The Pawn (video game)
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| The Pawn | |
|---|---|
 C64 cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Magnetic Scrolls |
| Publisher(s) | Sinclair Research, Rainbird Software |
| Designer(s) | Rob Steggles |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Archimedes, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Mac, Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum[1] |
| Release | 1985: Sinclair QL 1986: Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, C64 1987: Spectrum |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Pawn is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rainbird.
The player's character is knocked unconscious and awakens in the fairyland of Kerovnia, a silver bracelet around their wrist that cannot be removed.[2] A general election is about to be held to decide whether King Erik will be replaced by a dwarf whose campaign promise is to "rid dungeons of mazes of any sort." The character must interact with others and perform tasks for them, gathering objects that will be needed for later tasks in order to escape from Kerovnia and return to reality.[2]
Development
The Pawn was written by Rob Steggles at Magnetic Scrolls in 1985, and a text-only version was first published for the Sinclair QL in 1985.[3] After Magnetic Scrolls secured a publication deal with Rainbird, a graphical version of the game was then released for other platforms in 1986.[4]
The game is written in 68000 assembler. Later versions use a cut-down 68000 virtual machine even on less powerful machines like the Z80-based Sinclair Spectrum. The Amiga version uses digitized instrument samples in its title music early in that computer's lifecycle. The peaceful title music was composed by John Molloy and it features guitar and flute sounds.[5]
