Infidel

There's an old Egyptian fable that tells how a sacrilegious camel once dined on a high priest's pocketwatch, only to awake in the morning with a bellyful of ticks. The moral, needless to say, is that one should never bite off more than one can can stomach.

Evidently, you failed to heed this wisdom - else why would you, a small-time explorer, dare to brave the smouldering heart of the Egyptian Desert in search of a greaat lost pyramid? Now, too lats, you suspect that your boldness has been your undoing, for at this very moment you find yourself marooned by your followers, pursued by the vultures of death, and sustained only by the faint hope that you can somehow survive to reach the pyramid - where the skullduggery, pitfalls, and cliffhanging adventures will really begin.

What indomitable inner resource is it that drives you ever onward against such desperate odds? Pride? Unflinching devotion to the cause of archaeological science? Or could it possibly be the prospect that the treasures concealed within the tomb are worth enough on the open market to keep you rolling in filthy lucre for the rest of your born days? We leave the question open, with this footnote: Your quest transcends mere fortune. Here, amid the shifting sands of eternity, dignity and self-esteem are at stake. For you are branded INFIDEL.

Source:

Unknown Source

INFIDEL, from Infocom Tales of Adventure, finds you marooned by your followers in the heart of the deadly Egyptian Desert. A soldier of fortune by trade, you've come hither in search of a great lost pyramid and its untold riches. Now, alone, you must locate and gain entry to the tomb, decipher its hieroglyphics and unravel its mysteries one by one. The contents of your package will help a little; they include your journal and correspondence, Egyptian hotel stationery, a map of the excavation site, a hieroglyphic stone rubbing and the highly collectible Great Discoveries issue of TRUE TALES OF ADVENTURE magazine. Through the Antechamber, the Barge Room, the Chamber of Ra, death will lick at your heels as you race to the shattering climax of this match of wits between you and the most ingenious architects, builders and murderers of all time - the ancient Egyptians. ADVANCED LEVEL

Source:

"The Incomplete Works of Infocom, Inc." Catalog

You

are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before your very eyes.

INFIDEL A soldier of fortune searching for a lost pyramid and its untold riches, you must locate and enter the tomb, decipher its hieroglyphics and unravel its mysteries one by one. Death licks at your heels as you race to the shattering climax of this match between you and the most ingenious architects, builders and murderers of all time - the ancient Egyptians.

Source:

From the first Infocom fold-out catalog, 198?

INFIDEL, the first action classic from Infocom Tales of Adventures, finds you marooned by your followers in the heart of the deadly Egyptian Desert. A soldier of fortune by trade, you've come hither in search of a great lost pyramid and its untold riches. Now, alone, you must locate and gain entry to the tomb, decipher its hieroglyphs, and unravel its mysteries one by one. Through the Antechamber, the Barge Room, the Chamber of Ra, death will lick at your heels as you race to the shattering climax of this match of wits between you and the most ingenious architects, builders, and cutthroats of all time - the ancient Egyptians.

Source:

From the 1983 Infocom catalog "OUR CIRCUITS, OURSELVES!"

(caption)
Preserved for posterity within this INFIDEL package by means of an ancient Egyptian mummification process: your INFIDEL disk, expedition log, correspondence, stationery, map of the excavation site and hieroglyphic stone rubbing.

INFIDEL finds you marooned by your followers in the heart of the deadly Egyptian Desert. A soldier of fortune by trade, you've come hither in search of a great lost pyramid and its untold riches. Now, alone, you must locate and gain entry to the tomb, decipher its hieroglyphics and unravel its mysteries one by one.

Through the Antechamber, the Barge Room, the Chamber of Ra, death will lick at your heels as you race to the shattering climax of this match of wits between you and the most ingenious architects, builders and murderers of all time — the ancient Egyptians.

**GET INSIDE A STORY.

GET ONE FROM INFOCOM!**
It's like waking up inside a story! Load Infocom's interactive fiction into your computer and discover yourself at the center of a world jam-packed with surprising twists, unique characters and original, logical, often hilarious puzzles.
For the first time, you're more than a passive reader. You can talk to the story, typing in full English sentences. And the story talks right back, communicating entirely in vividly descriptive prose. What's more, you can actually shape the story's course of events through your choice of actions. And you have hundreds of alternatives at every step. In fact, there's so much you can see and do, your adventure can last for weeks and even months.
To find the Infocom interactive story that's right for you, just choose any one marked with the level of difficulty listed below that best matches your current level of interactive skill.

Junior: Best introduction to interactive fiction. Written for everyone from age 9 up.

Standard: Good introductory level for adults. This is Infocom's most popular level of interactive fiction.

Advanced: A greater level of challenge. Recommended for those who've already experienced Infocom's interactive fiction.

Expert: For real diehards seeking the ultimate challenge in interactive fiction.

Then find out what it's like to get inside a story. Get one from Infocom. Because with Infocom's interactive fiction, there's room for you on every disk.

Source:

Back of Box - Atari 8-bit/ST/TRS-80/CoCo (US)

There's an old Egyptian fable that tells how a sacrilegious camel once dined on a high priest's pocketwatch, only to awake in the morning with a bellyful of ticks. The moral, needless to say, is that one should never bite off more than one can can stomach.

Evidently, you failed to heed this wisdom - else why would you, a small-time explorer, dare to brave the smouldering heart of the Egyptian Desert in search of a great lost pyramid? Now, too late, you suspect that your boldness has been your undoing, for at this very moment you find yourself marooned by your followers, pursued by the vultures of death, and sustained only by the faint hope that you can somehow survive to reach the pyramid - where the skullduggery, pitfalls, and cliffhanging adventures will really begin.

What indomitable inner resource is it that drives you ever onward against such desperate odds? Pride? Unflinching devotion to the cause of archaeological science? Or could it possibly be the prospect that the treasures concealed within the tomb are worth enough on the open market to keep you rolling in filthy lucre for the rest of your born days? We leave the question open, with this footnote: Your quest transcends mere fortune. Here, amid the shifting sands of eternity, dignity and self-esteem are at stake. For you are branded INFIDEL.

(painting)
This ancient painting of the Fifth Dynasty depicts the Rites of Package, whereby this INFIDEL package was imbued this your game disk, journal and correspondence, Egyptian hotel stationery, map of the excavation site, hieroglyphic stone rubbing, and Infocom Tales of Adventures operator's manual prior to being mummified in shrink wrap.

The Eternal Riddle of Infocom Games—Brought to Light!

What makes Infocom games unique? To start with, they're 100% prose—all words, no pictures. But it's the way the prose is written that may gives our games an added dimension of involvement and challenge.

Infocom games involve you in the story more than other computer games do, because our programs don't come between you and the story. The secret is our special "sentence parser," which in plain English means that interacting with an Infocom game is just about as easy as talking.

Thanks to our parser. our games don't force you to play guessing games to find out which instructions the computer will accept. The game recognizes over 600 words, including adjectives. It can respond to complex instructions, including those which have more than one object. And should you hit upon a word it doesn't understand, it will tell you which one is causing the confusion.

And there's more to Infocom games—extraordinary plots, innovative and fascinating puzzles, remarkably realistic personalities and environments. In fact, we throw in everything but the kitchen sphinx to stimulate your imagination to the nth degree.

Quit fighting with programs written by programmers. Play an Infocom game, and start interacting with stories written by master storytellers.

INFIDEL's Just the Tip of the Pyramid. Discover These Other Great Infocom Best Sellers!

ZORK®, the classic underground trilogy.

ENCHANTER™, the inception of a spellbinding series in the Zorkian tradition.

DEADLINE!™, the first great mystery of the computer age.

The WITNESS™, a hard-boiled whodunit thriller of the Thirties.

STARCROSS™, our astounding science fiction mindbender.

SUSPENDED™, the cryogenic nightmare on the edge of the far future.

PLANETFALL™, Infocom's nuu SF laf klasik.

Step up to Infocom. All words. No pictures. The secret reaches of your mind are beckoning. A whole new dimension is in there waiting for you.

Source:

Back of Box - C64/DOS (US)