Loom

Moby ID: 176
DOS Specs
Buy on Windows
$5.99 new on Steam

Description official descriptions

The Age of the Great Guilds has arrived. Communities and states comprised of people united by a common trade were created. The Guild of Weavers has achieved such mastery in their trade that they discovered the secret of weaving the very fabric of reality. They were treated with suspicion by other guilds, who eventually accused them of practicing witchcraft and banned them to a secluded island, which they called Loom.

Bobbin Threadbare is a young man from the Guild of Weavers. He is outcast from the guild and blamed for the lack of prosperity in recent times, though he does not know why. On his seventeenth birthday he is summoned by the Elders of the guild, who intend to decide his fate. However, shortly thereafter all the inhabitants of the village except Bobbin are turned into swans. Bobbin finds out that he is the child of the Great Loom, found by Lady Cygna, who tried to use the loom's powers to save the guild. Bobbin's stepmother Dame Hetchel teaches him the art of weaving magical drafts, and Bobbin embarks on a journey to find the lost flock, and the answers to his questions.

Loom is an adventure game that sets itself apart from other titles in the genre through its unique gameplay system: the player character does not carry items around, but rather manipulates objects through the use of spells (called "drafts" in the game). The drafts themselves are woven by playing magical notes on a special instrument called "distaff". All the puzzles in the game are solved by learning and correctly applying these drafts.

Each draft is a sequence of four notes within one octave. The player learns new drafts by exploring the environment and interacting with it through a simple point-and-click interface. Once a draft has been learned, it may be applied in a different situation in order to solve a problem. Drafts range from simple general actions (such as opening) to more specific and complex commands, e.g. turning straw into gold. Drafts can also be "reversed", i.e. played backwards, in order to execute the opposite action (for example, closing something instead of opening). As the game progresses Bobbin learns to play higher notes on the distaff, allowing him to access more drafts.

The game features three difficulty levels, differentiating them by changing the way the interface works. The easiest level displays names of the notes as well as marking the correspondent areas on the distaff; Standard level features the distaff with the marks at the bottom of the screen, but no written notes; whereas Expert does not display the marks at all, requiring the player to memorize and play the drafts by ear.

The CD DOS version of the game has enhanced 256-color graphics, audio tracks, and full voice acting. However, it also removes a few close-up scenes and conversations. The FM Towns version preserves these scenes and includes similar graphical and musical enhancements, but has no voice acting.

Spellings

  • האורגים - Hebrew spelling
  • ルーム - Japanese spelling
  • 紗之器 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

123 People (108 developers, 15 thanks) · View all

A Fantasy by
Project Leader
Lead Design
Characters Designed and Animated by
Visual Effects Animation by
Additional Programming
Conversion / Porting
Interpreter / Development System
Graphics / Artwork
Additional Graphics / Artwork
Music by
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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 48 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 292 ratings with 19 reviews)

Beautiful Story that attracted me

The Good
There were so many things I loved about the game, The story line is DEFINITELY a great part of it. Basically bobbin threadbare is in a guild known as the weavers and the other weavers blame him on the problems they've had for 17 years since the day he was born and think that he is the problem to all, his stepmom hatchel defends him and was teaching him magic and the elders did not like it so they attempt to punish her with magic but there magic fails and they are all turned into swans, That leaves bobbin alone to search for them. The story is a great plot and brings a tear to my eye at times. I own the CD version so the graphics and voice are difinitely great, the voice acting is not anywhere close to cheap, it is very good acting and makes me think that the people in the game are real at times. I loved the music, the music was sort of dramatic sounding in my opinion.

The Bad
The game was very great but the story line at the end seemed kind of lacking. Where bobbin meets Chaos they don't tell much information about the ghost and why she wants to take over the world. I also thought the game was a bit short, it was nice length but I beat the game in about 1-2 hours. If the game was longer I would have enjoyed that.

The Bottom Line
I would definitely say this is a game to get. This is a very well done game and is an original classic. I grew up playing it and it was one of my favorite games along with monkeys island, ecos quest, space quest, kings quest, and out of this world. It is very unique from the other games as you don't have a bunch of items, instead you use a staff and use magic to react with items throughout the game. The magic is pretty interesting too as you use magical notes to cast a spell. I would DEFINITELY recommend the game though. I doubt it will happen but I hope they make a sequel or some kind of movie out of this game.

DOS · by Matt Cohen (1) · 2002

Limited musicality

The Good
Loom is a true oddity among adventure games. Developed by the same company which, just two years before, created a complex and very challenging globe-trotting adventure, it is a small experiment deliberately restraining itself to a single gameplay element.

Whoever first thought of making an adventure game consisting entirely of playing four-note melodies (called "drafts" in the game) on a magician's staff masquerading as a spinning tool deserves an award for one of the most original ideas ever conceived for this genre. Loom has no inventory, no puzzles in the common sense of the word, and generally no other actions but playing (or "weaving", as the game calls it) melodies on your distaff. Was there any chance for such a game to be accepted, let alone understood? Yes, but only thanks to the passion the designers managed to transmit through it, striking a chord with even the most puritan, hardcore adventurers.

The process of learning drafts is simple: you normally hear them when they appear as peculiar musical attributes of the few objects you can interact with, or when someone else uses them the same way as you do. You can then play the corresponding notes on your distaff. The expert difficulty obfuscates the names of the notes and also doesn't display them on your instrument; but even if you don't have a good musical hearing, trial-and-error will get you through most situations - especially early in the game, when you can only play four notes. Despite those limitations, the elegant simplicity of this system is magically captivating. To make things a bit less self-explanatory, you can also weave the notes in the reversed order, resulting in the exact opposite action. This leads to some interesting puzzles, such as casting green paint on clothes or, conversely, bleaching them, etc.

The story of Loom is somewhat of a philosophical fairy tale a bit reminiscent of those books children can enjoy, but only grown-ups can fully understand. It is very simple, yet also well-written and engaging in a way not unlike an archetypal myth told in a slightly different way. There is something strangely appealing in this seemingly bare-bones plot that steadily jumps between events with only sparse commentary. It is set in its own unique world of low-key medieval fantasy with a slight, yet noticeable apocalyptic tinge heralding darker times. I think this setting had quite a lot of potential that could have been used by other, bigger games, if somebody bothered to license it.

Loom comes in two versions on the PC. The original floppy release is among the best examples of EGA art. The CD version, however, boasts splendid 256-color vistas far surpassing the original, as well as snippets from a semi-orchestrated incarnation of Tchaikovsky's music, and excellent voice acting. However, it cuts out all character close-ups and even some dialogue, which is inexcusable for such a small game. Many fans - myself included - suggest the FM Towns version as a compromise: its visuals are almost on par with the PC VGA one, it doesn't cut out any content, and it has more of the high-quality music tracks. Its only downside is lack of voices.

The Bad
Like almost everyone else out there, I was charmed by Loom and for a long time didn't want to hear a single word of criticism directed at it. Only during the inevitable replay session I was able to form a more objective opinion. Thanks to its enigmatic beauty and intriguing idea, Loom got away with things that would have been never forgiven to any other adventure game.

No one tries to deny the fact that Loom is too easy and too short. That doesn't bother you the first time you play the game; you just make a mental note, still unable to liberate yourself from the spell it casts on you. That may change when you replay Loom and begin to realize just how limited it is. The challenge is, indeed, almost non-existing: there are only a few drafts you can play on your distaff, and that includes reversed ones and those given to you when there remains almost nothing to use them on. The entire adventure consists of the very small introductory island, a somewhat larger area with a few separate locations, and wherever the game takes you afterwards for a brief showdown. I did like the game's story, but it is really short. Just when you begin to figure out what's really going on, the game abruptly terminates the narrative.

While the concept of playing melodies to solve puzzles is undoubtedly brilliant, basing a whole game just on that one idea is a risky endeavor, to say the least. The persistence with which Loom refuses to welcome any other gameplay element is admirable, but they should have carried it further and made the system more complex and challenging. It's nice that casual players received a game where they were almost guaranteed to succeed, but the value of an adventure is chiefly measured by its gameplay-related content, and that's where Loom fails to deliver. Even some very linear adventure games can be revisited because people forget the solutions to their challenging puzzles - but Loom is very linear, very short, and very easy, which means it will be an identical experience no matter how many times you replay it.

The Bottom Line
Considering the fact that we are dealing with a woefully short, introductory-level adventure stripped of bare necessities, the success of Loom is nothing short of remarkable. Indeed, this is one of those cases where a game paves its way to stardom with little else but a single original gameplay element. And yet I find it hard to recommend it over LucasArts' better-crafted, more fulfilling titles.

DOS · by Unicorn Lynx (181788) · 2017

One of the best point/click adventure games

The Good
Well, good story, good characters, good dialogue, good voice acting. Of course the game is an interactive story and you never die, though it's true that you can become stuck if you forget the notes of a musical, magic spell. I haven't studied to find out where Brian Moriarty got his story ideas from, but it sounds inspired by religion and conflict within religion and the game may have quite a serious moral message in it, relating to religion, law, elitism, child abuse etc. There's an element of feminism too i.e the heroism of Lady Cygna, the mother of the male protagonist, Bobbin Threadbare.

The Bad
Frankly I wish the game kept its own record of drafts(magic spells) you've discovered, that way you'd never get stuck, because of forgetting a draft. Also, the story and gameplay get's a bit confusing after "Chaos" is released and the world is torn in two. I didn't find the ending quite satisfying enough. Certainly, the problems of "Planet Loom" weren't resolved and it was hard to comprehend what had really happened to it and how it was going to end up.

The Bottom Line
I say, one of the best point/click adventures, for anyone who is interested in such games. And you could suggest it to someone who isn't necessarily into adventure games as a game that's not huge and won't waste much of their time.

DOS · by Andrew Fisher (697) · 2018

[ View all 19 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
freeware ? Wormspinal (619) Feb 7, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Loom appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled sequels

Apparently the Loom sequels were NOT cancelled due to poor sales. According to Brian Moriarty (post):

Contrary to popular belief, the LOOM sequels were not abandoned because LOOM didn't sell well. LOOM has sold more than half a million copies in various formats since it was published in 1990. The reason the sequels weren't made is because I decided I wanted to work on other things, and nobody else wanted to do them, either.

Graphics

At the time Loom came out for the PC, it was pushing the edge of what could be done with graphics cards. Many people bought it primarily to show off what their fancy new graphics card and SoundBlaster could do.

Hebrew version

Loom was actually translated and released in Israel in a Hebrew version, which unfortunately did not include the 30-minute audio cassette.

Manual

Loom came with the "Book of Patterns", a beautiful booklet containing description and history, drawings and a place to write the notes, of many "drafts", meaning spells. Many of the drafts in the Book of Patterns do not appear in the game at all, such as Folding, Waterproofing, Blessing and Aphrodesia.

The manual has a passage that reads:

We believe that you buy games to be entertained, not to be whacked over the head every time you make a mistake. So we don't bring the game to a screeching halt when you poke your nose into a place you haven't visited before. Unlike conventional computer adventures, you won't find yourself accidentally stepping off a path, or dying because you've picked up a sharp object.

We think you'd prefer to solve the game's mysteries by exploring and discovering, not by dying a thousand deaths. We also think you like to spend your time involved in the story, not typing in synonyms until you stumble upon the computer's word for a certain object.

This is possibly a not-so-subtle jab at most Sierra adventure games published up until the time this passage was written.

Radio drama

The original Loom (not the CDROM re-release) was packed with a 30 minute drama on cassette, adding much depth to the story.

References

The three elders who appear in the beginning of the game are named after the three Moyras of the Greek mythology - Kloto, Athropos, and Lachesis.

References to the game

  • In the game Monkey Island, another game created by LucasArts, if you enter the bar at the beginning of the game one of the pirates is wearing a button with LOOM written on it. All he says is "Aye," but if you talk to him about Loom, he will give you a lengthy and rather blunt advertising plug. This is another example of LucasArts off the wall humor.

  • The seagull seen eating a seashell in Loom has made several appearances in later LucasArts games, such as The Secret of Monkey Island (on the dock outside the Scumm Bar's kitchen) and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (on the top of the pile of maps).

  • Loom was parodied in Space Quest IV by Sierra. Roger Wilco browses games at the store, among them are one called "Boom" with the following description:

The latest bomb from master storyteller Morrie Brianarty, BOOM is a post-holocaust adventure set in post-holocaust America after the holocaust. Neutron bombs have eradicated all life, leaving only YOU to wander through the wreckage. No other characters, no conflict, no puzzles, no chance of dying, and no interface make this the easiest-to-finish game yet! Just boot it up and watch it explode!

ScummVM

Still got a copy of Loom lying around somewhere? Have you been desperately wanting to play it, but can't get it to work on modern systems? If so, check out a program called ScummVM, an ingenious program that lets you run Loom and other classic LucasArts (as well as a few other) adventure games. It's free and 100% legal as long as you use an original copy of the game.

Secrets

There is a bonus cutscene that plays near the end of the game (when you return to the island). This scene only plays if you are playing at expert proficiency mode.

Soundtrack

Apparently an ultra-rare Japanese re-arrangement of the soundtrack was sold by Brian Moriarty on eBay for $238.03. According to the seller:

Here's the story behind this unusual disc: In late 1990, the Japanese record company Meldor approached Lucasfilm. They wanted to produce a pair of soundtrack CDs based on Lucasfilm games. The first disc was to be a collection of songs from Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken and a few other titles. The second disc was to be devoted entirely to Loom.

Engineers arrived from Japan, made copies of the game soundtracks and disappeared over the Pacific. Months passed. Eventually, a handful of sample CDs was delivered to the game designers at Lucasfilm. This auction is for one of those sample discs. No other copies are known to have escaped from Japan!

An enhanced soundtrack (with an added overture not heard in the original version) for Roland MT-32 was written by George Alistair Sanger (The Fatman). As of 1999 it could be downloaded from Lucasarts' website.

The music heard in Loom is actually taken from Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Swan Lake" -- a pretty appropriate choice, considering the part swans have in the game's storyline. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a romantic ballet composed in 1875 and 1876, consists of over 50 movements. As a shortcut for those keen on hearing orchestral renditions of the Loom music, here's a list of the in-game pieces (in order of appearance) and the movements they correspond to:

```

Loom Theme Act 1 No. 4: Pas de trois: I. Intrada: Allegro The Elders' Council Act 4 No. 27: Danses des petits cygnes: Moderato Crystalgard (The City of Glass) Act 2 No. 13: Danses des cygnes: IV. Allegro Moderato The Shepherds / The Dragon Cave Act 1 No. 6: Pas d'action: Andantino Quasi Moderato The Blacksmiths' Guild Act 1 No. 4: Pas de trois: IV. Moderato The Cathedral Act 1 No. 4: Pas de trois: II. Andante sostenuto The Loom (Finale) Act 2 No. 14: Scene: Moderato

```

Version differences

  • This is one of many wonderful early CD games where the audio is stored onto a Redbook audio track. If you drop the Loom CD into your CD player, you can listen to the dialogue and music. It's especially fun to hear all of the little one-liners from Bobbin back-to-back: "I guess that isn't a draft," "That thread's too high for me," "I like the view from the cliff better," ad nauseum... :)

  • The CD version of the game, in what was an apparently limited edition, included a much higher quality version of the original audio casette with (apart from the story itself) also included additional instrumental music. The dialogue varies quite a bit between the CD-ROM and original diskette versions of the game. It had to be rewritten in order to condense it enough to fit onto one CD-Audio track. During two sequence later in the game, blood and corpses were removed.

  • Loom was also ported to a Japanese computer called FM-Towns, it had the graphics of the VGA version and the dialogue of the EGA version (cue heavenly angels singing...). It was released in two languages--Japanese and English. Be warned, next to impossible to find. It version had all of the music from the 16-color version in CD quality (and able to play indefinitely). It had no voice acting, but all art from the disk version (including character close-ups) was in 256 colors and used in-game. The original dialogue from the disk version also remained. During one sequence later in the game, a puddle of blood was removed.

  • Loom had one console port: a PC Engine SuperCD (Turbo Duo in the U.S.) version. Although the PC Engine version was a CD based version, it isn't a port of the PC CD-ROM version. Instead, it's a port of the floppy version (all of the dialogue and everything is straight out of the floppy version, in fact) with enhanced CD music. There's no spoken dialogue anywhere, but that doesn't stop the fact that it was one of the better LucasArts console ports.

  • The 30-minute Audio Drama that was included on audio cassette was ALSO included on specially marked boxed-editions of the CD-ROM, as a second CD. The audio drama is presented in reference-quality stereo sound on the second disc.

  • The Windows CD version, to accommodate the size of the speech files, heavily rewrote and condensed the disk version's dialogue. Also, a lot of animation from the 16-color version was not used in this one (including the close-ups, which are still in the resource files on the CD.) In addition, music did not play over long periods like in the disk version, but only occurred briefly, during cutscenes.

  • The original 16-color diskette version of Loom had several lengthy music tracks from "Swan Lake" and closeups of the characters' faces in cutscenes.

  • There were actually two different 256-color versions: a VGA CD port for the FM Towns computer in Japan (in English and Japanese), and the more familiar CD version for Windows with full speech.

Awards

  • Amiga Power
    • May 1991 (issue #00) - #72 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
  • Computer Gaming World
    • September 1990 (Issue #74) – Special Award for Artistic Achievement
    • November 1996 (15th Anniversary Issue) - #81 in the "150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • Power Play
    • Issue 01/1991 - Best Graphics in 1990 (DOS version)
  • ST Format
    • Issue 01/1991 – #7 Best Adventure Game in 1990 (Atari ST)

Information also contributed by -Chris, Adam Baratz, Apogee IV, ArtfulGamer, ATMachine, Bizboz, Ingsoc, Mickey Gabel, NatsFan, PCGamer77, Satoshi Kunsai, Seer, Swordmaster, Tomer Gabel, Trixter, Unicorn Lynx, weregamer, willyum and Zovni

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Related Sites +

  • Hints for Loom
    These hints by Robert Norton will get you through the game without spoiling it for you.
  • LucasArts' Secret History
    A multi-article feature about the game by the LucasArts news site, The International House of Mojo. The feature article includes an unscored review, short responses written by members of the site's community, trivia, downloads and other such resources, a feature article arguing for an interactive fiction understanding of the game, the reflections of a few of the developers, and a narrative walkthrough.
  • ScummVM
    supports Loom under Windows, Linux, Macintosh and other platforms.
  • Unused Graphics from the DOS CD version
    Images from the DOS CD version of Loom that are not used in the actual game but are still in the resource files.
  • Walkthrough for Loom
    All actions needed to complete Loom - step by step and all at once.
  • Wikipedia: Loom
    article in the open encyclopedia about the game

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 176
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Eurythmic.

Windows added by Picard. Amiga added by POMAH. Linux added by click here to win an iPhone9SSSS. Atari ST added by ektoutie. TurboGrafx CD, CDTV, Macintosh added by Kabushi. Antstream added by lights out party. FM Towns added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Tomer Gabel, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Sciere, Hitman23, Zeppin, Macs Black, Petr Maruska, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, Jo ST, FatherJack.

Game added July 22, 1999. Last modified February 23, 2024.