Tech Review: Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

Wizards, warlocks, and dungeons darker than a troll’s arse, are all on offer in a fantastic reboot of a ’80s cult book series. The Fighting Fantasy adventure books let readers/players choose the outcome of adventures, rolling dice to combat enemies.

Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! was one to rule them all: an epic quest across four books, in which adventurers memorised a book of spells then journeyed through rugged wasteland, scumbag cities, and into the heart of darkness. This was the Game Of Thrones of the ’80s generation.

Inkle’s indie adaptation sticks closely to this blueprint. It’s a text-based adventure, brought to life with illustrations from the original book, using sound effects, and the occasional orchestral flourish, to bring the story to life. Players traverse a map, encountering friends and foe along the way, in a game also available for iOS and Android.

The mouse-based combat is not as imaginative as old-school dice throwing, but the characters, quests, and engrossing story-telling, brim with magic for a new generation.

7/10