Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses
Game
Main links	Play onlineDownload IF Archive
Published	2000
Credits
Author	Emily Short
Reception
Events	IFComp 2000 2nd of 53 XYZZY Awards 2000 Winner: Best Writing XYZZY Awards 2000 Finalist: Best Puzzles, Best Setting, Best Use of Medium
Gameplay
Interaction style	Parser
Literary genre	Fantasy
Location	Underground
Language	English
Accessibility	Colour: none. Graphics: none. Sound: none.
Technical details
Authoring system	Inform 6
Format	Z-code 5
License	Freeware
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How it begins

You are a female servant wearing a coarse brown dress, a ring, and slippers. You are carrying your workbox which contains a ball of yarn and a needle. You have been magically sent to a bare shapeless place where the walls shimmer. A rock lies here. Your task is to find the elements and bring them to your master.

Notable features

• A simulationist game.
• Almost all puzzles have multiple solutions.
• Features the behavior of several matters, as well as assorted sizes and shapes of item, together with the option of damaging things.

Trivia and Comments

• A smaller version of the dragon furnace appears in Tragedy strikes at the XYZZY awards! (Adam Biltcliffe; 2001; Z-code).

Versions

Competition version; Release 1

Date: 2000

• Metamorphoses (Emily Short; 2000; Z-code 5).
  • Release 1 / Serial number 000930 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/10
  • IF Comp 2000: 2nd place of 53 entries. Also tied for 3rd place for Miss Congeniality.
  • XYZZY Awards 2000: Winner of Best Writing. Finalist for Best Puzzles, Best Setting, Best Use of Medium.
  • Download metamorp.z5 from the IF Archive

Release 4

Date: 2002

• Metamorphoses (Emily Short; 2002; Z-code 5).
  • Release 4 / Serial number 020222 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/10
  • Download metamorp.z5 from the IF Archive

Russian translation

Date: 2008

• Метаморфозы (Emily Short, translator: Vsevolod Zoubarev; 2008; Z-code 5; Russian).
  • Release 4 / Serial number 080518 / Inform v6.31 Library 6/11
  • Download.
  • Play online.

Links

N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.

General info

• Metamorphoses homepage.
• Metamorphoses (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
• Russian IFWiki
• About the Russian translation (in Russian):
  • Entry on the translator’s blog.
  • Игра Metamorphoses на русском - forum thread, April 1st, 2008.

Reviews

• Metamorphoses - at SPAG.
• Metamorphoses (potential archive link) - at IF Ratings.
• Review - by Paul O'Brian.
• Review - by Dan Shiovitz.
• Review (archive) - by Duncan Stevens.

Spoilers

• Download metawalk.txt from the IF Archive - Walkthough.
• SPAG Specifics analysis in SPAG #52 by Victor Gijsbers (July 2008).
• Making of Metamorphoses - Author commentary by Emily Short.
• ClubFloyd transcript.

Note: To refer to this game from another page, you can type {{game citation|Metamorphoses}}. This will display as Metamorphoses (Emily Short; 2000; Inform 6; Z-code).

Date: 2000

Date: 2002

Date: 2008