♦ Livestream Contents
(1:03) “the Lab (Flatcoat Lab's abominations)” by Flatcoat Lab, Madeku (2025) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/the%20lab/]
(51:03) “AKMag #1” by AKWare (1997) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/akmag1/]
“AKMag #2” by AKWare (1997) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/akmag2/]
A set of peak 90s worlds!
First we check out The Lab, a recently published set of abandoned projects. This starts off by giving us some insight as to just how far the eagerly hyped fantasy RPG "Flame Frost Blade" actually got developed compared to its demo. And the answer is not much at all. We've played the original demo before. Kid wakes up, buys a magic spell in town, checks out the magical sword he's the guardian of, and discovers a thief making off with it. An unbalanced RPG battle ensues, and normally the game ends.
But now... it still ends, but there's more to look at from the editor. For one, we get a cinema of the player meeting with the evil dragon that had the blade stolen so he could use its magic for himself. Cool art, and at the very least it lets us know what why it matters so much that the blade has been stolen.
There are a few nice looking art boards as well. An entrance to a forest area, as well as its exit under a night sky with a mountain range visible in the distance. A second town is also partially implemented, where players can take a risk of stealing apples from a vendor with a 50% chance of being noticed by a guard. Kind of a neat idea when the consequence is being forced to pay for the apple and an extra gem as a fine that creates a little risk/reward situation.
That's pretty much it though! The game lived more as hype and promotional material in ZZT magazines than anything actually developed.
On stream we took a look at the other game included in the pack, a Police Quest ZZT game. It hits that uncomfortable 90s edginess a bit hard, and looking at the script isn't particularly stream friendly. It's been axed from the VOD, but check out the two files yourself if you can stomach the era of Teen Priest inspired ZZT games. Art's pretty good though! Plus the idea of a second file where you play instead as the crook could have been fun. Nowadays, the bad ass cop who acts with impunity ain't exactly as beloved as they once were.
So instead, some AKWare magazines! These two ZZT magazines take a pretty literal interpretation of the concept, with a magazine-shaped layout and table of contents. It's got the usual stuff, some mini-games that feel pretty shoehorned in, reviews that rarely tell you anything about the game other than "The graphics were good. The programming was good." We do get a few names of some yet to be preserved ZZT worlds though!
Also the second issue does have a unique mini-game that plays sort of like a ZZT Blast Corps. A dude transformed into a living tornado follows a set path, and if they happen to hit any explosives, it's game over. Players get to push boulders (TNT) out of the way and clear a safe path to prevent destruction. There are a few little traps and sliders to make your route more complex. Genuinely could be a decent little game if it were developed a bit further!
♦ Play these worlds in your browser
https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/the%20lab/
https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/akmag1/
https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/akmag2/
♦ Streamed Mar 20th, 2026
