Beyond Zork
(available on the Masterpieces of Infocom collection)

Dark times have fallen upon the South lands of Quendor. All the enchanters have disappeared without a trace. Monsters roam the countryside. And the taverns are filled with disturbing rumors and un-savory characters. A simple peasant like yourself knows better than to get involved in the affairs of wizards. But everyone you meet seems intent on testing your abilities to the utmost. You find yourself drawn into a web of fantasy and magic, solving puzzles, avoiding traps and fighting monsters. Your strength and power grow with every encounter, until the most fabulous treasure of all -- the fabled Coconut of Quendor -- lies within your grasp. If only you can survive long enough to claim it! Unlink other Infocom stories in which your character is "set" from the start, Beyond Zork lets you create your own character with six attributes: endurance, strength, dexterity, intelligence, compassion and luck. Each attribute affects your adventure in different ways. For example, a very lucky character may not have the dexterity to scale walls, or a very intelligent character may be able to outsmart a monster that even a strong character couldn't defeat. You can choose your attributes yourself, or you can use a character already set up by the computer. You must fight monsters and solve puzzles to succeed in each of your quests. Since your success will often depend on your attributes, mindful players will try to improve their attributes as they venture onward. The story is presented in a new and flexible way. A map in the upper-right portion of your screen shows the immediate area and the directions you can move. You can use the on-screen map and your mouse to move to adjacent rooms. (If your computer has a numeric keypad, you can use it to move around as well.) Experienced Infocom players may recognize references to other Infocom games.