Christminster
| Christminster | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 1 August 1995 |
| Credits | |
| Author | Gareth Rees |
| Reception | |
| IFDB rating | 4 out of 5 (89 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genre |  Mystery |
| Location |  School |
| Language | English |
| Accessibility | Colour: none. Graphics: Some ASCII art. Sound: none. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring system | Inform 5 |
| Format | Z-code 5 |
| License | Freeware |
| IFID | ZCODE-2-950804-AFFE, ZCODE-4-961117-7CAF |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
Premise
It's a hot summer day in Christminster. You are Christabel Spencer, carrying your handbag which contains a telegram from your brother Malcolm and a map of Biblioll College. Malcolm invited you to visit him today, eager to tell you about some amazing discovery he's made. But the college's gate is locked: the old man who answers your knock simply tells you they're closed on Sundays. As Christabel, players must gain access to and investigate the college to find clues about Malcolm's disappearance.
An author's note in the game states that it is set "at some unidentifiable point in the postwar era, after the introduction of telephones, but long before Biblioll College admitted women (in Cambridge, colleges started the transition to co-education in about 1980, and the last men-only college surrendered, under pressure to increase its academic standards, ten years later)."
Inspirations and Influences
Per an author's note in the game, the names "Christminster" and "Biblioll College" come from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Elements of the work were inspired by the short story "The Ragthorn" by Garry Kilworth and Robert Holdstock and by the novel Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. The plan of the college in the game is based in part on Christ's College, Cambridge, and its history on that of Balliol College, Oxford.
Versions
Release 1
Date: 1 August 1995
- Christminster (Gareth Rees; 01-Aug-1995; Z-code 5).
- Revision history: "a very buggy first release."
Release 2
Date: 4 August 1995
- Christminster (Gareth Rees; 04-Aug-1995; Z-code 5).
- Release 2 / Serial number 950804 / Inform v1502 Library 5/11
- Revision history: "corrects about thirty bugs, including some serious ones in Edward's movement code."
- IFID: ZCODE-2-950804-AFFE
IFID links: IFDB. - Download minster-r2.z5 from the IF Archive.
Release 3
Date: 8 November 1995
- Christminster (Gareth Rees; 08-Nov-1995; Z-code 5).
- Revision history: "corrects another eighty bugs and adds some hints for some early and difficult puzzles."
Release 4
Date: 17 November 1996
- Christminster (Gareth Rees; 17-Nov-1996; Z-code 5).
- Release 4 / Serial number 961117 / Inform v1502 Library 5/12
- Revision history: "tidies up a further thirty problems, some introduced during earlier attempt to "improve" the source code."
- IFID: ZCODE-4-961117-7CAF
IFID links: IFDB. - Download minster.z5 from the IF Archive.
Links
N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.
General info
- Official site (archive)
- Christminster (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
- Christminster - at IFDB
Reviews
- Christminster - at SPAG.
- Christminster (archive) at IF Ratings
- Review (archive) - by Eileen Mullin for XYZZYnews.
- Spencer's floozie: gender and gameplay in Christminster, inaugural article for The Rosebush by Victor Gijsbers; published 29 July, 2023.
Spoilers
- Download minster.tar.gz from the IF Archive - Source code.
- Download christminster.sol from the IF Archive - Solution.
Date: 1 August 1995
Date: 4 August 1995
Date: 8 November 1995
Date: 17 November 1996