Artificer: Rise of the Techmagus

When fighting the Pyromagus, as soon as you activate and grab the energizer, the Pyromagus's trial immediately ends regardless of how far into it you are. I believe this was only intended to happen with the final wave of enemies.

(Report entered by Dr. Dos, original report by Zinfandel)

I love "lunch-break" games--games that can entertain for 30-60 minutes without demanding too much of an investment. With solid coding, attractive environments, and a simple but engaging story, Artificer: Rise of the Techmagus is an excellent lunch-break game. For those who want more, Rithm offers an impressive amount of lore, but they also wisely and graciously make this extra reading optional. So many ZZTers struggle to get out of the way of their own writing; Rithm's approach is laudable and should be copied.

Artificer is an "old-school" game in a lot of ways, created as part of Dr. Dos's "Joy of ZZT" series. However, it also has lots of small details that make it stand out. The game features a skill system that is simple but effectively adds interest. The game also has a couple very good shortcuts so the player doesn't have to spend ages retracing their steps through empty boards (another trick others should emulate). The final stages are well-designed and offer a nice variety of gameplay. The dialogue is carefully crafted. The sound effects add depth. There are some really nice animations. All together, it makes for a good game.

The programmed enemies are mostly just random movements and the puzzles are very simple, but If you like old-school ZZT games that embrace its core features, you will enjoy Artificer. It's very ZZT. I like ZZT.