Ah, the good old IF (interactive fiction) days...Action Castle is well done and translates computer into analogue experience very well. I used this as a guide for change in bedtime reading with my daughter and had a ton of fun. Later, I tried porting this to Inform7. Such a great concept, well thought out and executed in a simple, easy to learn fashion. Set your imagination loose with Action Castle and other titles.

Kinda undecided on this one. It was cheap and I was intrigued but how would I enjoy DMing this? Not really - but might be cool for super light weight kinda rigid play ?

As a fan of the old 1980's text adventures (retroactively entitled Interactive Fiction, or IF), I find that Action Castle scratches the itch to play a text adventure in a group admirably. It's quick, easy, and very simple. The price matches the complexity of the game, but don't mistake its simplicity for being inelegant. The genius design elements are the way the IF is translated from a parser with definitions and one player into a group game with a Game Master (called a Parser here).

If you're looking for a quick game to entertain friends in between campaigns or a beer-and-pretzel substitution for game nights that are a wash, take a look here and at all the Parsely games out there. It's well worth $2.

I really loved the concept behind this game, and found it enjoyable, but incredibly short. This game lays the foundation for the series, and provides a quick and easy "tutorial" for the rest of the series, however as a standalone product I found it too short to be of much fun alone.

What an awesome game. This brought back all my memories of text-based adventure games, and really captured the spirit of those games. One person takes the role of the program / computer and waits for commands from the "player", which can be one or more people. The player makes simple commands, such as "open door" or "pick up object" and the program responds with simple statements such as "you have picked up object". The fun comes from the players trying to puzzle out both the correct commands to get things done, as well as work out what they are meant to be doing and "solve" the mystery of Action Castle. Each time a player gives a command that cannot be completed the program player must respond with a simple "You cannot do that", or possibly something more humorous, in the same way the original computer programs might. The program player is encouraged to misinterpret (or literally interpret) the commands and take advantage of any mis-speaking a player might do. This is a quick game to learn and play and my friends and I had a blast with it. I would recommend picking it up, and all the other games in the Parsley series.

I just can't work out if Memento Mori Theatricks have pulled the fastest retro nostalgia scam on us or that they are a bunch of geniuses! Despite my initial concerns of "How do I convince anyone to sit down and play this with me?", "How do I even describe it?" they've really hit on something here. The problem is that you've just got to take the risk and spend those 99 cents, because these games might completely save a rainy afternoon (or a power cut - outage). Put away everything you've learned about using dice, stats, DMing or story telling and let the brutal logic of long forgotten insufferable computer games guide you to your death. This is definitely a new niche. The good news is that you don't have to wait for a piece of paper to load. The bad news is that its a return to the hell of early computer games. In summary, Memento Mori must be stopped! But first you must LIGHT TORCH and GO UP ... If this is your thing it's a bargain. If not ... well, how are you going to find out? You could be missing out on the next new (retro old school?) thing. I was going to say 4 out of 5, but I'm worried that the other reviewers here know something I don't, and the PDF download will detonate and turn my computer into PET or 286 or something ... So 5/5 for originality, value, humour and guts!

Brilliant and cute art. Simple and fun mechanics. Total scalability. Not really replayable with the same group though.

Parsely games are an ingenious mash-up of computer text adventures, RPGs, and party games. One player acts as the “parser” - the program running the text adventure. He reads descriptions to the others, and responds to their commands. The other player or players can take turns giving the parser commands, like GET TORCH, and attempt to complete the goal of the adventure (and, optionally, collect as many victory points as possible.)

These games are a great way to get people involved in roleplaying, even if they’ve never played a regular RPG before. The adventures are much shorter than traditional text adventure games, but just about the right length for an hour or more of play. There is even a SAVE function, to prevent your character from having to start over from the beginning!

In Action Castle, the protagonist is destined for great things, but has a few obstacles in his way, including a mean troll, a spooky ghost, and a moody princess. Will he ever meet his destiny?

(If you are planning to pick up other games in the Parsely series, you will probably want to get this one as well, for the rules and tips on how to run these analogue text adventures.)

Action Castle is a great product. If you remember the old text adventure games like ZORK, it absolutely re-captures the inane but enjoyable logic in a live-action tabletop format. While the game rules recommend playing the game as if the GM is a computer, these games would also work exceptionally well for a rules-light introduction to role-playing. Highly recommended.

Action Castle is the first Parsely game. For a fan of early computer-based text adventures, such as myself, the Parsely system is fascinating -- it's both a nostalgic nod toward games of yore, and a hilarious send-up of the sorts of things that happened in those games.

It was always great fun to sit at the keyboard with a friend or two, trying to figure out the puzzles of ZORK, or the Infocom adventure games. Parsely takes that experience (rather than the default 'solo play' style) and turns it into a party game: One player portrays the computer parser, everyone else comes up with commands which the parser interprets in the most literal fashion possible. Those commands control the in-game character as he explores his environment, trying not to die.

Much of the fun here is in the parser's performance, I suspect; delivering the adventure's sometimes cryptic, sometimes maddening lines in the right sort of HAL9000-inspired deadpan, and injecting just the right amount of malice into the phrase "You have died. Start a new game? (Y/N)".

The actual adventure in Action Castle is relatively short, and seems intentionally reminiscent of the opening of the venerable ZORK game. It's a good introduction to the method of playing Parsely, and its challenge level is ideal. It will frustrate players just enough to make them want to play again.