Acclaimed game designer Roberta Williams revives Colossal Cave as a retro, point-&-click, cave exploration puzzler. Based on the original 1970’s design by Will Crowther & Don Woods this 3D update maintains its vintage charm, while revitalizing it for modern gamers.
As you progress through the game, you must carefully map out the layout of the over 80 distinct rooms that make up the sprawling cave system. Each room features its own unique visual design and textual description, encouraging you to actively build a mental map in order to navigate efficiently.
Scattered throughout the cave are a variety of logical puzzles that you must overcome. These range from figuring out how to access certain areas to manipulating objects in non-obvious ways. Many of the puzzles exhibit a sense of "moon logic," requiring creative thinking and deductive reasoning to solve through trial-and-error.
Inventory management plays a crucial role, as you must decide which objects to carry, use, or leave behind. The limited inventory space forces you to plan ahead and consider the implications of your choices, further enhancing the problem-solving challenges.
The game features a scoring system that caps at 350 points, providing strong motivation for you to revisit the experience and experiment with different approaches. Uncovering all of the game's secrets and earning the maximum score becomes a rewarding goal that encourages multiple playthroughs.
Importantly, the developers have gone to great lengths to maintain the core mechanics and design philosophy of the classic 1970s text adventure. While this authenticity may present some challenges for modern players, it allows veterans of the original to appreciate the faithful retro experience.