOFTWORKS ANNOUNCES WINNING ADVENTURE GAMES After eons of prolonged adventure game play-testing including vicariously casting and dodging evil spells, teleporting into the fourth dimension, hitting the high notes in a Wagnerian opera, practicing "safe" sex, acquiring strange companions, and being graduated from Harvard, the judges of the second Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) Adventure Game Writing Contest have finally picked the winner(s). Drum role, please! ......And the First Prize ($100) winner is: A DUDLEY DILEMMA -- By Lane Barrow. In this game, you play the role of a Harvard University student living in Dudley House in his/her quest for knowledge, adventure and a diploma. This award winning game is a very clever, humorous and challenging adventure in the classic style of Infocom. Lane is a graduate student at Harvard University where he is working on a Ph.D in English Literature. Lane confessed that he wrote DUDLEY DILEMMA as a break from (i.e., to avoid working on) his Ph.D thesis. DUDLEY was his first attempt at writing any kind of computer software. He said that the Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) made writing the game both easy and fun. Lane is hard at work on his second AGT adventure game which will be set in Victorian England and will be based on the characters and stories of Charles Dickens (the subject of his Ph.D thesis). In addition to A DUDLEY DILEMMA, the contest had a number of other excellent entries. Among them, the judges have singled out the very best adventures as deserving an "Honorable Mention." These winning entries include (in alphabetical order): DES RING DES NIBELUNGEN -- By Michael R. Harris. You play the role of Siegfried in an adventure based on the operas of Richard Wagner -- complete with a very tender and loving Brunnhilde. A very unusual approach to an adventure game. STAR PORTAL -- By Michael Detlefsen. A science fiction adventure based on a Damon Knight short story, "Ticket to Anywhere", in which you journey to the stars in search of adventure, encounter alien creatures, explore the ruins of deserted cities, and acquire a pet dog. An awesome game! SUSAN, A LUSTFUL GAME -- By Bill Larkins. You attempt to score points with your girlfriend, Susan. An R-rated game for adults only. TAMORET -- By Michael J. Lyons. You are called upon to help return a creature from the fourth dimension that has escaped into our world. The largest and most complex game every created with AGT (so far). TARK, PRIESTESS OF THE FIRST CHURCH, IN HER BATTLE AGAINST THE DEMON OF DARK DESIRE -- By Philip Kegelmeyer. An extremely well written game based on a "Dungeons and Dragons" theme (complete with spells and hit points) where you play a priestess struggling against the forces of evil. All of the winning games are available from Softworks, the publisher of the Adventure Game Toolkit, in a special 2-disk set of files called "The Best of the Contest". These disks contain over a mega-byte of AGT source code. These disks are available for $12 from: Softworks 43064 Via Moraga Mission San Jose, California 94539 (415) 659-0533 (12:00 Noon to 8:00 PM -- PST) VISA and MasterCard orders can be made by phone. All orders should specify which disk format is desired: Macintosh, IBM 5 1/4 or IBM 3 1/2. As a special "bonus" these disks also contain the AGT source code to these recent adventure games: PORK -- By David Malmberg. A parody of the Infocom game of ZORK. If you were ever frustrated by ZORK, playing this game is your chance to enjoy the sweet fruits of revenge. LOVE'S FIERY RAPTURE -- By Natasha Mirage. A torrid tale of what could turn out to be THE perfect date. A parody (???) of romance novels like those published by Harlequin. This game demonstrates a very clever way to translate a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style game into an AGT game. Order "The Best of the Contest" disks today, and let yourself in on some of the best adventure gaming in years!