Eric the Unready

CD-ROM version

The CD-ROM version adds animations, Super VGA graphics and a soundtrack.

Development

In a interview (about 2001), when Bob Bates was asked which was the most favorite game he designed or wrote, he said:

Eric The Unready is my favorite, because I had so damn much fun writing it. I remember clearly being up in the middle of the night for many nights in a row, cackling to myself over the oddball responses I built into oddball inputs. My goal was to always reward the player for being creative. The odder his input, the more I wanted to reward him. I couldn't do that in my other games, because comedy wasn't the focus. In Eric, I could have as much fun as I wanted to, and I did.

References

About halfway in the game, you pass through a turnstile. Suddenly, the interface and the graphics are removed, so that there's only plain text on the screen. It reads:

```

West of House You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. You see a small mailbox here.

```

This is the beginning of Zork: The Great Underground Empire. Of course, you can play on normally and investigate the building.

Awards

• Computer Choice Awards
  • 1993 - Finalist
• Computer Game Review
  • 1993 - Golden Triad Award
• Computer Gaming World
  • October 1993 (Issue #111) – Adventure Game of the Year (together with Star Control II)
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #103 overall in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) –#9 Funniest Computer Game
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #11 Most Memorable Game Hero (Eric the Unready)
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #7 Most Rewarding Ending of All Time
• Game Bytes
  • 1994 - Editor's Choice Award
• Strategy Plus
  • 1993 - Adventure Game of the Year

Information also contributed by -Chris, Belboz, Indra was here and PCGamer77