A Mr. John Park kindly alerted me to a very Steampunk text adventure (or Interactive Fiction, as is the current name for the genre) called Slouching Towards Bedlam. How Steampunk? Well, it’s set in the 1800′s around London, and you’re surrounded by madmen, inventors, steam devices, calculating devices (which follow you around) and terrible secrets. A mystery then – and a very interesting one at that. Alas, I got stuck fairly early on, which is fairly typical for me – I floundered when I knew what I wanted to do, but couldn’t find the phrase to accomplish it.

But do not let my own clumsiness put you off – the game has won awards for its game, story, setting and NPC’s – pretty much across the board in the competition it was entered to. It’s delightfully Steampunk, and the mystery is thick – something has gone very wrong, can you believe in even yourself?